credit report inquirys - This is the place on the credit report that will show who has accessed your credit report. every time you apply for anything that requires your credit to be pulled it will show up here. it will tell you who pulled your credit, and the date your credit was pulled.
something alot of people dont know is that the number of times you apply for credit in a certain time period could have an adverse affect on your credit score.

It is ok to have some inquires on your credit report when shopping for a mortgage. You need to shop around to protect yourself from high cost lenders.

Not all inquiries count toward your FICO score.
When you check your credit report, you may notice that a number of credit inquiries have been made, sometimes from businesses that you don’t know. But the only inquiries that count toward your FICO score are the ones that result from your applications for new credit.

* Inquiries that count toward your FICO score.
There is only one type of credit inquiry that counts toward your FICO score. When you apply for a mortgage, auto loan or other credit, you authorize the lender to request a copy of your credit report. These types of inquiries, prompted by your own actions, appear on your credit report and are included in your FICO score.
* Inquiries that don’t count toward your FICO score.
Your own credit report requests, credit checks made by businesses to offer you goods or services, or inquiries made by businesses with whom you already have a credit account do not count toward your FICO score. Credit checks by prospective employers also do not count. These types of inquiries may appear on your credit report, but they are not included in your FICO score.

Credit report inquiry's are removed after 2 years. If you have an extremely high number of credit report inquiry's that are close to 2 years old your score should increase when they are removed from your credit report.

To many inquires that count against toward your Fico can prevent you from refinancing or purchasing a new home

Inquiries only account for 10% of your credit score, but inquiries can lower your score enough to put you in a different credit tier that may increase your interest rate or reduce the maximum loan-to-value that you can receive.

The Fair Credit Act allows up to five credit inquiries when refinancing your home before your Fico score drops.

The inquiries must be for the same purpose for them not to count against your credit score. If you apply for a mortgage but then apply for several credit cards and a car loan the inquiries will be treated as separate and probably will adversely affect your credit score.

The scoring system allows for unlimited inquiries during any on fifteen day period to count as one. In this way the system allows borrowers to do due dilligence in shopping for credit without being penalized.

"The scoring system allows for unlimited inquiries during any on fifteen day period to count as one. In this way the system allows borrowers to do due dilligence in shopping for credit without being penalized."

My understanding is that the unlimited inquires within the 15 day period is only if it is a mortgage or auto loan inquiry.

Credit inquiries have prevented people from receiving loans. Granted the way they now affect your fico score is much better then in years past. However if your currently involved in the loan process do not aquire any more inquiries.

Free Credit Report -

FREE Credit Report for Consumers

Every consumer is allowed a free credit report once a year.

Effective December 1, 2004, consumers were entitled to receive one free credit report each year. The free annual credit checkups were mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, signed int law last December by President Bush. This law includes a number of provisions designed to fight identity theft, which hits millions of U.S. consumers each year.

This is an important right for consumers. Currently numerous websites offer free credit reports but all require trial subscriptions to credit monitorning services. The site that is mandated by federal law is free.

To obtain a free copy one can call the free number:

877-322-8228

Written requests can be obtained by writing to:

Annual Credit Report
Request Service
P. O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

You will have the option to choose from the three bureaus:

Equifax
Experian
TransUnion

Since the contents of a credit reports is a major factor in purchasing a home, car and sometimes even qualifying for a job - Consumer Advocates urge consumers to quickly take advantage of this opportunity.

It is usually a good idea to obtaina free copy of your credit report months before you plan on purchasing your home. It might take a little while to fix any errors on your report. Also, if your scores are low, there are things that you can do to boost your scores. By doing this, it will help you to purchase your new home.

Every consumer should make sure they are utilizing the free annual credit report each year to verify that the information contained within their credit report is accurate and the credit report contains no false information. When obtaining your free credit report you should make sure you definitely take advantage of obtaining reports from all 3 credit bureaus (all 3 will provide you 1 free report each year) and obtain them seperately so that if you do need to dispute information you can do it easily with each bureau.

Remember that you are also entitled to receive a free credit report every time you are denied credit, employment or insurance. You also may be entitled to a free report if you receive some types of public assistance or are unemployed.

Getting your free credit reports from the 3 credit bureaus every year is very important. However, credit reports can be difficult to read and interpret. I can go over your credit report with you and tell you what it means.

Each credit bureau will have slightly (or not so slightly) different information on file about you. Since all three credit scores will be taken into account when you apply for a mortgage, it is important that you clean up your report with all three bureaus.

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