How to Remove a Hard Request (And Why You Might Want This) (2023)

Your credit score is affected by a number of factors, and loan inquiries are one of them. If you recently found a harsh query on your credit report, you may be wondering why that happened and—if you're worried about your score—how to remove that harsh query.

But loan requests happen for a variety of reasons — and not necessarily bad ones. They allow you to approve new loans or credit cards and also verify your owncredit-worthiness.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that not all loan requests are created equal and not all will negatively impact your credit score. In this article, we'll go over the different types of requests and how you can manage them to protect your credit score.

The difference between hard and soft requests

There are two types of loan requests to be aware of: hard requests (or hard pulls) and soft requests (also called soft pulls). While soft requests don't negatively affect your credit score, a hard request can.

Agentle requestcan occur for a variety of reasons, including when you're checking your own credit score or when a bank is trying to pre-approve you for a credit card. Ahard requesthappens when a business (e.g. an auto loan company or a credit card company) requests a copy of your consumer report from one of the three credit reporting agencies in order to respond to your credit or loan application.

The main difference between the two types of requests is how they originated. If you've applied for a line of credit (and not just checked to see if you can be pre-approved), this company will do a rigorous investigation. If you have not applied for something, the related request is just a soft request.

So you don't have to worry that checking your credit score could affect it negatively, but you should be aware of itApplying for a car loanor a new credit card could.

Why a tough request affects your credit score

Difficult requests arise when you apply for a new loan, regardless of whether you are ultimately approved for it or not. This credit can take the form of a loan such as a mortgage or car loan; a credit card; or just a credit increase for an existing card. While tough requests are a necessary part of getting new credit approved, having too many in a short period of time can end up damaging your credit score.

Why? Because banks often see you as a greater risk if you've recently attempted to open several new lines of credit, which they determine based on your past tough requests. The only reason credit bureaus track hard pulls is to measure your behavior and intentions, which they can use to determine if you knowhow to manage your money. This makes it easier for the offices to know when and how often you apply for funding.

"If you have a lot of tough requests in a short period of time, it indicates that you have requested credit or insurance from many different financial service providers," said Robert L. Föehl, executive-in-residence for the Law and Ethics Department business from Ohio University. "Ultimately, this can be an indicator that you are in a sub-optimal financial situation."

How much does a hard request affect my score and when does it go away?

How long a harsh investigation holds onto your score and how much damage it can do depends on a few things. First off, those with relatively short credit histories tend to be more damaging to having multiple hard requests than those with longer ones. So if you're new to credit and only have a few accounts open, you should avoid making too many tough requests at once.

As far as these requests can affect your score, the generally agreed value is that tough requests can lower your credit score by amaximalof five points. However, according to FICO, a single hard request cannot lower your credit score at all, meaning that not every hard request automatically results in a five-point drop.

All inquiries, both hard and soft, remain on your credit report for two years from the date of the inquiry, but hard inquiries only affect your score for the first year. Even though both types of inquiries stay on your credit report for some time, you don't have to sweat the soft ones. Föehl says, "While hard requests generally affect your credit score and are included in a copy of your consumer report that is made available to others, soft requests do not affect your credit score and are not included." So although the soft requests could be there, no one will see them.

This will avoid too many hard requests

If all of this worries you the next time you need to apply for a credit card or apply for a loan, there are two important things to keep in mind.

1. Financial institutions cannot make harsh requests without your prior consent

This means you don't have to worry about whether or not there is actually a rigorous credit check based on a recent application you've made - the company you're applying to needs to get your permission before they can conduct the rigorous one Inquiry.

2. Credit bureaus recognize the importance of "shopping all around"

To get the best interest rates on a new loan or credit card, you often need to compare interest rates, terms, and other features. Because of this, FICO counts similar difficult requests as just one request within the same 45-day period, minimizing the negative impact on your FICO score. Different credit scoring models may offer different "deduplication windows" or time periods, allowing you to poke around without damaging your score with multiple tough requests. For example, VantageScore only allows a period of 14 days.

The best way to maintain your installment purchase credit is to submit all of your applications at once - within the 14- to 45-day buffer period provided by various credit scoring services. So even if you fill out a dozen car loan applications, they shouldn't affect your credit score too much as long as you fill them out at about the same time.

How to remove a tough request from your credit score

The thing about removing hard requests is that you can't just do it because you want to. Legitimate requests cannot be removed by you or anyone else - not even acredit repair company. The only requests that can be removed are inaccurate ones.If after looking at your credit report you think a hard query is inaccurate, you have a few ways to remove it, including

• Working with a credit repair company
• Do the work yourself
• Waiting for it to go away (which it will in two years).

Some words of caution regarding credit repair companies

Working with a credit repair company can save you time, but it's also a lot of money to pay for something you can do yourself.

You should also be aware that there are rogue companies out there that claim they can remove all requests from your account. By law, a legitimate credit repair company is not allowed to do this or even make these claims.

“Consumer reporting agencies strive for maximum accuracy when it comes to your consumer reporting. The legislature requires that,” explains Föhl. "They are unlikely to remove a legitimate hard request as removing it would make your consumer report less accurate. As such, hiring a credit repair company to remove a legitimate hard request from your consumer report is not a wise investment.”

Ultimately, the decision to work with a credit repair agency is a trade-off between time and money. If you can afford the hundreds or even thousands of dollars it can cost to work with a credit repair agency, and you're confident that the company can save you time by disputing inaccurate requests for you -- then it might be worth it. Otherwise, you should probably consider doing it yourself.

How to remove a hard request yourself

To remove a hard request yourself, you should do thiscontact the credit agency(ies) directlyDisplay of the incorrect queries. The good news is that the days of using registered mail for this are over as all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) accept disputes online, with Equifax and Experian only accepting them online. If you really want to handwrite a letter to TransUnion you can, but your stamps are probably better kept for other things.

In order to have the inaccurate dispute removed as soon as possible,FICOrecommends contacting both the credit reporting agency and the organization that provided the information, as both are legally required to correct the error.

Here are some steps to follow when writing your dispute letter to credit bureaus and organizations:

1. Start by listing what you think is inaccurate and list those errors if there is more than one.
2. use onedispute submissionto create your letter.
3. Remember to include a copy of your credit report, highlighting the errors that correspond to the points in your letter.
4. Request the deletion or correction of the information.
5. Last but not least, keep a copy of anything you send for your own records.

You can expect to hear back from the credit bureaus within 30 days. If your inquiry does not end positively (which sometimes happens), but you still believe that you have a valid claim, you can ask the credit bureau to include the explanation of your dispute in future credit reports. This will inform prospective lenders that you have taken the trouble to dispute false information and believe the hard research into your rating is inaccurate.

frequently asked Questions

The last word on difficult requests

Cleaning up inaccurate hard requests can be time-consuming, but may be worth it if removing them significantly improves your credit score. Remember that credit inquiries (accurate or not) aren't the only things that affect your credit score and in some cases don't even have a majority vote.

Take a look for examplehow FICO determines credit scores, you'll find that other factors like credit utilization and payment history have a lot more impact on your score than a few points lost to a tough request.

All of this means you'll want to check your credit score frequently — not just for tough inquiries. If it seems low or wrong to you, take the time to figure out whyrequest a free credit reportand determine exactly what you need to improve.