REMOVE ALL QUALIFIED INQUIRIES

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Credit Criticism: Why Credit Checks Might Cause Financial Problems

With credit a hot topic in today's society, social media is more than sceptical when it comes to the FICO credit score and what financial problems a bad credit score can potentially cause.

 Although a person's credit score can provide a lot of insight into possible risk due to poor money management, debt load, or existing financial problems, it can also cause financial problems that didn't exist before hand due to poor risk management, employment decisions, or impacted living.

 Risk Management

 Great credit scores don't mean great customers, and the when lazy lenders look at the number instead of the whole inquiry, they put their clients at risk.

 For example, an elderly woman with a credit score of 680 might qualify for a great rate, but she wants to borrow money to take care of funeral costs for her husband. She has a small pension, several credit cards and with her husband’s passing, has lost a second income.

 Realistically, extending this woman more credit could actually put her at risk for future financial problems, primarily because a number can't assess her situation on a personal level.

 Employment Decisions

 Top of his class, graduate with honours, four years of experience, and he aced the interview! The young man in question is a prime employment candidate - that is, until his boss runs an inquiry.

 Although Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion have stated on record that they do not provide employers with a score, they do provide them with a record that can reveal previous jobs, past addresses, aliases, and financial information such as recent inquiries, debts and legal actions.

 When an inquiry reveals an applicant has some serious financial problems, he or she may be denied a position based on information that is not representative of their workplace abilities.

 Quality of Life

 Every citizen has a right to a safe place to sleep, and by law are required to carry insurance when driving. Using credit to determine if an individual qualifies for a roof over their head or denying them the ability to abide by the law due to financial problems isn’t just immoral, it’s unlawful, and concerns over increased use of FICO scores to ostracize individuals with financial problems may soon force government bodies to step in and say enough is enough when it comes to inquiry.

 Until then, individuals can only try a clean record by making timely payments, avoiding collections, and removing unwanted inquiries with the help of

Inquiry Busters

to ensure they aren’t denied important opportunities.

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10 Unwanted Hard Inquiries That Will Damage Your Credit Score

If you have ever had to remove inquiries yourself or have contacted Inquiry Busters to remove inquiries, you probably had one or two from debts that you didn’t think about until it was too late, and that’s because when it comes to credit score, there are a handful of usual (but often forgotten) suspects.

 1. Defaulted Services

 You forget the cable bill, and now you're in collections. Services providers don't play around, if you miss more than two bills in a row, you will see hard inquiries on your bureau.

 2. Gym Memberships

 Although it might seem easier to just stop paying, if you don't cancel your gym membership properly, there will be hard inquiries from collections.

 3. Car Rentals

 Most rental agencies require a credit check when reserving by debit card. To avoid hard inquiries, use your credit card, there is no credit check and you can still pay it off right away.

 4. Overdue Rent

 Landlords aren’t interested in excuses, and if you are more than a month behind you will be reported.

 5. Unpaid Traffic Tickets

 If you don’t pay now, you will pay later. Unpaid parking or traffic tickets will damage your credit score.

 6. Unpaid Taxes

 Even if you evade the taxman for awhile, eventually you will be caught: don’t pay, don’t play.

 7. Unreturned Rental Items

 Library books, power tools, DVDs – whatever you borrow, if you don’t return it you will be charged daily late fees and eventually, the cost of the item, which will result in hard inquiries.

 8. Unpaid Medical Expenses

 Hospitals don’t chase people, they report them. If you don’t pay your deductable when it’s due, hard inquiries will damage your credit score later on.

 9. Unpaid PRAs (Payday Loans)

 When payday companies can’t find you they will sell your file, and that means hard inquiries from a variety of eager collectors.

 10. Applying for Credit

 Every credit card application you send means that you may have to remove inquiries later on, because every individual inquiry can damage your credit score by a handful of points.

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TransUnion is Improving Credit Scores for Consumers

Openly challenged by Vantage Score's new dynamic credit model, in 2015 TransUnion has rolled out its own commitment to improving credit: a better credit score for responsible payers, guaranteed.

 In fact, Trans Union's new Credit Vision suite is improving credit options by introducing scoring based on an account history of 30 months and performance data for the last 82 months. Still scoring individuals between 300 and 850, improving credit score criteria means that over 26.5 million customers who were previously unscoreable will now generate and be eligible for credit.

 What is the difference between a static and dynamic report?

 Static credit reports are an unchanging picture of your credit, as most recently reported by your lenders and debt collectors. Unlike a dynamic report, a static report will not show your current payments, how much you paid, or did you pay early etc. it will simply report on if you did or did not pay on time which means you are not actually rewarded for doing more than the bare minimum.

 Trans Union’s idea is actually a very smart one because improving credit should be easier for those who use credit responsibly, and do more with their credit than what they have to do. By using a new dynamic method, improving credit score is now about good practises not just minimum payments.

 How do should you start improving credit with the new model?

 Pay your bills on time or early, pay your bills in full, pay more than the minimum payment on your credit card products, avoid hard inquiries or remove inquiries with the help of Inquiry Busters, and avoid maxing out your credit cards or spending beyond what you can comfortably pay back.

 Will all lenders report data to the Credit Vision system?

 Unfortunately, no. While TransUnion is taking a step in the right direction, change takes time, and many businesses will continue reporting only the bare minimum which is: hard inquiries, payments made on time, minimum payments made, missed payments and defaulted loan amounts.

 But, although some lenders will need time to catch up, it still pays to focus on improving credit now.

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3 Ways to Boost Your Credit Score Fast

New house? Denied. New car? Denied. New job? Denied.

 It’s true, in today's digital age your credit score is tantamount to your professional reputation, and while a good score comes with all the perks, a bad score comes with all the problems. If you have found yourself in a position where you can't qualify for a credit, have multiple hard inquiries or your credit score is affecting your ability to live your life, it's time to think about your options.

 Although there is no quick-fix for a bad credit score, there are some things that can help give you a temporary boost right and away, and these include:

 1. Paying off any outstanding balances

 Keeping your credit card balances low (about 30% of your total limit) can help boost your credit score in as little as 30days.

 2. Paying off any outstanding collection items

 While paying off collection debts won't make bad credit good, it will prevent these debts from doing more damage or forcing a skip-trace inquiry. One step forward and two steps back never works, so step one of repairing your credit score means stopping it from getting any worse.

 3. Removing hard inquiries from your file

 By contacting companies you have dealt with directly, or hiring Inquiry Busters to do it for you, you can potentially raise your credit score by a handful of points immediately simply by removing some of the hard inquiries currently damaging your score.

 Remember, rebuilding your credit is a long-term investment

 While these tips are not the only things you can do to help your credit score, things, like paying your bills when they're due and establishing a history, take time, sometimes more time than you have. In these cases, it may make sense for you to get a co-signer if you need a product or service that requires credit right away because dual signature leads will appear on both bureaus as open trade and recent inquiry, improving both scores at the same time. Although risky, co-signing is a viable last-chance rebuilt option for individuals genuinely struggling to rebuild on their own.

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Hit Hard by Hard Inquiries – Get the Facts

If you've been hit hard by hard inquiries, you might not feel it right away - if fact, you probably won't feel it until it's time for you to borrow. Although multiple hard inquiries are an occasional fact of life, the reality of finance is this: lower score, higher rates.

 Even if you find a company that advertises low premiums, you may no longer be eligible if you have a mile long history of credit inquiry with other companies first.

 To help you, here are the real facts about hard inquiries:

 ·         Any more than 1-3 inquiries in 6 months can drastically lower your credit score

·         Any hard inquiries of a similar nature (such as vehicle loans or mortgages) processed in a 45 day period are protected, and count as a

·         single credit inquiry

·         Any hard inquiries that appear on your bureau can be removed if you did not give your express permission or, alternatively, if the company which processed your credit check cannot expressly prove that you gave permission

·         Any hard inquiries you make will remain active on your bureau for 2 years unless otherwise removed

·         Any credit inquiry you make in regards to your own credit will not reflect on your bureau because these inquiries are not considered hard inquiries

 Unfortunately, if the company you are dealing with isn't a reputable one you may find yourself out of both luck and options when it comes to improving credit, especially if you have been saddled with unwelcome or even illegal inquiries on your credit bureau.

 That said, if you plan on improving credit most if not all inquiries can be removed from your bureau if you're willing to put in the time and effort to get them taken off or choose to deal with Inquiry Busters, who will take care of the hard work for you. In most cases, even bad or poorly organized companies will remove unwanted inquiries to avoid conflict, which will allow you to begin improving credit immediately, but only as long as you’re willing to go the distance when it comes to the follow-up.

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Personal Inquiry: Are you headed for Bad a Credit Score?

You need to use credit to get credit, but when does credit use become more indicative of financial problems than future financial success? Here are 5 signs that your credit usage is out of control. 

1. You're charging because you're short on cash 

If you have a mile-long list of credit card inquiry on your credit report or you are always using your credit card because you want something right away, you might live high off the hog for a few months, but when you max out your cards you will be stuck with your financial problems. 

Credit is about convenience, but only if you can pay off your balance without stretching.

2. You're charging because you have no savings 

Emergency funds are crucial to financial success, and there is a limit to how many times you can rely on a credit card inquiry to result in a brand new, empty credit card. By relying on your ability to get credit as your “safety net” you are guaranteeing that sooner or later, you will have financial problems. 

3. You always apply for new cards when you can 

If you have a credit card for every store you visit, you have too many. Each time you apply for a new card, a new inquiry will appear on your bureau and each inquiry will lower your credit score. 

4. You pay off credit with credit whenever you can 

Although balance transfers (i.e. placing the balance from one card and on another card with a lower interest rate) can save you money in the long run, which only works if you have the means to pay it off? 

If you are going through credit card inquiry after credit card inquiry to get approved for a transfer, stop. 

5. You’re refinancing because you can’t pay up 

Although refinancing can help in the event of short-term financial stress (like a job loss)each instance will result in a new inquiry on your bureau lowering your credit score and costing you hundreds of dollars in interest over the length of your now-extended contract.

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Illegal Soft Inquires – 11 States Preventing Employers from Taking a Look

credit inquiryMost people know that when applying for an apartment or job they may go through a credit check, but did you know that it is not legal to process soft inquiries in all states? In some cases, soft inquiries performed by employers are actual illegal, and despite only 13% of hiring managers admitting to performing soft inquiries for employment purposes in 2012, that is still a significant number.

 However, in 2014, 39 newly introduced bills in 19 states resulted in 11 states preventing soft inquiries by introducing new employer restrictions.

 Employer credit checks encourage economic discrimination

 The push to restrict third-party credit access when it comes to employment and residential services isn’t new, and that is because in most cases persons with good credit have steady cash flow, meaning that individuals with financial problems are effectively being ‘punished’ for having bad credit caused by low income, and are being denied the option of improving credit or circumstance.

 In other words, if employers can discriminate against potential employees based solely on the fact that they may have had bad credit in the past, they can be prevented from ever improving credit.

 What does it mean to live in a no-credit state?

 Although soft inquiries are still permitted for law enforcement officers and in select financial sectors, all other employers in restricted states will face penalization if they perform unlawful soft inquiries.

 Currently, states which no longer permit soft inquiries for employment are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

 This means that employees in these states (regardless of if they do or do not have existing financial problems) do not have to consent to a credit check, and if they are asked during their application process to sign a consent form, they are actually being asked to waive their legal rights.

 Do employment checks stay on your credit score?

 Unlike hard inquiries that you would remove with the help of Inquiry Busters, soft inquiries won't stay on record - but, that doesn't mean you should consent to a credit check you don’t want.

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What Happens During a Credit Inquiry?

It might seem like everything these days requires a credit check - a new cell phone, a cable account, an apartment, a new job. In fact, for many Americans, it might seem like even the phrase "credit check" should come with a stack of legal paperwork, but what exactly happens when a business checks credit score and leaves behind a credit inquiry? 

1. You immediately pass or fail 

The first thing that happens when a credit inquiry takes place is that your credit score is revealed, and most lenders have a system to generate an automatic pass or fail based on their own credit inquiry requirements. Not all companies require a perfect score, so even if your credit score is low, you might still pass if it’s higher than this number. 

2. You pass, and your file is reviewed 

Maybe you have okay credit, but what does the rest of your file say about you and any potential financial problems you might have? Maybe your car is six payments behind, or your credit card is maxed out. Because credit bureau updates aren't instant, you can have a good credit score but a terrible credit profile which (during a credit inquiry) will tell your lender that ongoing financial problems are going to turn your good score sour. 

Remember, what your lender is mainly looking at during a credit inquiry is if you do or don’t have large debts or the potential to have large debts (i.e. 3 brand new credit cards with no spending history) as each of these credit surprises can spell problems later on. 

3. You pass the review, and your DTI gets checked 

During your credit inquiry, a responsible lender will add up the minimum payments on all of your debts including co-signed debts and divide it by your income to get your debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The higher the DTI, the more risk you are, because even if you make $5000 per month, if you owe $4900 you don’t have a lot of wiggle room. 

Remember, most of the time credit inquiry still relies on the human element, and in order to rule out clients with financial problems, businesses are reviewing you by hand which is why is pays to keep up with your payments and remove unwanted inquiries with the help of Inquiry Busters.

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Get Ready for Retirement – Remove Inquiries, Repair Credit

Chances are if you are ready to retire, you already have a house, a car, or other investments, after spending your working years carefully monitoring your credit or taking the opportunity to remove inquiries to improve your score, you probably don’t want to do it anymore.

 But, is it really a good idea to just forget about your credit?

 Plan for Tomorrow, Live for Today

 Would you like to purchase a vacation property, travel, or just enjoy new activities? As nice as it is to imagine the best of your retirement, a certain degree of practicality is required. If you are considering purchasing property, you will want your credit score to be the best it can be which may mean delaying retirement, planning to remove inquiries, or opening a new line of credit. If you plan to travel, you may want the convenience and protection of a credit card over carrying cash.

 Tips for improving your credit score before retirement

 1. Remove unwanted hard inquiries

 We’ve said we’ll say it again, hard inquiries are serious business. Individuals with multiple hard inquiries can push their score up quickly by electing to remove inquirieswith Inquiry Busters.

 2. Use a credit card for everyday spending

 You might not need to use a credit card, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use one. By using (and paying off!) a credit card regularly, you can maintain your overall credit health. If you need to apply for multiple cards to get one, however, always remove inquiries associated with shopping around.

 3. Check your credit to prevent fraud

 An inactive credit score is an easy target, and while checking your bureau regularly won’t improve your score, it will prevent someone else from damaging it and prevent having to remove inquirieslater on.

 Before you retire, remember:

 Good credit doesn’t last forever, and failure to use it will result in a decline in your credit score over time. Although quick-fixes are out there, you will only have so many opportunities to remove inquiries or continue making payments before you will have to address other credit health options.

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3 Ways to Remove Inquiries for your Credit Bureau

If you're trying to figure out how the remove inquiries from your credit report, chances are you have already pulled your credit score, reviewed your hard inquiries and maybe even contacted the companies responsible, but haven't gotten very far. Unfortunately, this is because the companies you are dealing with don’t want to remove inquiries. 

Although technically hard inquiries should only occur if you have given your permission, it doesn’t always work that way. Because the onus is on the company that performs the check to prove you authorized it and in most cases they can't, the best way to deal with you is to ignore your requests to remove inquiries that they can’t prove. 

The ugly truth is that many businesses count on the fact that you don’t have the time to check in daily, making it much easier to ignore the problem (you) until it goes away. 

So, what should you do if you’re trying to fix your credit score and don't see results? 

1. Hire a professional to remove hard inquiries 

Inquiry Busters works for you, and because uncooperative businesses take of advantage of your busy schedule by making themselves unavailable, you need someone knows how to remove inquiries and can pick up the phone every hour. 

2. Approach the credit bureau directly 

If you are working on your own, 30 days after your first message, email, or letter to the company in question, you should contact each of your three bureaus directly, fill out an official dispute and state that you requested to remove inquiries and were ignored. 

3. Hire a lawyer to handle the issue for you 

Although lawyers are effective, they're also expensive, and it might not be the best idea to hire a lawyer to remove inquiries unless the company that you’re dealing with has performed a number of unlawful checks that you can prove damaged your credit score. 

Remember, if you will pay out more money than you stand to gain after you remove inquiries from your bureau, consider what you can realistically afford - an inquiry removal team will always be less expensive, but can’t provide any kind of settlement.

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Is there a catch to your free credit inquiry?

Responsible credit seekers know the do's and don’ts of maintaining good credit: don’t overuse your credit, don’t seek excessive credit, do check your credit score regularly, do keep tabs on your debts, do review each new credit inquiry that appears on your credit bureau carefully and do work on improving credit over time.

 Is every credit inquiry created equal?

 Truthfully, the answer is no. Although many companies advertise free credit reports or credit monitoring, the only official credit inquiry guaranteed by law comes directly from your bureau. Because of the amount of sensitive personal information entered online to retrieve your free credit report, if you are not trying to check your credit using TransUnion, Equifax or Experian, there is no guarantee that the website you’re using (no matter how professional looking it may be) is legitimate.

 What should you know about free credit inquiry?

 Your credit report and your credit score are different.

 A credit score is generated based on information contained in your credit report, which details the number of debts you have, what (if any) debts are in collections, what's being paid, if that payment is timely, your most recent credit inquiry etc. When you request your credit report, it will not contain your credit score as this can only be obtained from FICO and it is not free by law.

 Unless you are familiar with reading a credit report, or understand what factors contribute to your score, requesting a credit inquiry might not actually help you determine your credit score. Although common sense will tell you that responsible use of credit is good and abuse of credit is bad, there is no system in place to explain the exact value of every single trade line or credit inquiry.

 For most, ordering your free credit report is just a snapshot of your current activities, and will help those planning on improving credit with the help of Inquiry Busters inquiry removal service, or assist in

improving credit

by getting a better understanding of how they use credit over time.

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Credit Inquiry Letters, Notes and Flags.

Occasionally when shopping around, multiple hard inquiries will appear on your credit report, affecting your credit score. Because of this, a potential lender may ask for a credit inquiry letter to explain what these hard inquiries were for, determining if you are a high-risk customer or not.

 Typically these credit inquiry letters contain basic information such as which company checked your credit, when, and why. How well you are able to explain hard inquiries when writing a credit inquiry letter can determine a yes or a no, so in most cases, contacting the professionals at Inquiry Busters is in your best interest, but if choose to write you own you should include:

 ·         Name, current date, salutation and subject

·         A brief overview of the inquiries in question

·         A list of each credit inquiry with the following:

o   Company name

o   Date of credit inquiry

o   Reason for credit inquiry

o   Was credit granted, yes or no.

·         A brief overview of supporting documents (if attached)

·         Name, phone number, email and signature

 Credit Bureau Notes

 Alternatively, for individuals who don't want to waste time creating a new credit inquiry letter each time you are looking for new credit, you can contact each credit reporting agency directly (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) and request that they add a brief note to explain your situation to future lenders. This note should be less than 125 characters and read something like this: Jul 2014 to Aug 2014 multiple inquiries for new vehicle, financed via 123 Car Loans.

 After adding a note, any company that has actually read your report (and any reputable company should) will already know everything they need to know about your inquiries and credit score.

 Fraud Flags

 If are the victim of fraud and have alreadycontacted the police, you can also add a fraud flag to your bureau to explain a bad credit score, collection items, or debts, and also to ensure that each time your credit is checked, the agency responsible is required by law to call you and verify.

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Improving Credit in Five Easy Steps

So, you checked your credit score and the results weren't pretty.

 You have a lower score than you expected, and maybe some collection items you didn't know you had. Don't worry, the good news is that a bad credit score doesn’t last forever and if you plan on improving credit over time, here are five great tips to get you started. 

1. Always pay your bills on time 

Even being late by one day can register on your bureau making improving credit more difficult. If you have no choice (and it happens) call your service provider, explain your situation honestly, and ask if they can change your due date as a one-time courtesy. 

2. Get the facts about collections 

When improving credit, keep in mind that paying off a collection debt will not remove it from your credit report, but it will stop it from doing more damage. Collection items will remain on your credit score for 7 years regardless of if they are paid or not, but left unpaid they can prevent you from improving credit by continuing to cause damage. 

3. If you can't pay, admit you can't pay 

Debt piles up, it happens. Maybe you lost your job, or had an illness, and the farther behind you became the harder it was to catch back up. If you're swimming in debt, don't try to steal from Peter to pay Paul, contact a credit counselor. Remember, there are always alternatives to bankruptcy and improving credit doesn’t mean being perfect. 

4. Don't close cards, just keep them empty 

Closing a line of credit really won't help you in the long run. It is better to have multiple cards with low, controllable balances than one that is maxed out. Even if you manage to pay off a card, resist the impulse to cancel it when improving credit. 

5. Remove unwanted or old inquiries 

Hard inquiries affect your credit score. Depending on how low your score was before you began improving credit, many of the hard inquiries might not be from you but from collectors attempting to skip trace you for new legal information. To remove these hard inquiries, try contacting the professionals at Inquiry Busters- it's what we do best!

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Avoid Hard Inquiries That Aren’t Yours –Top 10 Anti-Fraud Tips (Part 2)

Last week Inquiry Busters introduced the first five of our Top 10 Anti-Fraud Tips, and today we are finishing off the list to help you keep your financial identity safe. Once your identity is stolen all you can do is contact the police and contact any organization that granted fraudulent credit in your name. 

To avoid this and any debts or hard inquiries that might result from identity theft: 

6. Keep your social media private 

Friends, family, and business partners only! If you need to have a social profile that is also public, protect yourself from identity theft or unwanted hard inquiries by not sharing sensitive information. 

7. Shred old and unused documents 

Trash-sifting is one way that thieves gain access to your information. Always use a two-way shredder for paper documents so would-be thieves cannot get credit or generate hard inquiries in your name. 

8. Cut cards and trash them safely 

If you have an expired credit card, driver's license, or other piece of identifying I.D., cut up the card into the smaller pieces that you can and throw out over a period of a few days in separate trash bags. 

9. Access your credit score often 

Check your credit score. Check your credit score again. Keep checking it every six months to a year, and keep tabs on any charges, hard inquiries, or new trade lines that you aren't responsible for adding. 

10. Insure yourself against theft 

Most credit bureaus now offer identity theft protection to ensure your credit score is protected, you are alerted to new hard inquiries, and you are not liable for any transactions that you did not authorize. 

How to remove inquiries as the result of fraud? 

In most cases, companies will remove inquiries if you can prove that these hard inquiries are fraudulent – but, that places the onus on you. Instead, contact the professionals at Inquiry Busters to remove inquiries faster to begin rebuilding your credit sooner and put the onus back where it belongs: on the shoulders of the business that failed to verify your identity before authorizing credit in your name.

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Avoid Hard Inquiries That Aren’t Yours –Top 10 Anti-Fraud Tips (Part 1)

It’s your worst financial nightmare: you apply for a credit card or a loan, and you get turned down for a bad credit score even though you have done everything right, made your payments on time, limited hard inquiries, and kept your credit card balances low. Unfortunately, fraud isn’t as uncommon as you think, and even if the person who has assumed your identity isn’t actually granted credit, they can still destroy your credit score with hard inquiries simply by applying for it.

 If you aren’t sure how to protect your identity, here are 10 tips to keep your credit score safe.

 1. There is such thing as TMI

 TMI stands for "too much information". Just because there is a white box that asks for your SIN or credit card information online, that doesn't necessarily mean you need to enter it. If you have the option not to share information, don't. This is the best way to avoid stolen information and unwanted hard inquiries.

 2. Use smart security questions

 If you're secret question is "what is my first job" and you have listed your current career as your first and only, you have just provided a would-be thief with enough information to access your personal data.

 3. Lock down your email accounts

 A thief with email access can password reset every password you have, and access every website you deal with in minutes potentially leading to stolen information and unwanted hard inquiries.

 4. Delete old or unused profiles

 Leaving your data on websites that you don't use or monitor regularly can lead to theft. If you don't need it, don't keep it. This is the best way to avoid unwanted hard inquiries, trade, or identity theft.

 5. Stop using the same password

 Most people use the same password site-to-site, but there's a good reason why you shouldn't: it's too easy. Most identity theft can be avoided by making sure it takes too much work to hack your profiles.

 Remember: No access, no unwanted transactions, hard inquiries or future financial problems. But, if you do have unwanted hard inquiries damaging your credit score, Inquiry Busters can help you.

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Financial Problems Caused by Bad Credit

Are your financial problems caused by bad credit? Chances are, probably. 

Let’s face it, credit is important and without it, you may not have the means to enjoy your life how you want to, when you want to- but, seeking credit isn’t always smart. 

Most Americans understand the basics of credit: make your payments, don't default, and spend wisely. But, while avoiding financial problems might be common sense, how many credit products a person should have and when it’s time to stop applying isn’t. 

To better understand what a credit inquiry really does, you need to understand that every time you click "submit" or sign an application for credit, your credit report is scrubbed by the company you are applying with. This company is checking for potential financial problems by checking if you make your payments, if you have a reasonable debt load and also, how many other companies you have applied with. 

Together, each individual inquiry makes up your bureau’s hard inquiries list. 

Remember, credit scores aren’t instant. 

Hard inquiries typically show up within a few days, but it can take a few weeks for credit granted to actually show up or reveal any underlying financial problems. This means that if you have applied for three credit cards and are now applying for a fourth in less than 30 days, the fourth company will have to assume (based on each inquiry) that you may have been approved for each card, and could already owe a lot of money. 

While that might not seem exactly fair, that's just how the system works. For a prospective lender, rapidly seeking credit spells one thing: financial problems. It shows that you are desperate for credit and by extension, are probably desperate for money. 

While this may not always be the case, for those unlucky few who really do have financial problems, the major worry is that the inability to get credit right away will prevent getting it in the future, but this isn't necessarily true. If you have been denied credit due to over-application, stop applying and seek help from the professionals at Inquiry Busters to prevent your hard inquiries from causing you and your family financial problems in future. 

Remember, inquiries can almost always be removed – you just need help!

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Second-Look Mortgages – When Soft Inquiries Cause Problems

Most financial institutions don't want you to know that soft inquiries or "second looks" can make or break your mortgage, but the truth is that anything you do financially between first approval and finalization can change the outcome of your application. 

Now, although soft inquiries won't affect your credit, they will reveal anything that has gone on in your bureau since you first applied. This means that recently defaulted payments or new lines or credit revealed during these soft inquiries could potentially prevent you from getting the mortgage you want, or the rate you were initially quoted. 

So, if you’re still shopping around what kind of hard inquiries should you avoid? 

1. Purchasing a vehicle 

Financing a vehicle is a bad idea both for the hard inquiries that will appear on your bureau and the new trade line that will be opened (both of which affect credit score). 

2. Excessive charging 

While you may be tempted to furnish your new house on credit, taking your cards to the limit lowers credit score and tells your lender that you can’t handle any more debt. 

3. Missing payments 

If you can't pay your phone bill, you probably can't pay your mortgage. While you should never miss payments regardless of if you are mortgage hunting or not, missing payments before finalization will give a bad impression during soft inquiries. 

4. Taking out a new line of credit 

If you are offered a pre-approved credit card before you sign, don't take it. Remember, your lender assumes that if you can spend, you will spend, and even if your new $3000 credit card is empty, you now have additional hard inquiries that you may need to remove with the help of Inquiry Busters, and are also $3000 riskier. 

5. Cancel an existing line of credit 

Maybe you have an old card you don't need, you've had it for years and don't use it anymore so you decide to cancel it- big mistake! Regardless of if you don't use the card regularly, it contributes to your overall credit score and proves that despite having access to credit, you haven't used it, and can be trusted to handle your debt responsibly. 

In short, if it involves credit – don’t! Always wait until your mortgage is finalized first.