LevelCredit Blog How Many Points Does Your Credit Score Go Down for an Inquiry?

Hard Credit Inquiries Hard credit inquiries, also known as "hard pulls", are typically performed by credit lenders when you are seeking a mortgage, auto loan, credit card, or student loan. Hard pulls can directly affect your credit score. Why? Because they indicate that you are seeking new lines of credit. Repeatedly seeking new lines of credit would be a worry for lenders, so each hard pull tends to temporarily decrease your credit score by a few points.