If you are receiving unsolicited phone calls from an entity pretending to be ACCC (a trusted non-profit credit counseling agency), please be assured that ACCC’s policy is NEVER to contact you unless you’ve explicitly requested us to call you. Also be cautious of emails from an unusual or unfamiliar domain. ACCC’s domain extension is @consumercredit.com, and any emails using a different extension should be treated with suspicion.

×

ACCC’s Client Login allows current clients to access their program information, including the due date, program benefits, and other documents.

Select a Client Login below based on the service that you are currently enrolled in:

Debt Management Program

Client Login

Not yet a client, but looking to get started?

ACCC offers debt relief options to individuals and families that are suffering from stress related to credit card debt by providing effective credit counseling, helping to consolidate debt, and advising on debt management.

Get Started

Wait!

You are now leaving the Consumer Credit website and are going to a website that is not operated by ACCC. We are not responsible for the content or availability of linked sites.

Are you sure you want to leave?

No, return me to the previous page.

Yes

How Many Credit Inquiries Is Too Many?

One of the factors that determines your credit score is the number of credit inquiries on your credit report. You will see a credit inquiry on your report every time you apply for a new loan or line of credit. The general advice that personal finance experts often give is to not have “too many” credit inquiries. But how many is too many? We’ll explain everything you need to know about the ideal number of inquiries and other factors that determine your credit score.

Our credit counseling advice is to limit credit inquiries.

Our credit counseling advice is to limit credit inquiries.

What is a credit inquiry?

A credit inquiry is a record of a request of your credit report. Any time a creditor or lender pulls your credit report, this is called a credit inquiry. This is how they determine whether or not they will approve you for a loan or credit card. There are two different types of credit inquiries: hard inquiries and soft inquiries.

A hard inquiry is when the creditor or lender pulls your credit report after you apply for a credit card or loan, whereas a soft inquiry is when you check your own report or credit score. If an insurance company pulls your credit report for a quote or an employer does a background check, it also counts as a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries do not hurt your credit score. However, a hard inquiry can drop your credit score by a few points. This is why you should not have too many credit inquiries in a given time period. These inquiries stay on your credit report for about two years.

How many credit inquiries is too many?

As a general rule of thumb, you should only apply for new credit when you need it. Our credit counseling advice is to try to keep your credit applications to a minimum. Having more than a couple of inquiries a year can be red flag to lenders. This is because it may seem like you’re overly reliant on credit cards if you keep applying for them. However, if you’re shopping around for the best mortgage rates, it may be a good idea to apply to multiple lenders. As long as you do this within a 45 day window, this will likely not impact your credit score.

Other factors to consider

Credit inquiries only account for a small percentage of your overall score. There are several other factors that make up your credit score. These include:

  • Payment history (35%)
  • Credit utilization rate (30%)
  • Length of credit history (15%)
  • Credit mix (10%)
  • New inquires (10%)

As you can see, payment history and credit utilization rate are the two most important factors in determining your credit score. New credit inquiries only account for 10% of your total score. For this reason, if you’re trying to improve your credit score, it’s more important to prioritize paying on time, keeping credit card balances low, and paying down existing debt. You should still keep the less significant factors in mind, but don’t focus on them too much.

If you struggle to pay off debt, ACCC can help. Sign up for a free credit counseling session with us today! 

ABOUT AUTHOR / Madison

Madison is a Marketing Communications & Programs Associate at ACCC. She is excited to share her tips on saving money and being financially responsible here on the Talking Cents blog!

View all author posts →

creditU

Your Ultimate Money Management App

Meet CreditU, the ultimate one-stop debt and financial management app! See your full financial overview, including debts, income, expenses, and savings.

CreditU Apple App Store
Dev Tool:

Request: blog/how-many-credit-inquiries-is-too-many
Matched Rewrite Rule: blog/([^/]+)/?$
Matched Rewrite Query: post_type=post&name=how-many-credit-inquiries-is-too-many
Loaded Template: single.php