If you have started to understand credit and how to raise your credit score, you are probably familiar with the term “Hard Pull”. But what exactly does that mean? And when you are looking for a month to month loan you have probably seen advertising that states, “We only do a soft pull to your credit”. What does that mean? In this article we are going to define what a Hard Pull and a Soft Pull are and give you some information on what each does to your credit score.

A “Pull” is a request or inquiry for your credit scores.

Hard Pull/Inquiry

Any time that you apply for new credit (Month to Month Loan, Mortgage, Car loan, Online Personal Loan, Student Loan, and Credit Card) you have a credit check done to see your credit worthiness. This an official request for your credit score details is known as a “Hard Inquiry” or “Hard Pull”. The potential creditor can see how you’ve handled loans in the past, how often you’ve paid your debts and bills on time, and whether you have any derogatory remarks on your credit reports. You have to authorize hard inquiry to be done, because this request is notated on your credit report and may impact your credit score. Multiple hard inquires in a short period could lead lenders and credit card issuers to consider you a higher-risk customer, as it suggests you may be short on cash, getting ready to rack up a lot of debt, or have been denied by other creditors. Having more than 2 hard inquires a year starts impacting your credit negatively. To keep your credit as high as possible consider spreading out your credit applications. Hard inquires stay on your credit reports for about two years.

Soft Pull/Inquiry

You can prepare for obtaining a month to month loan, by monitoring your credit scores and checking your own credit reports through a soft credit inquiry named also called a ‘’Soft Pull’’.

“Soft pulls” happen when a person or company checks your credit as part of a background check. This can be done without your permission to see if you qualify for certain credit card offers. Your employer might also run a soft inquiry before hiring you. Soft inquiries won’t affect your credit scores as they only give out your score, but no other financial information and they’re only visible to you when you view your credit reports

We recommend checking your credit report and if you find any errors, such as a hard inquiry that occurred without your permission, consider disputing it with the credit bureau. You can contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, for further assistance. This could be a sign of identity theft, so you must be attentive.

Common hard inquiries

• New loans applications

• Mortgage applications

• Auto loan applications

• Credit card applications

• Student loan applications

• Personal loan applications

• Apartment rental applications

• New utilities set up

Common soft inquiries

• Checking your own credit report

• Credit card offers or insurance quotes

• Employment verification, utility, cable, internet, and cellphone providers

Applying with 60monthloans for personal online loan won’t affect your credit score as we only use a soft pull checking and our verification is not recorded in the credit report at all. This means that if you do not qualify for a loan with 60monthloans or you decide not to lend with us, the soft pull involved will not be reflected in your credit report.