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Soft inquiry: what it means

A soft inquiry is a review of your credit file that does not affect your score. It includes reviews of your existing accounts by your lenders or insurers, prescreened offers from prospective lenders, employment screening and your own requests for your credit report.

In Spanish it is

Consulta suave

Also written as: soft pull · soft credit check

A hand takes a leaflet out of a mailbox at an apartment building.

Verified on October 17, 2026

2 official sources

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

Only you see it when you review your report; businesses that buy your report do not. That is why checking your own credit report, even often, does not lower your score.

An example

Diana checks her credit report before house hunting and sees several inquiries from card companies that sent her offers. They are soft inquiries and did not lower her score.

You will see it in…

Your own credit report, in the list of inquiries only you can see
Prescreened card offers
Periodic account reviews by your bank or insurer

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

More guides that use “soft inquiry”

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. CFPB · What is a credit inquiry? (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
2. CFPB · What kind of credit inquiry has no effect on my credit score? (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026