Updated: December 15, 2025 How to Get Rid of Bad Inquiries on Your Credit Report
Overview
Whenever you apply for a new loan or a credit card, the lender performs a check on your financial history. This check is known as a credit inquiry. Understanding the difference between the two types of inquiries is essential for protecting your credit score.
The Two Types of Inquiries
- Soft Inquiries: These are harmless. They happen when you check your own credit score or when a company checks your profile for pre-approved offers. They do not affect your score and are not visible to lenders.
- Hard Inquiries: A hard inquiry occurs when a lender formally checks your report to decide on your credit application. These are logged on your report and can temporarily lower your score, especially if you have many of them.
When to Fight Back
If a single hard inquiry causes a small dip, multiple inquiries in a short timeframe can signal “credit-hungry” behavior, which makes lenders nervous. If you see multiple inquiries, you may wonder how to remove them.
Here is the crucial rule: You can only remove unauthorized or incorrect hard inquiries.
- Unauthorized: An inquiry made without your consent, possibly due to identity theft or fraud.
- Inaccurate: The same application shows up twice, or the date/lender name is wrong.
You cannot remove legitimate inquiries that were made when you actually applied for a loan. Those factual entries will automatically fall off your report after about two years.
The Simple Process for Removal
If you find a suspicious hard inquiry, follow these steps to initiate a dispute:
- Check Your Report: Get your detailed credit report from a bureau like CRIF. Go to the “Enquiry Information” section and highlight any entries you didn’t authorize.
- Raise a Dispute: Visit the credit bureau’s website and navigate to the Dispute Resolution section. Fill out the form, clearly stating that the inquiry was unauthorized or inaccurate. If you have evidence of identity theft, submit it. The bureau will investigate the claim within 30 days.
- Follow Up with the Lender: If a specific bank made the bad inquiry, contact them directly to ask them to clarify or remove the entry. Lender confirmation helps speed up the bureau’s resolution process.
Your Best Defense is Discipline
To stop inquiries from hurting your score in the first place, you need to be smart:
- Space Out Applications: Avoid applying for multiple loans or credit cards simultaneously. Time your applications smartly over several months.
- Check Smartly: Use comparison platforms that perform soft checks when you shop for rates, rather than initiating a hard inquiry just to look.
Conclusion
Do not let fraudulent inquiries tank your score; dispute them immediately. After that, focus on strong payment habits to quickly outweigh the minor impact of legitimate credit checks.
