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Report shows all inquiries, but they may be counted as only one

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Topics addressed on September 1, 2009:

Report shows all inquiries, but they may be counted as only one

Dear Experian,

I was under the impression that if you sought after a specific type of loan, such as an auto loan, within a 10 day time frame that it would only post on your report once. However, one car dealer hit my credit three different times for the same auto loan application. Why are all three on my report?

- KIR

Dear KIR,

Multiple inquiries for auto loans and mortgage loans typically are counted by credit scores as a single inquiry when they occur within a 14 day period. However, all of the inquiries will show on your credit report.

Auto dealers often share your application with multiple lenders in search of the best loan terms for you. The practice is sometimes called shotgunning. In your situation, they sent your application to three different lenders.

An inquiry was added for each of the lenders when they requested your credit report to review it in response to the application.

However, the inquiries are coded so that they can be recognized as auto loan inquiries. Even though all three appear in your credit report, the automated scoring systems count them as only one. Therefore, they will have very little, if any, impact on your credit scores.

All of the inquiries are shown because it is important that you have a complete record of who has accessed your credit report.

Thanks for asking.

- The ”Ask Experian“ team

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