Soft vs. Hard: What do creditors actually see?

[Aahz]

I've searched all over today trying to find the difference between a soft inquiry and a hard inquiry. With no luck.

 

I know how they effect your scores and reports differently. What I'm looking for is what's different for the person/corp pulling the report.

[BDK]

Creditors cannot see softs. Only you can.

Edited January 31, 2015 by BDK

[JayB27]

Nothing.

 

Only difference is how its shown to OTHER creditors.

[BJKill]

I think he means is there any difference in what the lender gets to see if he does a SP versus an HP on your file. I have read that the SP lacks some specific data but I'm not clear what that is.

[BDK]

I think he means is there any difference in what the lender gets to see if he does a SP versus an HP on your file. I have read that the SP lacks some specific data but I'm not clear what that is.

Yeah like Jay said, nothing.

[BJKill]

Oh, I was reading it wrong. So they get the exact same data? I think this issue must be pretty muddled up. The other credit site has about 100 threads on it.

 

I bet that lenders are "supposed" to do hards to leave a trail of who is asking for credit. It's probably somewhere in their agreements with the bureaus or something.

 

If they get the same data, the only reason to pull a hard (no sex please) is to hurt you. How petty does that make Discover with their HP's for a $500 CLI? Geez.

[Aahz]

I think he means is there any difference in what the lender gets to see if he does a SP versus an HP on your file. I have read that the SP lacks some specific data but I'm not clear what that is.

Yes this is what I mean

 

 

I think he means is there any difference in what the lender gets to see if he does a SP versus an HP on your file. I have read that the SP lacks some specific data but I'm not clear what that is.

Yeah like Jay said, nothing.

 

So when Creditor X does a soft for pre-approval they're seeing the exact same thing as when they then do a hard for final approval?

 

That doesn't make sense to me. Why pay twice (and presumable more the second time) for the exact same info?

[AnnMichele]

If they can see the same information why can't they just always do a soft pull?! It would make life A LOT easier...

 

Of course they would never do that because I'm sure plenty of people would go app crazy. Myself included.

[BDK]

Exactly.

[cashnocredit]

Exactly.

 

All existing creditors could pull hard, not just soft. It's to lender's advantage to pull hard only when someone is seeking new credit and most, but not all, do so. Nobody wants to poison the well.

[BDK]

 

Exactly.

 

All existing creditors could pull hard, not just soft. It's to lender's advantage to pull hard only when someone is seeking new credit and most, but not all, do so. Nobody wants to poison the well.

 

You should explain this...

[ubercat]

Perhaps OP is asking if pre-qual soft pulls show as much information as a 'full' application?

 

With a pre-qual promo pull only the last 4 of the SS# are used. Maybe OP is wondering how much info is shown at that point?

[Goose123]

Marvbear has a thread on it somewhere

[Aahz]

 

 

Exactly.

 

All existing creditors could pull hard, not just soft. It's to lender's advantage to pull hard only when someone is seeking new credit and most, but not all, do so. Nobody wants to poison the well.

 

You should explain this...

 

Please do! I'm still very confused

[Aahz]

Perhaps OP is asking if pre-qual soft pulls show as much information as a 'full' application?

 

With a pre-qual promo pull only the last 4 of the SS# are used. Maybe OP is wondering how much info is shown at that point?

Yes, this is what I'm wondering.

 

If I were to pull someone's credit (somehow legitimately) and I did a soft-pull, then did a hard pull, and placed the two results side by side, what would be the difference.

[LakersFan]

I was always wondering about this as well.

 

Here's how they explain it on one report I have from TU

 

 

Regular Inquiries are posted when someone accesses your credit information from TransUnion. The presence of an inquiry means that the company listed received your credit information on the dates specified. These inquiries will remain on your credit file for up to 2 years.

 

 

Promotional Inquiries:

The companies listed below received your name, address and other limited information about you so they could make a firm offer of credit or insurance. They did not receive your full credit report. These inquiries are not seen by anyone but you and do not affect your score.

 

Account Review Inquiries

The listing of a company's inquiry in this section means that they obtained information from your credit file in connection with an account review or other business transaction with you. These inquiries are not seen by anyone but you and will not be used in scoring your credit file (except insurance companies may have access to other insurance company inquiries, certain collection companies may have access to other collection company inquiries, and users of a report for employment purposes may have access to other employment inquiries, where permitted by law).

[ubercat]

 

Perhaps OP is asking if pre-qual soft pulls show as much information as a 'full' application?

 

With a pre-qual promo pull only the last 4 of the SS# are used. Maybe OP is wondering how much info is shown at that point?

Yes, this is what I'm wondering.

 

If I were to pull someone's credit (somehow legitimately) and I did a soft-pull, then did a hard pull, and placed the two results side by side, what would be the difference.

 

 

I have the answer to this bookmarked. It'll take a while to find it.

[cashnocredit]

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

All existing creditors could pull hard, not just soft. It's to lender's advantage to pull hard only when someone is seeking new credit and most, but not all, do so. Nobody wants to poison the well.

 

You should explain this...

 

Please do! I'm still very confused

 

 

It's mutually beneficial. It is by conventional practice, long incorporated in scoring. Hard inqs. mean you are seeking credit. Lots of them are a warning to look closer before granting. Soft are essential and often frequent for monitoring accounts.

[Jega]

 

 

Perhaps OP is asking if pre-qual soft pulls show as much information as a 'full' application?

 

With a pre-qual promo pull only the last 4 of the SS# are used. Maybe OP is wondering how much info is shown at that point?

Yes, this is what I'm wondering.

 

If I were to pull someone's credit (somehow legitimately) and I did a soft-pull, then did a hard pull, and placed the two results side by side, what would be the difference.

 

 

I have the answer to this bookmarked. It'll take a while to find it.

 

I'd love to see it!

[BDK]

 

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

All existing creditors could pull hard, not just soft. It's to lender's advantage to pull hard only when someone is seeking new credit and most, but not all, do so. Nobody wants to poison the well.

 

You should explain this...

 

Please do! I'm still very confused

 

 

It's mutually beneficial. It is by conventional practice, long incorporated in scoring. Hard inqs. mean you are seeking credit. Lots of them are a warning to look closer before granting. Soft are essential and often frequent for monitoring accounts.

 

Thank you for clarifying!!

[ubercat]

 

 

 

Perhaps OP is asking if pre-qual soft pulls show as much information as a 'full' application?

 

With a pre-qual promo pull only the last 4 of the SS# are used. Maybe OP is wondering how much info is shown at that point?

Yes, this is what I'm wondering.

 

If I were to pull someone's credit (somehow legitimately) and I did a soft-pull, then did a hard pull, and placed the two results side by side, what would be the difference.

 

 

I have the answer to this bookmarked. It'll take a while to find it.

 

I'd love to see it!

 

 

From memory, I think shifty can answer this straight away. I think Bob can also.

 

Back with linkage asaic.

[Aahz]

 

 

 

 

Perhaps OP is asking if pre-qual soft pulls show as much information as a 'full' application?

 

With a pre-qual promo pull only the last 4 of the SS# are used. Maybe OP is wondering how much info is shown at that point?

Yes, this is what I'm wondering.

 

If I were to pull someone's credit (somehow legitimately) and I did a soft-pull, then did a hard pull, and placed the two results side by side, what would be the difference.

 

 

I have the answer to this bookmarked. It'll take a while to find it.

 

I'd love to see it!

 

 

From memory, I think shifty can answer this straight away. I think Bob can also.

 

Back with linkage asaic.

 

[cashnocredit]

A hard or soft pull depends on the category the creditor chooses when they pull.

 

The information they see depends on how much they pay. Most softs are for so called "firm offers of credit" and they see nothing. They just enter screening data and get a list of people that meet it. Softs that are account reviews are more complete, possibly with scores, depending on what the creditor is willing to pay. Pulls never have more information than is provided by a consumer getting their direct report and creditors don't see other softs.

[PotO]

 

I think he means is there any difference in what the lender gets to see if he does a SP versus an HP on your file. I have read that the SP lacks some specific data but I'm not clear what that is.

 

Yes this is what I mean

 

 

I think he means is there any difference in what the lender gets to see if he does a SP versus an HP on your file. I have read that the SP lacks some specific data but I'm not clear what that is.

 

Yeah like Jay said, nothing.

So when Creditor X does a soft for pre-approval they're seeing the exact same thing as when they then do a hard for final approval?

That doesn't make sense to me. Why pay twice (and presumable more the second time) for the exact same info?

There are many categories of soft pulls. A soft for pre-approvals only gets your contact data as they don't have -- yet -- permissible purpose to see anything else.

 

Navy once gave me a CLI based on a soft when I told them I wasn't interested in unfreezing my EQ for a CLI request I made. After they pulled the soft, talking with them I know they got all the data on that soft that they would have gotten with a hard.

[Revelate]

Looked at the other way, how is it in the lender's' or the CRA's best interests to not show the full monty on the SP on an account review?

 

I've never gotten the chance to see a SP of a credit report from any of the lending institutions I worked at; however, it doesn't make much sense to me either from a business or technology side (reducing data set is going to almost certainly be more compute intensive than just retrieving the full record), and the lenders are the CRA's customers and the CRA's are in competition with one another... it's in each one of their best interests to give as much data about a consumer as possible, and it's in the lender's best interest to receive the most information.

 

If I had to guess from a business perspective a HP may possibly be cheaper than a SP by that line of thought, as a HP improves a CRA's resolution of a consumer, which means that CRA's other customers will benefit.

 

If Marv or another has the full information I'd love to know as I'm just talking theory anyway; however, I've always assumed that if I can see it via annualcreditreports, then the lender can see it too regardless of pull type.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Revelate