Why is your credit rating affected every time you, or someone else views it?

Question

Why is your credit rating affected every time you, or someone else views it?

Answer 1

No, no. no (sigh). Once again this urban legend just refuses to die! You can view you're own credit report every single day if you want to ....because it's just for observation purposes.

If someone else views it...it's for 2 reasons

1. Credit application - you're applying for credit, loan, etc...

this will cause you're score to drop 5-10 points

2. Inquiry is when you're having a check done by someone with probable cause...either an account that is in default, a prospective employer, a prospective landlord for apartment/house rental. Inquiries just be kept to under 12-15/year and stay on for maximum of 2 years.

Answer 2

It doesn't.  It is only affected if your credit report is pulled when you apply for credit.  If you view your own report it does not affect your score.  Also, if you have a credit card with ABC Bank and they review your account periodically and view your credit report inorder to give you an increase , that will not affect your score either.  This is known as a "soft inquiry".

Answer 3

Just to keep adding to that, some auto/home insurers use credit as part of their rating. This also does NOT affect your credit score.