Application for Credit: Hard Inquiry or Soft Inquiry

Hold onto your hats, this should go pretty quick! We get this question a lot. “When you submit a credit application, is it a hard or a soft inquiry?” The short answer is yes. Now that you mention it the long answer is also yes.

Let’s talk real quick about why it is a hard inquiry and why it happens when you are trying to buy a motorcycle, ATV, side-by-side or personal watercraft from Beaverton Motorcycles. A hard inquiry or hard pull happens when a bank or lending institution, with your permission, pulls your credit to establish the risk in giving you a loan- https://www.beavertonmotorcycles.com/blog/financing-a-luxury-vs-a-necessity--16396 . Notice that your permission is underlined there? That’s because you should know every time a hard pull happens. You should expect it and plan on it.

Hard pulls can affect your credit. But one pull should never be enough to affect a decision. Just like the proverbial straw that broke that poor camel’s back, too much of anything can be bad. If you apply for a home, car, credit card, and motorcycle all in the same week, the bank will look at it as if you are trying to take on a bunch of new debt. For them, that equals more risk.

Soft pulls, in the simplest terms, are like check-ups so your banks can see how your credit is performing. Have you ever had a credit card where the max credit line went up even though you didn't ask? That’s because they did a soft pull and saw that their risk had gone down so they offered you more money. Pre-approval letters in the mail, background checks by an employer or new landlord, all examples of soft pulls.

We hope that helps clear up any confusion. 

Life’s an adventure. Your journey starts here at Beaverton Motorcycles.