The Truth About Multiple Credit Inquiries

· The FICO score ignores all mortgage and auto inquiries made in the 30 days before scoring. If you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your score while you're rate-shopping.

· Each "hard" credit inquiry (meaning the consumer has applied for some form of credit, prompting the creditor to check the credit report or score) that is counted normally subtracts no more than five points from a person's score. Often, no points are subtracted.

· The score does not count requests that a lender has made for your credit report or score in order to make you a "preapproved" credit offer (you know, those darned offers that crowd your mailbox).

· The formula doesn't count inquiries made by a lender reviewing an account you already have with that lender.

· Inquiries that come from employers are not counted. Nor is it counted when you ask to see your own report or score.

"Realistically, only a narrow group of people has good reason to be cautious about the effect inquiries could have on their FICO score," Watts said.

Here's who might be concerned, according to Watts:

· People who take an unusually long time (several months) to shop for a new mortgage or auto loan.

· Consumers who shop around in the same year for several different lines of credit not associated with a mortgage or auto loan.

· People who know before they begin applying for credit -- presumably from conversations with creditors -- that their credit score barely qualifies them for their desired credit offering.

"We generalize by saying that typically no more than 10 percent of a FICO score's weight is determined by a person's taking on [and searching for] new credit," Watts said. "But for most people, inquiries have little to no influence on their FICO scores."

So there you have it: the lowdown on credit inquiries.

Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and online athttp://www.npr.org. Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Send e-mail tosingletarym@washpost.com. Comments and questions are welcome, but because of the volume of mail, personal responses are not always possible. Please also note that comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.