Definition
A credit inquiry is a review of a consumer's credit file by an authorized third party. There are two types:
**Hard inquiry (hard pull)**: made by a lender during a formal financing application. It is recorded in the credit file and may temporarily reduce the credit score by 5 to 10 points. Multiple inquiries for the same type of credit (e.g., mortgages) within a 14- to 45-day window are often grouped as one by credit bureaus, limiting overall impact.
**Soft inquiry (soft pull)**: made by the consumer themselves (e.g., via Credit Karma or Equifax/TransUnion services), a potential employer, or an institution for an unsolicited pre-screened offer. It does not affect the credit score.
An AMF mortgage broker typically makes only **one hard inquiry** to present the file to multiple lenders — a significant advantage over the multi-branch approach, where each bank pulls the file separately.