
Ask HN: Is there evidence that hard inquiries increase income inequality? - davidajackson
Hard inquiries (like ones done during loan applications) hurt your credit score by a few points. Is there any substantial evidence that this makes poorer people poorer, since if they get rejected, it makes them look like a worse borrower and a vicious cycle can start? I&#x27;m curious if this actually has any statistically significant effect and couldn&#x27;t find an answer with a quick google.
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sushshshsh
I don't believe the rejection would be added to your credit report. The single
inquiry would decrease your score by 1-3% for a month. It's a very small
amount, but maybe it compounds if you are making 20 loan applications or
something like that.

What really hurts applicants is when a loan company asks about things outside
of the credit report that you are legally compelled not to lie about, such as
"Have you EVER been bankrupt?" even if it was 20 years ago.

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davidajackson
I see, the latter things you mention seem like they would increase inequality.
Quick question, according to: [https://www.credit.com/blog/how-long-does-
negative-informati...](https://www.credit.com/blog/how-long-does-negative-
information-stay-on-my-credit-report-65360/) it's a year. Curious to hear
where you heard the month length of time?

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sushshshsh
Hmm interesting, I've always heard from the employees who are trying to get me
to sign up for some quote or loan or offer (they're biased yes) that it is
only "a month or two".

In my anecdotal experience, I only have one credit line (a $5,000 credit
card), I make a big city software engineer's salary and I have no adverse
events on my credit, no wife and no kids. My credit score is provided to me
every month by my bank as a freebie, and it has fluctuated seemingly randomly
between 785 and 815 for years now.

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uberman
Getting rejected does not impact your fico score, though the inquiry will for
a limited time.

