Do Hard Inquiries 'Age' and Slowly Lose Impact?

A common misunderstanding about hard inquiries is how their impact on credit scores changes over time. Many believe that inquiries "age" and their negative effect gradually lessens over the year they are scoreable, or over the two years they remain on your credit report. This is not accurate.

The 365-Day Rule for Scoring Impact

Here's how hard inquiries actually work in terms of FICO scoring:

• Scoreable for 365 Days: A hard inquiry impacts your FICO scores for exactly 365 days from the date it appears on your credit report.
• Remain on Report for 2 Years: While only scoreable for one year, the inquiry itself will remain visible on your credit report for a full two years.
• Points Return All at Once: The crucial point is that however many FICO points are lost at the moment the inquiry is added to your report, that exact same number of points will be returned all at once 365 days later when the inquiry becomes unscoreable. There is no gradual "healing" or slow return of points as the inquiry "ages" during that first year.

Example: If a new hard inquiry causes your FICO score to drop by 6 points, those 6 points are not slowly regained over the next 12 months. Instead, exactly 365 days after the inquiry was recorded, your FICO score will increase by 6 points in one go (all other factors on your report remaining equal).

Why the Confusion?

People often observe small point gains on their credit scores over the course of a year and might mistakenly attribute this to their hard inquiries "aging" and becoming less impactful. In reality, these small gains are usually due to other factors, most commonly the natural aging of their accounts (e.g., Average Age of Accounts increasing, youngest account getting older).

It's a common misinterpretation. Someone might say, "I lost X points from an inquiry, but don't worry, most of them will come back in 3-6 months." This is incorrect; the points associated with that specific inquiry's impact will only return after the full 365-day period.

Distinguishing from Other Negative Items

It's important to differentiate how inquiries are treated from other negative items like late payments or collections. Those types of derogatory marks do generally become less impactful over time as they age, even before they fall off your report entirely (typically after 7 years). Inquiries, however, have a fixed 365-day scoring impact period with an abrupt end to that impact.

Conclusion

Hard inquiries do not "age" in the sense of their FICO score impact gradually diminishing over their first year. They affect your score for precisely 365 days, and then the points initially lost are returned in their entirety. Any score improvements seen during that year are likely due to other positive changes or aging factors within your overall credit profile, not the inquiry itself becoming "less bad" over time.