As we go about our lives, we have our financial discipline monitored by the three big consumer bureaus – Equifax®, Transunion®, and Experian™ – and your FICO Score is built using this consumer bureau data. Even the best of us have experienced that moment of fear when we hear that we need to have our credit pulled . . . and we don't know where our number will land. Not all credit pulls are created equal, however; there are important distinctions between hard and soft credit pulls, or credit checks, and the Fair Reporting Credit Act dictates when and why credit reports may be pulled. The two forms of credit inquiries have different effects on your credit report and FICO credit score across the reporting agencies. (
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