I have so many inquiries on my report.

I get asked this question quite often. People assume those inquiries are affecting their score. They may be. I will be running a series of answers on this in the next of couple of weeks.

What is an "inquiry"?

When you apply for credit, you authorize those lenders to ask or "inquire" for a copy of your credit report from a credit bureau. When you later check your credit report, you may notice that their credit inquiries are listed. You may also see listed there inquiries by businesses that you don't know. But the only inquiries that count toward your FICO score are the ones that result from your applications for new credit.