No, checking your own credit report does not lower your credit score

The claim and verdict

Claim checked: Checking your own credit report hurts your credit score.

Verdict: False. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says requesting your own report does not affect your score. Confusion comes from treating all requests for a credit file as if they were applications to borrow money. They are not.

Anyone putting off a review because they worry the act of looking will damage their borrowing prospects can check their existing reports without that penalty.

What actually makes the difference

The CFPB separates inquiries into two broad categories. A lender checking your credit after you apply for a loan or credit card will commonly make a hard inquiry. Credit-scoring models consider recent credit applications, so that kind of inquiry can affect a score.

Your own request is a soft inquiry. Other examples include certain reviews of existing accounts and prescreening by prospective lenders. The CFPB says soft inquiries do not affect credit scores and are not displayed to others who purchase your report. Its inquiry guide supplies the relevant distinction: the purpose of the request, not simply the fact that someone opened a credit file.

That does not mean every button promising to check credit has the same effect. Before proceeding with a credit application, ask whether the step authorizes a hard inquiry. Reading your existing report and applying for a new account are different actions.

You can review more than one report

The FTC identifies AnnualCreditReport.com as the authorized website for the free annual reports available under federal law. The three nationwide bureaus also offer free weekly online reports there. You do not need to purchase credit monitoring simply to use that service.

The FTC's free-report guide explains why reviewing all three matters: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion may receive different information. An accurate report from one company is not proof that the other two are accurate. The agency also warns about look-alike website addresses and unsolicited requests for sensitive information. Type the official address carefully instead of following an unexpected message.

What to do with a mistake

Checking a report is useful because it creates an opportunity to act. If an account is unfamiliar or a payment history appears incorrect, keep a copy and compare it with your records. The FTC advises disputing inaccurate information with both the bureau displaying it and the business that supplied it. Include supporting documents and retain copies. Correction of inaccurate information is free.

A dispute does not guarantee that accurate negative information will disappear. Nor does this fact check promise a particular score increase. It establishes the narrower point clearly: you can inspect your own credit history without a score penalty for the inspection itself.