Soft inquiries, sometimes known as a soft credit check or a soft credit pull, do not impact your credit scores because they are not attached to a specific application for credit. They can occur when a credit card issuer or mortgage lender checks a person’s credit for preapproval purposes.

Examples of soft inquiries are when you check your own credit or one of your current creditors checks your credit. If you are concerned about the negative impact on your score, specify to the lender that you want a “soft pull” to see if you qualify for preapproval.

Soft inquiries may appear on your credit report but should not adversely affect your credit score.

Consumers are entitled to one free copy from each major credit bureau, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, once every twelve months available at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Hard inquiries occur when a borrower makes a new application for credit. These will impact your credit score and will remain on your credit report for about two years. The impact is usually minimal and scores tend to rebound within a few months if no new negative information appears.

Borrowers may be concerned about multiple inquiries when they are shopping for rates or even approvals. Scoring models have algorithms to account for this situation if the inquires take place in a 14 to 45-day period.

Even a hard inquiry should not necessarily concern you and probably, will only play a minor role in your score. Soft inquiries, regardless of how many you may have will not impact your score.

Working with a trusted mortgage professional and sharing your concerns in advance of the “hard pull” is valuable. This mortgage professional may even be able to advise you on some things that could improve your credit score which may actually improve your score which could result in qualifying for a lower rate that could save thousands and possibly, tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage.

Your real estate professional can recommend a trusted mortgage professional to you.

When the situation arises that you have a lump sum of cash to pay down your existing mortgage, there may be different options available. Pre-paying principal on a fixed-rate mortgage shortens the term of the mortgage but the payment stays the same.

Conversely, recasting a mortgage with a lump-sum principal payment lowers the principal and interest payment but leaves the term intact with the same payoff date.

The interest rate on the mortgage will stay the same regardless. Prepaying principal can be done at any time but may not be applied until the next payment date. Recasting cannot be done within the first 90-days of a mortgage.

Pre-paying principal is like driving faster on a trip to a specific destination to get you there sooner. Recasting/Re-amortization gets you to the destination at the same estimated time of arrival but using less fuel.

Most loans allow you to pre-pay principal, but recasting is not allowed on FHA, VA, and GNMA. If you have a conventional loan, check with your lender to see if it is possible.

Contact your mortgage servicer for specific information on pre-paying or recasting your mortgage before acting.