A hard inquiry is when a lender “pulls” your credit report to determine whether or not to extend you credit. Most people know that hard inquiries come from credit card applications and car loans, but there are other areas that will show up as hard inquiries on your credit report.

For instance, if you pay for a rental with a debit card. Most people don’t know that many places will let you pay for your car with a debit card, but only in exchange of checking your credit. This will show up as a hard inquiry.

Something else that will show up as a hard inquiry and might surprise you is if you get a new cellphone plan. Most cell phone companies will check your credit before giving you a contract.  This type of credit check is a hard inquiry.