A hard inquiry occurs when you seek to obtain credit. This happens when you apply for a loan or credit card, for example. Each time you fill out a credit card application at a department store, the inquiry counts as a hard inquiry. Only you can authorize a creditor to perform a hard inquiry on your credit report.

A prospective lender or other creditor will likely be concerned with an applicant whose credit report shows a high volume of hard inquiries. That’s because it suggests a carefree attitude in applying for credit or an effort to borrow excessively.

Borrowing too much — a situation called over-leveraging — is a potential red flag for creditors. It signals you may face more difficulty in repaying your debts in cash-strapped times than a person who judiciously applies for credit. If you’re going to ping your credit report with frequent hard inquiries, it may be best to concentrate them around the time you apply for a home or auto loan.

Fair Isaac, which designs credit-scoring software and sells consumers copies of their credit scores, suggests that your credit score is less likely to be impacted by a concentration of hard inquiries around such circumstances.

A soft inquiry is one where the inquiry is not tallied on your credit report. A soft inquiry does not constitute a bona fide request for credit. For example, a soft inquiry occurs when you obtain a copy of your report.

A soft inquiry also occurs when a company gathers potential marketing information about you based on your credit report. You can opt out of these kinds of inquiries. The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you to contact each or all of the major credit bureaus and request them to stop sending you card solicitations and related offers. For more information, call 888-5OPTOUT (567-8688).

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Bankers’ group cites Fed’s bailout of Fannie and Freddie for plummeting rates, with refinancing leading the way.

Mortgage applications more than doubled last week, a mortgage bankers’ group said Wednesday, as government bailouts led to sinking interest rates that made refinancing especially more attractive.

In the weekly report, the Market Composite Index – the association’s measure of mortgage loan application volume – surged 112.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 51.4% from the previous week; it was down 21.9% from a year earlier, the report said. Results included an adjustment to account for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Rates plummeted following the Fed’s announcement that it would buy debt and mortgage-backed securities from mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), according to Orawin Velz, associate vice president of economic forecasting, in a statement.

“Many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound,” Velz said.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.47% this week. That’s was down from 5.99% last week.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.13% from 5.78%, the report said. The rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage declined to 6.61% from 6.87%.
Refinancing

While the application statistics were high, “this is more a refinance story than a purchase story,” said Mike Larson, real estate and interest rate analyst at Weiss Research.

The report’s Refinance Index increased 203.3% to 3802.8 from the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 37.4%.

“While purchasing a home is a big commitment, refinancing is often a no-brainer,” Larson said. “You may be less inclined to go buy a house in this weak economy. Refinancing will go forward if the gains can hold.”

In the short-term, the Fed “did manage to get quite a bit of bang for their buck,” Larson said. “Most things they’ve done so far have improved some credit spreads slightly, but you didn’t see the effect on Main Street. Now, these are big numbers – the biggest we’ve ever seen.”

Today’s rates are lower because lenders’ standards are tighter, Larson said, so many buyers applying may not have the equity they need for approval. As a result, more applications “might end up in the circular file rather than the closing tables,” he said.

Still, Larson expected the Fed’s actions will result in more staying power and success, giving stressed homeowners a bit of breathing room.

“The Fed gave us an early Christmas gift,” he said.

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Lobbyists are pushing the Treasury Department to consider a plan to purchase mortgage-backed securities in the hopes of driving mortgage rates to as low as 4.5%, an industry source said.

Similar to an effort unveiled last week by the Federal Reserve, the proposal calls for Treasury to buy securities backed by 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Details on the plan remain sketchy, but an announcement could come as early as next week, the source said.

The increased demand for mortgage-backed securities would prompt mortgage rates to drop. That, in turn, would enable homeowners to refinance into lower-cost loans and make it cheaper for potential homebuyers to get into the market.

Spokeswomen from Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), declined to comment.

Last week’s Fed move drove mortgage rates down to 5.5%, from 6.06% a week earlier. The Fed said on Nov. 26 that it would purchase up to $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities from Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae, and that it would buy another $100 billion in direct debt issued by those firms.

Mortgage applications more than doubled as a result, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. Much of the activity stemmed from homeowners looking to refinance.

Industry groups have been pressuring President-elect Barack Obama and lawmakers to lend a helping hand to the housing market. The National Association of Realtors, for instance, has called for Treasury to buy mortgage-backed securities.

Meanwhile, a coalition of industry groups have banded together under the “Fix Housing First” banner to call for measures including tax credits of up to $22,000 and the creation of a 30-year mortgage, carrying rates as low as 2.99%.

Experts see both pros and cons

Experts, however, had mixed views on how much a new Treasury initiative would help homeowners and the economy. Some felt lower rates would help stabilize the housing market by bringing in new buyers and would give those who refinance more money to spend.

“If it gets people buying homes and spending, it will help reverse the economy and get us out of this recession,” said Scott Talbot, senior vice president of the Financial Services Roundtable, which is pushing the measure.

While it takes time to entice new buyers into the market, low rates accelerate that process, said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

“It is clearly designed to bring buyers into the marketplace and soak the inventory of unsold homes,” he said.

But others questioned whether rates would remain low and, even if they did, only a narrow slice of credit-worthy borrowers would benefit.

Rates are already inching up, hitting 5.75% on Wednesday, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates. Several government attempts to lower mortgage rates this year have failed to have a lasting effect.

Also, the proposal would do little to help troubled borrowers who have fallen behind on their payments, have no equity in their homes or have lost their jobs. With credit standards still high, these homeowners would not be able to refinance and take advantage of the lower rates, he said.

Finally, super-low rates could keep private investors out of the mortgage-backed securities market, forcing the government to remain the primary buyer of such investments, Gumbinger said. Rates have not fallen below 5.37% in more than 45 years.

“I can’t imagine there will be a significantly active marketplace of people who want to buy at these low rates,” he said.

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