A credit check (also known as a credit inquiry or credit pull) is when a lender looks into your financial history with credit reporting agencies to determine your creditworthiness. Better Mortgage uses both "soft" and "hard" credit checks to see if you qualify for a loan. For pre-approval, we issue a soft credit check that does not impact your credit score. Once you actually apply for a mortgage, we issue a hard credit check that can negatively impact your score for a short time.