Pre approvals will not hurt your credit as long as the lender uses a soft credit check to prescreen your application. By law, a lender cannot run your credit without your approval. But some lenders may still do so once you give them access to your Social Security number. That’s why you should never hand over your Social Security number unless you know exactly why the person you’re giving it to needs it. Many lenders will have you sign an approval document that allows them to run your credit. Even then, you should clarify whether the lender intends to run a hard credit check or a soft credit check. Each credit bureau adds a hard credit inquiry every time a lender pulls your official credit report. Every inquiry lives on your credit report for two years but will only minimally affect your credit score for up to one year. Lenders expect most consumers to have a few inquiries on their credit report. But when that number starts to climb above three, it can cause slight damage to your credit score. Having many inquiries shows that you regularly apply for credit. Lenders may see that as desperate and decline your application.