How Lenders Interpret Your Credit Report

Refer: http://www.howstuffworks.com/credit-report3.htm

Inquiries - Every time you apply for a credit card to get a free travel mug, duffel bag, or T-shirt, you are adding another hard inquiry to your credit report. When potential lenders see these inquiries, it may wrongly imply that you're either in some financial situation where you need a lot of credit, or are planning to take on a large debt. Either can flag you as a high credit risk.
Other types of inquiries, such as your own requests to view the report, employer requests to view the report and requests by marketers to get your name in order to sell you something, count as soft inquiries. These inquiries don't show up on the reports that lenders see, and therefore don't affect how they view your credit.

Debt in relation to income - If you have unsecured credit card debt that is more than 20 percent of your annual income, lenders may not want to give you the best deal on a loan -- if they'll take the chance and give you a loan in the first place. Work to reduce the debt-to-income ratio and you'll be able to get better rates on the loans you seek.