Will a backdated Amex be considered a new account?

[joestay]

I have a Costco Amex TrueEarning card that is currently 14 months old.  (Opened in April 2010).  If I applied for another Amex, said Blue, will it be considered a new account?  Also, will I get a hard pull or soft pull?

[emptypockets]

The new Amex would be backdated and report (in most cases) as member since 2010. On your credit report it will report as opened 4/2010. It will definitely be a new hard pull, unless you submitted 2 AMEX apps is a very short period of time (I think within a couple days they use the same pull, but someone else will probably chime in).

[OnTheRebound]

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@emptypockets wrote:

The new Amex would be backdated and report (in most cases) as member since 2010. On your credit report it will report as opened 4/2010. It will definitely be a new hard pull, unless you submitted 2 AMEX apps is a very short period of time (I think within a couple days they use the same pull, but someone else will probably chime in).

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In my experience this is not correct. If you open a new account today, it will be reported as opened on 7/2010. It will report the month you open the account but will report the original opened year.

My wife's Green Card was opened on 4/2010. She applied for the Blue Cash Preffered on 5/2011. The date reported to CB's is 5/2010.

[stan_the_man]

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@emptypockets wrote:

The new Amex would be backdated and report (in most cases) as member since 2010. On your credit report it will report as opened 4/2010. It will definitely be a new hard pull, unless you submitted 2 AMEX apps is a very short period of time (I think within a couple days they use the same pull, but someone else will probably chime in).

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Actually, the new Amex card will report an open date of the month the account is opened and the year your relationship with Amex started. So, if you apply for an Amex card and are approved today your open date would be 7/2010.

Because the account will immediately be one year old, Fico will not treat it like a new account. However, it may reduce your AAoA -- depending on what it is.

OP, if you can wait until January your open date would be 1/2010.

[joestay]

The reason I asked is because I only have 3 active tradeline right now and I want to look for a house soon.  If I do get another Amex, then it might now look like a new account.  If the 3 active tradeline does not affect my qualification, then I would most likely get another Amex in January 2012 then.

[stan_the_man]

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@joestay wrote:

The reason I asked is because I only have 3 active tradeline right now and I want to look for a house soon.  If I do get another Amex, then it might now look like a new account.  If the 3 active tradeline does not affect my qualification, then I would most likely get another Amex in January 2012 then.

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How many of the active trade lines are revolving?

[joestay]

3 revolving right now.  My car loan is closed.

Also, if I wait til January, will both amex report as opened 01/2010?

[stan_the_man]

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@joestay wrote:

3 revolving right now.  My car loan is closed.

Also, if I wait til January, will both amex report as opened 01/2010?

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Only the new card will report as opened on 1/2010.

With three revolving trade lines, I would not apply for any new credit if you are planning to go for a mortgage anytime soon. One reason why is that you will have to explain every inquiry -- so your underwriter will know that you applied for new credit recently, even though there will not be a new account hit for Fico scoring.

If you're trying to figure out how to put your best food forward for the Mortgage app, I suggest posting on the Mortgage board. They have several posters who work in the industry that can give you the best advice in terms of mortgage apps.

EDIT: Forgot a "d".