Length of history variance between bureaus

[score_building]

both my eq and tu list my length of history as 18 years and avg age as 4 years = very good

ex lists my length of history 18.1 years, no avg age listed = not good

all 3 seem to list the same accounts (except 1 or 2) so how could there possibly be such a huge difference in the ex evaluation based on essentially the same account info. and length of history?

Message Edited by score_building on 09-11-2008 09:01 AM

[Anonymous]

(except 1 or 2)
I think you gave the answer.

[score_building]

unfortunately not really, i have about 17 accounts and it is just 1 new account that is not listed on ex so ex should actually be better than the others as far as i can tell

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
(except 1 or 2)
I think you gave the answer.

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Except that there was NO average age calculated. Sounds like a glitch with that CRA to me.

[score_building]

Thanks for your reply TheNewWorldMan

Below is the section where tu says i have an established account history and it's helping my score and lists the average age as 4 years.  Experian declines to supply and deems the 18 years 'not good' while failing to disclose their calculation of avg age.  i think i'm not liking experian too much right now -they carry all my oldest accounts too.

Understanding Your FICO® Score What’s helping your FICO® scoreThis page normally lists the information that is on your credit report that is helping your FICO® score. Experian does not supply us with information for this section but credit reports from Equifax or TransUnion do. So please make sure you check this page with your FICO® score and credit report from Equifax or TransUnion to see what you are doing right with your credit.

What’s helping your FICO® score

The positive factors listed here reflect areas of your credit behavior that are helping your FICO® score. You should continue the good practices listed here. These factors are listed in order of their impact to your score – the first has the greatest positive impact and the last has the least.

1. You have an established credit history.

   Your oldest account was opened
   18 Years, 1 Month ago FICO High Achievers opened their oldest account 19 years ago, on average. Average age of your accounts
   4 years Most FICO High Achievers have an average age of accounts between 6 and 12 years.

   Your FICO score measures the age of your oldest account and the average age of your accounts. Your FICO score was helped because you have a relatively long credit history and you haven't recently opened many new accounts.

Message Edited by score_building on 09-11-2008 05:29 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

One thing that confuses the heck out of everyone is that both your average age and your oldest account are considered. One can be great, and one can be awful, so depending upon the different CRA formulas, the identical history can be a positive on one score (i.e., longest account on TU) and a negative (probably AAoA on EX.) It would be nice if they broke this down, but they don't --they just call it your history.

EX especially seems to think that once your oldest account is 18 years or older, then by golly, your AAoA should be relatively high, too, and in general, you should have pretty boring, well-behaved credit.

[score_building]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
One thing that confuses the heck out of everyone is that both your average age and your oldest account are considered. One can be great, and one can be awful, so depending upon the different CRA formulas, the identical history can be a positive on one score (i.e., longest account on TU) and a negative (probably AAoA on EX.) It would be nice if they broke this down, but they don't --they just call it your history.

EX especially seems to think that once your oldest account is 18 years or older, then by golly, your AAoA should be relatively high, too, and in general, you should have pretty boring, well-behaved credit.

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i just noticed something that gave me pause and may also be contributing to ex having a polar opposite evaluation based on the same info. -it's not the same info.  i just noticed on tu and eq one of my accounts is an amex one opened:  6/1990.  on ex the same amex one card is listed as opened:  6/2007. 

i'm turning things around but am currently on the lam w/ amex clear and don't think i have the audacity to call to see if they can update ex to the older date on my one card.  i'm not trying to prompt them to refresh their concerns about my accts.   they usually are happy to help with such things but no need to heighten anxiety levels with them for any reason.  it may though be worth it if it doesn't backfire.  thanks Hauling for your response and putting me up the learning curve once again. 

[Anonymous]

I was glad to see this post. I just pulled Experian and couldn't figure out if the format changed or I was simply overlooking that portion. I have no average age either. All my accounts are there and the opening dates match my TU report.

[score_building]

i know, it threw me off too   isn't myfico a truly remarkable resource!

[haulingthescoreup]

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@score_building wrote:

i know, it threw me off too isn't myfico a truly remarkable resource!

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I'm glad you caught the date difference. You can look and look and look at these things but still miss something huge like that. And since EX refuses to jump all the way into the myFICO pool , it can require a lot of detective work and psychic powers to figure out what's going on with them.

Good luck with your stealth rehab on your Clear!