Is there an AAofA bucket or tier? Is there a separate hit for new accounts?

[Anonymous]

Just figured out my AAofA, along with DH's.  My most recent app spree (just four - I'm a baby app spree'er) brought my AAofA down from 11 to 8.  After all was said and done, my total score hit was -3 on the same day I had two inquiries.

Is there some type of rebucketing or tier cutoff that is known to make a difference in AAofA?  For example, is dropping from 4 yrs. to 3 yrs. AAofA more of a hit than dropping from 10 yrs. to 9 yrs.?  Or once you're anywhere over 6, are you basically okay?  (I do see that FICO High Achievers have AAofA from 6-12, but don't know if there's a score hit if you're under 6).

And is there a different hit for having any accounts less than 12 months old?

I'm getting "You Have a Short Credit History" which must be referring to the fact that most of my open CC's are new.  It accurately lists my oldest account as 27 years old and my AAofA as 8. 

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On another thread, Hauling posted this (very helpful, as always) info:

Timothy used to say that you should never app if it will drop your AAoA down to a lower calendar year. I didn't get what he meant until I did my app spree and saw my AAoA plummet, taking my scores with it.

It's kind of tedious to figure out your exact AAoA in YY/MM, but it will certainly tell you if you'll get extra damage from doing so.

There's the score drop from the inq, the score drop from having an account less that 12 months old, and the potential score drop from going into a shorter history tier if your AAoA drops. That's the killer, because it takes soooo long to get back where you were.

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Thanks for helping me learn and understand this stuff.  It's making a big difference for us and we appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

You have a lot of good questions. I am not sure we have definite answers because this info is proprietary.

That said, here is a stab:

1) The damage from AAoA changes is likely dependent on your total age/what bucket you are in. A hit from 12 to 11 will likely not ding you....a hit from 2 year AAoA to 1 in a 5 year total bucket WILL ding you. One year difference in age in both cases but different numbers and buckets.

2) Yes there is a ding for new credit. This will go down over time. First improvement should come at 3 months and then maybe a slight improvement at 6 and 12. That may not be true with everyone but that is what I experienced the last time I opened 2 new accounts in the same month.

3) You have an excellent long credit history - people with long histories get the short history message because the FICO formula is not finding much wrong with you and it has to make something up. That and you are likely in the oldest bucket and you might be compared to someone with a 40 or 50 year credit history. You are a whipper-snapper at 27 years.....that said you aren't losing many points if any for that message.

Hope that helps some. To know the entire truth we would have to break into FICO HQ