Length of Account History Question?

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2009

Does anyone know how many years it takes before your Length of Account history goes from bad to good? In other words effect my FICO score positive?

smallfry · ‎10-10-2009

Should go from not good to good at the 3 year mark.

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2009

ok thanks for the input.

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2009

Does anyone else have concrete evidence of this or know when theirs changed from Not Good to Good? The reason I am asking is my oldest account is 4 years and 10 months and my AAoA is 3 years. On my report it still shows account age Not Good. I dont know if this is one of those categories that has a defined changing point or if it depends on your personal situation? Maybe it factors in oldest and AAoA?

haulingthescoreup · ‎10-10-2009

The not good/ good indicator is dependent on your own combination of oldest account age and average age of accounts. So it's very common to have two people with the same age, but with one person showing not good and the other showing good.

The indicators on the first screen, like this one, aren't terribly important. It's the negative factors on the second screen, in order, that really count.

I love seeing my first screen indicators change colors, too, but they're more for entertainment value than anything else, I think.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007

creditwherecreditisdue · ‎10-12-2009

Having followed those thermometer chart "Good/Not Good" indicators for a while now I have come to the conclusion that they don't really mean very much. Like HTSU stated, the real information is presented in the "Factors" section, particularly the negatives.

rom828 · ‎10-14-2009

@creditwherecreditisdue wrote:
Having followed those thermometer chart "Good/Not Good" indicators for a while now I have come to the conclusion that they don't really mean very much. Like HTSU stated, the real information is presented in the "Factors" section, particularly the negatives.

I agree! Or should I say, +1

On my most recent reports, although length of history (14 yrs 6 mos) and account age (4 yrs) are exactly the same on both TU and EQ, EQ shows "bad" for length while TU shows "not bad". Both show the same new accounts under account list.

I have no inqs under TU, but I have 7 under EQ, so these inqs are affecting the "bad", "not good" aspect.

On the factors page, the 7 inqs are a negative for EQ (seeking credit) and the 0 inqs are a positive for TU. EQ considers my % of debt as a positive while TY considers it on the negative side.

I think the little thermometers are fun, but not necessarily an indicator of what's really affecting one's score.

Message Edited by rom828 on 10-14-2009 07:47 AM

Message Edited by rom828 on 10-14-2009 07:49 AM

FICOS: TU 732(05-16-16) EQ '08 739( 05-16-16) EX 737 (08-17-16)

Anonymous · ‎10-14-2009

OK, but how many years on your credit report would a lender say you have established credit? It seems like thats always the excuse. I have had credit for 2 years and 2 months. Does it vary from bank to bank?

creditwherecreditisdue · ‎10-14-2009

The length of time you have "had credit" with any particular credit grantor would be the length of time between when you opened the account and today. This would vary from lender to lender.

The length of time you have "had credit" would be the greatest time you have had credit with any individual lender. This is what would normally be referred to as your "Length of Credt History" and would not vary from lender to lender.

Anonymous · ‎10-14-2009

So how long before your "length of credit history" is considered established my most lenders? I would assume its x amount of years from your first account to report to the bereaus? Do lenders look at your AAoA too, or does this only a factor in your FICO score?