Score boost????

[Anonymous]

Is there a potential score boost when inquiries age a year? I’ve heard they no longer affect your score after a year. Just wondering if my score would go up any as I have about 8 across all credit bureaus that will reach a year old next week.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is there a potential score boost when inquiries age a year? I’ve heard they no longer affect your score after a year. Just wondering if my score would go up any as I have about 8 across all credit bureaus that will reach a year old next week.

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Yes it probably would, but it wouldn't be one-by-one, it would be by tier. And it wouldn't be as of the first or last day of the month, but as of the 'anniversary' date of the inquiry. 

But if you have lots of inquiries other than the 8 aging off, you might not be crossing from one tier to another.

[VanderSnoot]

Echoing SJ. There's a score boost when your most recent inquiry hits 365 days. The inquiry remains on your report for another year, but is no longer scoreable. For example, let's say I have three inquiries on EQ:

• July 7, 2017
• June 23, 2018
• Dec 17, 2018

- The July 7, 2017 inquiry is still on my report, but it is over 365 days old, so it is not affecting my score.

- The June 23, 2018 inquiry is still scoreable today, because it isn't a full 365 days old yet. Tomorrow it will no longer affect my score, but it will remain on my CR for another year. Unfortunately, it is not my youngest inquiry, so my score will not change tomorrow.

- The December 17, 2018 inquiry is my "youngest" inquiry. I will not receive a score boost until this inquiry is 365 days old, on December 17, 2019. If I apply for any more credit between now and December 17, I will have a new "youngest" inquiry, and will have to wait until that inquiry is 365 days old to receive a boost.

[Caardvark]

I'm not an expert so, take my opinion with a grain of salt. However, Vandersnoot's experience does not mirror my own. I've recently had score gains when inquiries have aged off (366 days) despite having more recent inquiries on my report. 

Of course, it's worth noting that I only had/have approximately ~5 scoreable inquiries on each bureau at any given time. If you have a ridiculously large number (20, 30, +) you'd be in the highest tier (per BBS) and would not see any gain until your inquiry tier came down.

[Anonymous]

Correct, there are diminishing returns when it comes to inquiries just like other factors that impact Fico scoring.  I've heard the the number of inquiries for maximum penalty being around 14 or so, although one member did reference a lower number (I think 9?) where further inquiries on that bureau above 9 no longer adversely impacted his score.  So yeah, if someone has a lot of inquiries on one bureau and is already taking the maximum penalty, it's possible when they start falling off that score gains wouldn't be seen until they cross below whatever that max penalty ceiling is.