Thanks Birdman.
"Just like you get a no revolving balance penalty when you have no balance on any primary account, the same is independently true for AU accounts."
Yes, the AU account is my only AU account. We zeroed it out because we want to apply for a mortgage soon and have read on here that AZEO is best and that the "one" account should have me as the primary person (i.e., not AU). So I want my score to be maximized for the mortgage FICO scores. But I don't want to remove the AU account because it's by far my oldest account. Please advise on this.
As for adding the Target card less than a year before we are planning to apply for a mortgage, I realize that wasn't bright...now. At the time, I hadn't known that. The holidays were approaching and I used the discount they offer cardholders to purchase gifts. Too late now. I don't have any other inquiries or new cards in the past 12 months.
Re: your other questions, my oldest account is the AU (over nine years), while my oldest non-AU account is about 3.5 years. I have nine accounts, including the AU and Target card - all revolvers. My only current balance being reported is 12% on one card (I will pay that down to a lower amount soon). I do have one baddie, a collection, which I paid off and was told it would be deleted in a week or two (agreement was made mid-January and was told it would be removed in 30 days). That collection has shown as PIF for a few weeks now, so that didn't cause the drop this week.
Bottom line is if I'm being penalized for my only AU being 0, but need the AU to raise my oldest/average account age, what should my strategy be there if I want to maximize my mortgage scores? Thanks!
