Thread: 2 year old inquiry worth 4 pts.

My hubby's Equifax report started getting bumpage today, 1 inquiry from 12/00 he gained 4 pts. I thought old inquiries like that did not have much of an impact on scores, apparently they do.

Inquiries over a year old should not count at all. Perhaps a date changed. For example a Visa account with a zero balance had it's "date last reported" date bumped up a month.

2 year old inquiries *shouldn't* affect scores, however, I had one fall off this month, with nothing else changing. It gave me 5 points on Exp. It was a hard inquiry from a collection co.

The totoal number of enquiries also make a big difference in scores. Above 4 or above 12 will cost higher points. I dont know exact number 4 or 12 but it is close.

Originally posted by scout
2 year old inquiries *shouldn't* affect scores, however, I had one fall off this month, with nothing else changing. It gave me 5 points on Exp. It was a hard inquiry from a collection co.

When you see something like this happen, you should also consider that every day, your credit report changes: to wit, all of your tradelines, good and bad, age one day.
A 3-year-old charge-off is probably "less bad" than a 2 year, 11 month charge-off.

Originally posted by david1
The totoal number of enquiries also make a big difference in scores. Above 4 or above 12 will cost higher points. I dont know exact number 4 or 12 but it is close.

It's not quite that simple.
It actually depends on which scorecard you're on. There are at least 12 scorecards.
Here is an example, which depicts how people on ONE PARTICULAR scorecard will be effected by their # of inquiries:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/creditscoring/present/sld008.htm
Look at the row entitled "No. of Recent Inquiries"
In this example, moving above 4, like you say, will hurt you. But going from 5 to 6 wouldn't.

Originally posted by erik776
Inquiries over a year old should not count at all. Perhaps a date changed. For example a Visa account with a zero balance had it's "date last reported" date bumped up a month.

I saw what you said and went back to the reports. Nothing else changed, only the inq. so yes, a 1yr 11 mo inquiry was worth 4 pts. He had a total of 14 inq. now 13