Originally Posted by takeshi74

Creditors are not all identical so the creditor definitely matters. Some have tougher criteria than others. Some are more sensitive to new accounts than others. The person's credit profile also plays a part. Person A may run into more concern over new accounts and inquiries than Person B if Person B's credit profile is significantly stronger and in better shape.

Despite the tendency of people to obsess over inquiries, inquiries are generally a small factor. They can be cited as an issue for those with credit profiles that are thin and/or have issues but in such cases they're really more of symptom than a cause. An individual with a stronger credit profile will generally be able to handle more inquiries without running into problems.

"Accounts open" is a bit vague and oversimplifying the matter. Having a larger number of aged accounts is generally beneficial. However, new accounts can have a negative impact especially with larger numbers of new accounts. The impact really depends on the shape of an individual's credit profile so you can't just look at individual factors out of context.


Inquiries fall of reports at 2 years. They stop impacting FICO scores at 1 year. However, a creditor can certainly reference anything in a report and some creditors may look at inquiries up to 2 years of age. Again, creditors are not all identical. Different creditors may be willing to extend different amounts and terms to the same credit profile.