Saturday, October 31, 2009

Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (& not use them)?

My son has a few credit cards that he doesn%26#039;t use and wants to close them out. I was told that closing them will affect your credit rating (in a negetive way). True or false?



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

Wow some people here give horrible advice. I gave a thumbs up to like, one person here.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

It%26#039;s better to have available credit lines with balances under 30% of the limits. Make sure they are paid monthly and notice your scores increase. I%26#039;m in finance and do this for a living.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

Yes, he just keep them open, unless the apr is really high



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

Closing a credit line will adversely affect your score.



I had several cards and had not used some in a long time ( zero balance ) because other cards offered better rebates. So I closed out 2 bank cards as well as a SEARs and KOHLs card.



Boy was I surprised when my score went down!!



The rationale behind this is that the credit guys think that you%26#039;re closing cards because you cannot handle the debt load - kinda stupid, but that%26#039;s the way the logic goes.



So, do not close the cards. Just leave them dormant and locked up and unused.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

Not only is it better for him to keep the accounts open, it%26#039;s better if he carries a small balance on them, even if it%26#039;s just $10.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

Closing them WILL negatively affect his credit rating.



Write down the card numbers AND the telephone number on the back of each one. Every 3 months, with the balance at or near zero, call the number and ask for an increase in the credit limit. Ask for 3 times what your current limit is. You will get 2 times your current limit normally. If they elect not to raise your limit ask for a manager. If they still dont, it is most likely because you havent used the card lately. Make a purchase with the card, and make one payment, but dont pay it off completely (pay at least the minimum payment though), then pay it off next month. Then make the call again.



You want to do this every 3 months. Your credit rating goes by payment history AND AVAILABLE CREDIT. If you have 2 $10,000 cards, you have $20,000 in available credit (if their balances are zero), but if you close them, you now have NO available credit, and your score could plummet.



Dont cancel the cards---but dont use them either unless you can pay them off very quickly. If you keep making the calls you will eventually have some very high balance cards. Thats a good thing for emergencies.



Good luck



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

It is better to close the accounts. Having open accounts that you dont use lowers your credit score. If you have a WaMu credit card, it shows you your credit rating every month online. It also gives you tips to raise your credit rating.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

Well while I will admit that closing some cards may have a sligh effect on your sons credit rating, working in a bank has shown me that have increased exposure to credit may effect his ability to borrow in the fututre.



The bank will not only look at his credit score but how much available credit he has available to him. It doesn%26#039;t matter that he does not use them, the point is if the @#$$ hits the fan he could.



Therfore I would recommend closing all but one and making sure your son pays it off quickly and efficiently. Also with only one card; tempation will only be able to get him in so much trouble. Take it from someone who deals with people who have many cards, it%26#039;s a bad idea.



You guys are all dunces, its the exposure to credit thats the problem and right now he has good credit but give him time, that many cards is a bad idea, it%26#039;s easy to let you credit score go down.



So when you all who have so many cards go to your banks and have decent credit and get turned away, now you know why exposure to credit.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

It%26#039;s all a matter of numbers. They look at the income, and the %26quot;available%26quot; balances. If he has 10 cards with 5k each and only makes 30k per year, he needs to close some. If he has 3 with 5k each he could leave them open, but should consider the fee%26#039;s for each into the equation.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

close the card. if the cards were used and revolving credit established when closed it will be positive. shows credit worthiness



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

false -- if he has never had a bad mark on any of these credit cards it should not effect his credit score a bit.



Is it better for your credit report to close credit cards or leave open (%26amp; not use them)?

It depends, it hurts you more if you have too much credit out there and the ratio of balance to credit line is too high, if you have more than one with the same company you might want to look at consolidating them, and closing one. It isn%26#039;t the number of cards you have but that ratio that hurts your score, try to keep them under 20% of the credit limit and if you do close the account make sure the company closes it per customer request and ask for a letter for your records verifying that it was closed at your request.

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