I'm just starting off repairing my girlfriend's credit and I have run across tons of opened and closed credit card accounts (four alone from capitol one). Some of these were purposeful rate-jumping. But some were opened and closed the same month she received them or within a few months. She doesn't recall what happened in each case but we kind of figured that maybe she received unsolicited cards and quickly called to close. Are these multiple cards which were never used helpful or harmful. I would think they are helpful since they are listed under satisfactory accounts. But they may be harmful since they contribute to the total number of accounts showing (33) and they don't show any use i.e. track record. If harmful, is it possible to remove them by dealing with the creditor and having them removed, or would you suggest having the CRAs verify. Thanks - Alex
They're helpful. Any ZERO balance, especially reflecting credit limits, credit cards is good. Creditors can see that you are responsible. I have several like that from 2004 and before. Positive accounts, even ZERO balance accounts stay on your reports for at least ten years. Negative accounts fall off after 7 years.
The problem is that most of the factors, such as utilization, are based only on OPEN accounts. The closed accounts may hurt her length of history. No one should be getting an unsolicited card these days--all credit cards are to be from solicitations. Now, she could have gone on a web site and applied, or sent in something she got in the mail. But they are not to send cards without some sort of application. One thing that she and everyone else needs to learn is to look at the terms before you accept. I've shredded a lot of offers lately because when I read the fine print I found something I didn't like.
