I stumbled across this site, and I must say that it's a wonderful Forum for people like me trying to get the most information on repairing or building their Credit Scores. Here is my Question. I have an account that was opened in 2001. I was late 6 times 3 years ago...and I let the account close 2 years ago. I had a Balance due of $1,000. I have been paying on it ( even though it's closed ) ...and I now owe $286 on it. I have a few other credit cards that are 6 months or newer that I have paid on religiously trying to build my credit back. Since I do not have a lot of "credit history" ...should I pay this Balance of this card every month like normal..making my $10 a month payments, so that I show a good positive Credit History Experience...or do I pay this off in full ASAP, because I truly don't know if this being a closed account is helping me at all anyway. I don't know if they go by closed account's History or not. Need some good advice here guys....thanks
If you can pay it off in full now, do so. The closed account will still show up on your credit report with a zero balance, and that's fine. Keep paying off your other cards each month and keep your credit utilization around 10%. Then you should start to see your scores increase.
I have another closed account that has a Zero Balance that is still there on my credit report. I guess my question still remains....Since I have "limited" Credit History, this account still shows my History and if I have it removed/deleted Potential Lenders will not see it. Since it's "closed" does it still help me?...or the fact that it's a closed account not matter to my Fico Score. If it does help...i will just continue to pay the account down slowly...as to show good payment structure..if the Closed Status does not help...then I will just pay it off.
As far as I understand, the account is not helping your credit score since it is already closed. Only credit card accounts that are open with a revolving credit line, home loans, auto loans, etc. are factored into your credit score. If you can pay it off now, do so.
it's not charged off, but since I have limited Credit Experience...I wanted to show a good History. It's not a perfect History...but it's still History. It's a Closed Account...can it still help me, since it's still on my Credit Report? I am new, so I cannot post links really. blackssei.com/credithelp/CropperCapture%5b5%5d.jpg blackssei.com/credithelp/CropperCapture%5b6%5d.jpg Please check my screenshots so you can get an idea of what I have on my Credit Report for help. thanks
You'll probably get different opinions on this because I don't believe FICO has ever specifically stated if closed accounts are included in the calculation of your score. Of course they will show up on your credit report, but I don't believe the positive payment history on a closed account is helping you right now. The fact that it was closed with a high balance that was greater than the credit limit hurt you, and the lates certainly hurt you as well. But your length of credit history only makes up about 15% of your score, so if you are really worried about it then perhaps you should keep paying the $10 until your other cards are about a year old or so. On such a small balance, I'm sure the interest charges aren't very much.
Makes Sense...I did try for a loan....and they brought up this account and the fact that I was late a few times..and denied me...so I guess they can go into closed accounts for both good and bad. I was just wondering if the few bad marks on this account (late) are worse in relation to the Credit Length. Does this make sense ?
They will definitely look at anything bad, even if it's related to a closed account. Your length of credit history makes up about 15% of your score and your history of making payments on time accounts for about 35%. So yes, I would say the late payments on this account will affect your score more than the length of credit history. And like I said before, I doubt the positive payment history after the account was closed if helping you right now.
The effect of the negatives drops with time. It's over two years old. I doubt that it's impacting your score a lot, but it sounds like it may have been a manual review, when a human looks at everything. So it really depends if the decision is score-driven or not. It also depends what kind of loan it was and what kind of loan you were applying for. There's really no cut-and-dry answer to any of this.
