A friend asked me to take a look at her CR as she is about to buy a car. Her credit looked to be sparkling clean with no lates and a reasonable balance to limit ratio. Her history goes back 12 years and once again no lates, collections or negative comments. Her score is only 680. She has 23 Open Revolving accounts mostly gas and dept store cards with a couple of Visa\MC's. Would it be in her best interest to close any of the newer revolving accounts?
At this time, it is not clear if closing them accomplishes anything. It is still worth understanding why FICO is only 680, to avoid future problems. How many accounts were opened recently (in the last 2 years)? How many hard inquiries are showing? Typically these are from applying for credit, and inquiries in the last 6 months hurt the most. What total debt is showing? What total available credit?
