I've spent a lot of time reading posts here, and there is one area that I remain unclear on. Longevity of accounts. Does FICO take into consideration the longevity of my entire credit file or the longevity of accounts on record. I have a decent amount of accounts that I have closed over the years, (probably just because I didn't like the APR and never thought to call them about it). Does that look good or bad to potential lenders? For instance, I have an MBNA line of credit that Apple Computer offers. They have an excellent option pay in 6 months, same as cash (all of the interest charged is rebated). I thought that would be great. Once I pay off my balance, I have no intention of using that credit anymore, simply because the APR is sky-high. Should I cancel the credit line now, or keep it on there until I am sitting in the lender's office, and s/he tells me to close it because I have too much revolving credit? That gets back to my issue, it will be just another account that is closed on my report. What do you think?
In that case, I would probably go ahead and close it. I think that I would rather my CR read "closed by customer" rather than "closed by credit grantor". If you don't use it for a while, i think it would eventually read that way.
Closed positive accounts will remain on CR for 12 years which should give you plenty of longevity as far as FICO Scoring
If you don't plan on using a credit account ever again then I suggest that you close it, so it will be reported "closed at consumer request". My advice is that you spend the $4.42 and send a WRITTEN REQUEST BY CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED and get written confirmation by the creditor that the account was closed by consumer request.
