I know this is a Credit Repair 101 question, but the noggin isn't at full speed today... I have a Household and a Cap 1 card that I want to dump, but they are two of my oldest cards. Would closing them satisfactorally (?!) reduce the average age of accounts, or are closed accounts taken into consideration as well? Thanks y'all
My understanding is that they would count towards the age of your overall credit file which is a good thing if they are your oldest accounts. I don't know what effect they would have on your overall credit. Do you have other open accounts in good standing that are at least a year old? Conjecture I've seen here on the board is that an account hurts you for the first 6-12 months and then helps you more and more until it reaches three years. I've never seen an independent verification of this.
I agree with Dave that they do count toward your score...My oldest tradelines are "closed by consumer" and my scoring says that a positive item is that my credit activity goes for 5+ years. However the only "active" tradelines I have open are around a year or less, and I was rejected by Everbank for not having enough "active" tradelines older than a year. So, while they help your score as "closed positive items", they may be looked at by some creditors as better when they are "continuing or active" tradelines than when they are "closed". I would keep the oldest NO ANNUAL FEE tradeline you have open and in good standing for the best results. -Dave
