Ok. I just got this confirmed from a very trusted source and it surprised me but it's true... If you close more than 2 accounts in 6 months you take a HUGE score hit. So as you change your portfolio, check the closed dates that show on your reports and make sure you stay out of this penalty box.
That pisses me off! So, when a person gets the score factor of "too many accounts", they think they'd be doing the right thing by closing a few. You're saying they would then get nailed again? Lbrown is right.
ahhh ohhh....just closed 3 in the last 60 days....oops...hope it's not to bad....although two were combined into a third...(combined 3 cap1 accounts into 1 and closed 2)
Hmmmm. I closed 2 accounts about 2 months ago, both have been updated to closed by consumer, my score didn't change a bit. This is based on Equifax.
so you're ok 2 is fine 3 and above will hurt you. It's a timing thing. Being aware of this penalty allows us to stagger closings and beat the formula
Marie - thanks for the info. Is this pertaining to revolving accounts only or all accounts? I just "closed" all 4 of my transferred installment student loan accounts. :-(
I closed 4 accounts all at once, got fico at 674. After they were closed, fico was 685. I don't think it's true in every case.
I should have been more specific: we only discussed revolving cards... His point was that people close a lot of cards at once hoping for a large score boost and they shoot themselves in the foot instead. He also told me dept store cards really don't help the score much at all (except the limit is in the ratio calculation). His advice was to not get many dept store cards, but I don't anyway because I use visa/mc/amex for most charges (except for my favorite TARGET dept store card...) As for comparing "before" and "after" scores, if you guys are using either TU or CreditExpert's score they're not real fico... so you don't know the real effect on your score... so be careful how you guage your actions to your results... I hate those fake scores... Tu and Experian might as well give us LEGOs and let us build our own scores for all their scores are worth.
i've closed many cards, and never lost points for closing them. Maybe if they are older accounts, but these were all under 1yr of age. I closed them, most of the time my score went up.
Thanks Marie for the information. I totally agree with regards to TU and Exp scores, they are complete BS. I just hope people don't rely on those scores, I know it's all we got, however they aren't worth the paper they are printed on. I mainly use them to just monitor my reports and activity and throw the scores out the window. Funny thig with TU, the number one reason for my score, is the balances on my retail cards are too high, hmm I owe nothing and only have one retail card LOL.
GRRR, I hate the scoring systems implemented today! I think they need to scrap all their FAKE-O systems and just reveal the REAL score. It isn't something that is difficult for them, but just like everything else involving a credit bureau, you find out real quickly its a PAIN IN THE ASS.
Mentioning scores - last month my husband paid off one of his cards in full ($600 balance) today CE updated it to a $0 balance and his score went up 35 points. I wish my score would go up 35 points for paying off $600. Just goes to show how ludricous these online scores are. Dani
