Howdy y'all, newbie here, already learning a lot, thanks for all the insights etc. I am cleaning up my credit by paying off due accounts (yes they're still all active and valid, I checked), and having some of the negatives removed after patyment through Good Standing letters. My first post question is this: My oldest account on my report is 12 years old, it is a revolving credit line from a bank with a status that reads "Paid, was past due 120 days". It was paid in full a few years ago (only $300). I don't really have any positive credits on my report (just 6 total accounts), and no current open accounts. My scores are 583, 583, and 640. Will removing this account raise my score by taking away a negative account, or will it hurt by shortening the time of my credit history (the other accounts are several years newer)? Thanks you in advance for your replies, your help is greatly appreciated
The late pay makes this a negative account, so it's not doing anything to help your credit score. If it's 12 years old, then it probably doesn't belong on your reports anyway, so I would dispute it through the CRAs. Besides, your payment history accounts for a much larger percentage of your credit score than your length of credit history, so I would focus on cleaning up your payment history first.
