Spoke with my brother in law this evening. It appears that Fleet has cancelled his account. A little background- Fleet jacked up his APR last Spring to 24.99%. So he paid off his balance and used the account to charge for gas. Fleet pulled Transunion (Fico 707) on him and cited the following reasons. Length of time accounts have been established. (he has only one account less than a year. The rest are at least 24 months) Amount owed on revolving accounts is too high. (He just purchased a expensive item and charged it to his Discover card.) Also has a high balance on his Chase (current APR less than 8.00%) Number of bank/national revolving account. (He has 5 credit cards and one installment loan) My guess is Fleet saw a lack of activity on this account and cancelled him. He's not mad just insulted that he is treated like this from a supposed prime credit card company. Best regards, Mirage
Possibly - dispute it with the CRA as closed by consumer - may work. Fleet is convervative (some would say harsh). They want excellent credit, frequent usage, and reward that with low limits and quick rate increases. They're a prime issuer, but not necessarily a "nice" issuer. I keep them because they offer frequent low-rate teasers and the balance lowers our checking account rates. Otherwise, it would be closed. -mj
Asked my brother in law some more questions. Appears Fleet closed his account effective 10/31/01 but he received his notice on 11/03/01. He does have a charge of $10.80 for the month of Oct. The way he sees it they owe him since they charged him his anuual fee in Sept. I asked him if he would like to dispute the closed by creditor vs. consumer issue and he has no clue. So I urge him to dispute that. Since the notation has not reached his credit reports yet, I mentioned that he should call or write to Fleet. Tell you the truth I don't think I will be a Fleet customer in the future. It's going to be interesting to see what else happens to my in law as he also paid off three other credit cards. Best regards, Mirage
Just thinking... what happens when you do paid off a credit card and put the card into storage? So many posters have made that claim to pay off the balance but keep the card (for ratio or history purposes). Will other credit card companies start to notice the lack of activity and closed the account? Defeats the purpose of us trying to booster our FICO score. Best regards, Mirage
"CLOSED BY CREDITOR" can be used if it was closed because you were always late, or over limit, or NEVER paid. I DON'T THINK IT CAN BE STATED AS "CLOSED BY CREDIT GRANTOR" BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T USE THE ACCOUNT ENOUGH... Demand it be changed to "ACCOUNT CLOSED BY CONSUMER" (with the CRA). Or demand it be re-opened and use it for one gas fill-up per month and pay in full.
I always use the ones I want to keep open. And vary it - small amounts one month, a large amount every couple of months. But if their rates are high I will not carry a balance.
I have a real issue with the idea that he was charged an annual fee in Sept and they closed his account for inactivity in Oct. If he'd been late or something that's one thing. But I honestly think this constitutes something fraudulent on their part (or at least deceptive business practices) by saying we'll charge you for a YEARLY fee and then not give you the year. I would think that, in essence, they've agreed that he had the card for another year for a fee unless he screws up. But instead, they charge a fee for the year and then don't give him the year? OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!! Get the fee refunded or have him contact his state's atty general. this is WRONG! and slimy. I'd expect something like that from a subprime.
