Positive Items Deletion

The more positive accts. the better, the more negative, the worse. I recently had a 7 year old paid off car loan fall off for some unknown reason as positives should remain for 10 years. The result was a 3 pt. loss. You may lose 1 pt. or you may lose 20 pts. who knows, but the fewer positives you have, most likely the lower your score.

 

That is a toughie because the Fair, Isaac Company (FICO) is so secretive, so none of us can answer conclusively. On the other hand, I agree with everything LKH just said. Moreover, here's my best attempt to add a few things we do know:

1) Old positive tradelines for closed accounts don't hurt your score. (Furthermore, we believe that they help your score, but this sentence ventures into the land of speculation.)

2) A certain "credit mix" helps your score. So, for example, if you have had a mortgage, that helps you even if it's now paid off. That optimal mix of credit is another one of those FICO secrets, unfortunately. (Speculation: We believe a good mix is a bank credit card, a traditional charge card like AmEx, a department store card, an auto loan, a gas card, and a mortgage. We further believe that "installment loans" of any type other than a house or car [we think] -- including student loans, whether paid off or not -- detract from your score. Again, everything in these parenthesis is speculation.)

3) Closed positive accounts are more helpful to your score than too many open positive accounts. So, for example, someone with 10 open MasterCards each of which has a $3000 credit line, will almost certainly have a lower score than someone with a single MasterCard that has a $30,000 credit line. (Speculation: FICO "likes" consumers who are enough in control of their credit that they know when to close an account. Moreover, FICO scores benefit when new accounts are allowed to "age" [we think at least 2 years] before they are closed.)

So, even though we can't answer your excellent question specifically, all the clues we do know point to the idea that closing your old positive accounts is a mistake.

Doc

 

I still don't understand your logic - how do you get 1+2=4? What would make you think old positives would hurt your scores???

 

When you dispute your accounts, the creditors will wonder who opened them. They will think it was SOMEONE ELSE. And they will ALERT THE CREDIT BUREAUS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM OF FRAUD.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS YOUR CREDIT REPORTS ONLINE. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR CREDIT WITHOUT A MAJOR HASSLE. YOU WILL BE FOREVER VERIFYING YOUR IDENTITY.

I don't know why I am doing this. You have made up your mind that it is a good thing, and I guess you want us all to agree. We don't.

 

It's not easy to get off. Why do you hate seeing them on there? I still don't see the logic. It sounds like there's more to this than what you are telling us.

 

Agreed.

 

zb, relax until you get the results. No reason to speculate and worry.

-Peace, Dave

 

zb,
It might not happen but on the other hand, by disputing positive tradelines you have put yourself at risk. I agree you should just wait and see.

I also agree with all others who have posted that wanting to 'clean up' your report as you've described is not a good idea. I, for one, would never do such a thing. Who the creditor was matters not. The fact that you paid your accounts responsibly is the only real factor. Many here would love to have those positive accounts you're trying to get rid of on their own profiles to show a HISTORY of good credit behavior.

 

Oh, also, zb, many of us here have 20 or more tradelines on their profiles. I just pulled my TU not an hour ago and I am showing 18 on it. I think my EQ has 19. How many do you have? 20 or even 30 tradelines is not uncommon.

 

IF YOU WANT TO TRY IT AGAIN IN THE FUTURE...REMEMBER THIS

Be VERY CAREFUL when DISPUTING "GOOD" accounts...you MAY end up with a FRAUD ALERT on your credit report(s)...

It is better to DISPUTE for ACCURACY...credit limit is NOT $6,000 (may be $5,900...they rounded it up)...
...not opened in 12/2000...(opened 11/2000)
...not a "joint account"...(your AU)

THEY THINK IT'S TOO MUCH WORK TO LET YOU HAVE A 100% PERFECT CREDIT REPORT!!!


It's easier to DELETE than INVESTIGATE...

WHEN IN DOUBT...DON'T DISPUTE A "POSITIVE" ACCOUNT...

 

38 NOT~WORTHKNOWING

 

Dear ZB,

If you are sure that you're telling us everything and you're sure these tradelines are positive (regardless of their age) then waiting "to see what happens" is not the answer right now. We must take immediate control of the situation.

If you can start a dispute you can also stop one. Why not take a little time and call one of the CRA's. Tell them your situation and that you mistakenly thought it a good idea to "tidy up your report".

Once you've done that (pre-supposing you did not dispute as "not mine") you may conclude that it's in your best interest to REVERSE your dispute.

The fraud alert comes from the fact that people, in general, just don't dispute positive entries. But it certainly does happen occasionally. Don't worry about fraud alert right now. That's the least of the problems. Under these circumstances FA could be fixed. For now we all want to see you jump on this and see if you can save those tradelines.

Above all don't worry. We'll walk ya through it. In fact, I will be here tomorrow most of the day. If you'd like to call me, send me a private email and we'll see if we can't fix this.

 

I think Butch's advice is excellent. You have nothing to lose by calling the CRA(s) just as he suggested. I'll bet they can close a dispute quickly.

Doc

 

Thanx Doc,

I just hope she see's it quickly.