Ok...I have been steadily working on my credit since 1997 or so...some background: Most of my current revolving T/Ls originated in the 2000 or 2001 time frame...currently 3 CC with approximately $3k limit on each. First mortgage on credit in 1999...paid off in 2002. Never late. Now have new mortgage...never late. ----------------------------------------------------------- Now, my question is this: I have ONE old secured card on my credit report... Opened: 07/1996 Last Activity -01/1999 Credit Limit/Original Amount: $350 High Balance: $662 Status on this account is showing "Inactive/Current"...which results from me telling them in 1999 to take their $75 annual fee and stick it. They then did not reissue an expiring card. Account was paid off in full on time. BUT..during use of the card...particularly in 1998, I had some 60 and 90 day lates. I'm wondering...since this entry has some bad things going against it: Secured card (scoring somehow knows this, correct?) High limit more than twice the listed credit limit Late pays (although pretty old now) Should I try to have the entire T/L removed...i.e. are the above hurting me MORE than it's value as my oldest trade line? Or...should I simply "buy" T/L age by writing to them to reactivate it...then push for my limit to be raised above the High Use mark...thereby sorta rehabilitating the T/L into a somewhat positive entry? Thoughts?
Awww...c'mon. Some of you long time experts must have some thoughts on this. Is it worth having the aged trade line vs the negatives of it? aiki
Hi Aiki, The age old question. To try and gamble between the value of an old TL, because of it's age, and it's score impact, if deleted, is never easy. First thing you might consider is that if you told them to cram the $75 fee, then the account is "closed by consumer", and should so state. Is this your OLDEST TL on any of the 3 CR's? If it is you might want to dispute with EQ. to see if it temporarily gets excluded from the fico calculation. Measuring that against the regular score may give you some insight as to whether or not you should argue for it's removal. My personal philosophy is "if it's neg. in any respect, get it off the CR". Or as Johnny Cochran might say; "Get it off my report or we're goin to court". You can then work on rebuilding your score. But to approach it strategically you'll need some patience. .
Thank you sir! I've been working on this for a long time...and know the basics...but just wanted another set of experienced eyes on it. I did recently dispute it...and score adjusted a bit upward. But, unfortunately, I used Christmas bonus money to pay down CC lines...so I believe one of those also hit at the same time, so I don't know which gave me the points. I'm gonna sit on it to see if it comes out of dispute. If score goes down a bit, I'll be able to judge. Thanks again aiki
