Have a cc with Orchard Bank. Was approved for this a few months ago when I was in the upper 500's. I only applied because I thought I would be stuck in subprime purgatory for awhile. Anyways, settled with numerous ca accounts (medical) in the last few months and EQ is at 780. I know this will drop when I apply for a mortgage next month, it will lead to TWO new accounts,(I am assuming a first and a second). If I keep Orchard, that is 4 NEW ACCOUNTS in less than three months, I know my FICO will take a hit. If I close Orchard, do you think it will help??
I think that the proverbial damage is done. Unless you have a lot of open credit card accounts, I don't think it matters if you keep it open or close it. The reason I say this is because I received a Cap1 offer for Platinum last February. I bit thinking I was going to get a reasonable credit line but instead they stuck me with the $500 minimum. When I cancelled (about 5 minutes after activating) it still showed up on my credit report. EQ specifically says that it's my "newest" account. In short, I'd keep it open until they try and hit you with a fee for the card and then I'd dump it. My two cents.
