I need some help trying to make sense of my credit report. Do closed accounts that show up on the report affect the rating? If they are closed shouldn't they be off of the report? How does one go about doing that? Thanks!
Originally Posted by theimp98
you know, for some reason i was kinda scared to look here hehe
I just did that because I am buying a house and it made a world of difference. There was an old thirty dollar bill (bogus) from a doctor that I did not even know about. That stupid thirty dollars was lowering my credit rating by forty points! That would have cost me tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the house loan. I simply got a hold of the collection agency and told them I wanted to pay it off. The next time I had a credit check run (BTW, each time you have a credit check, it lowers your credit score), my credit score had improved to the point that I went from getting a house loan for 6.25% to 5.75%, all for a lousy thirty dollars.Originally Posted by Essayons89
I need some help trying to make sense of my credit report. Do closed accounts that show up on the report affect the rating? If they are closed shouldn't they be off of the report? How does one go about doing that? Thanks!
when YOU check your credit report your score is NOT lowered, when someone else does it will lower it, like a mortgage company or car loan company, but you can check your own credit report everyday if you wantedOriginally Posted by Persi & Alley
I just did that because I am buying a house and it made a world of difference. There was an old thirty dollar bill from a doctor that I did not even know about. That stupid thirty dollars was lowering my credit rating by forty points! That would have cost me tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the house loan. I simply got a hold of the collection agency and told them I wanted to pay it off. The next time I had a credit check run (BTW, each time you have a credit check, it lowers your credit score), my credit score had improved to the point that I went from getting a house loan for 6.25% to 5.75%, all for a lousy thirty dollars.
You are entitled to look at your credit report once a year which does not affect your score. When businesses have a need to check your credit report, that is when your score is lowered.Originally Posted by Persi & Alley
The next time I had a credit check run (BTW, each time you have a credit check, it lowers your credit score), my credit score had improved to the point that I went from getting a house loan for 6.25% to 5.75%, all for a lousy thirty dollars.
No, no, NO, this is bad advice. NEVER CLOSE OPEN ACCOUNTS!Originally Posted by GailC
I would contact Gateway and close the account. Many creditors if they see revolving lines of credit (like a CC) they will add up the credit lines to find out they total amount of revolving credit available. If the dollar amount is substanial they may use this as a factor of granting more credit. So if you don't need it I would close it.
My mom and dad pretty much said the same thing when I was talking to them. I'm going to leave the Gateway alone.Originally Posted by GingersMom
No, no, NO, this is bad advice. NEVER CLOSE OPEN ACCOUNTS!
Leaving it open shows that they granted you credit and how much. Closing it will NEGATIVELY affect your credit report.
Yahoo.com has a finance section that has LOADS of great info on managing your credit report. You might want to check it out.
Yep. That's what I said earlier. The key is to not use it. That shows future creditors that you have "self control" and that just because you have available credit, you don't abuse it. And it helps your debt:credit ratio if you have more credit than you have debt.Originally Posted by GingersMom
No, no, NO, this is bad advice. NEVER CLOSE OPEN ACCOUNTS!
Leaving it open shows that they granted you credit and how much. Closing it will NEGATIVELY affect your credit report.
You can dispute the closed accounts from your credit report. What company did you go through? I did my report with all three and each one had a link to dispute closed cards to remove them or close ones that are. I had some companies that were out of business. From what I read last year other CC doing a search doesn't hurt you. Like when they check to see if they can increase your credit. Checks for loans will lower your score. If you owe close to your balance that will affect your score too. You can either pay it off or ask for an increase but don't actually use the extra credit.Originally Posted by Essayons89
One of the big problems on there is an account that was past due, I paid it off in July but it's still being shown as open. I called the company today to verify that the account was closed. They said it was but I never received a letter saying it was paid in full and is now closed. They are going to send one to me but they don't know why it's showing up on the report as being open still. Do I dispute this when I get the letter saying the account is closed?
There is also something else I'm wondering about. In 1999 I bought a Gateway computer and it was an installment account. I received a card with a $2000 limit on it but was never able to use it. The card has no balance due on it but it's showing up as being open in my revolving accounts. It's not a negative account on my report. Do I call Gateway and ask then why it's open and close it or do I leave it alone since it's not harming me?
I went through Equifax. So I can have closed credit card accounts removed? None of those have a balance due, most have been paid off for while, the most recent were two from last year. I have one card that is close to the max (I can cut that down to half by summer) the other is half and a loan. Those are the only accounts that will be active once I get this Beneficial thing straightened out.Originally Posted by "Crazyforinfo
You can dispute the closed accounts from your credit report. What company did you go through? I did my report with all three and each one had a link to dispute closed cards to remove them or close ones that are. I had some companies that were out of business. From what I read last year other CC doing a search doesn't hurt you. Like when they check to see if they can increase your credit. Checks for loans will lower your score. If you owe close to your balance that will affect your score too. You can either pay it off or ask for an increase but don't actually use the extra credit.
Only closing major credit cards will negatively affect your score. If you close store cards and still have Visa, Mastercard or Discover you will be fine.Originally Posted by GingersMom
No, no, NO, this is bad advice. NEVER CLOSE OPEN ACCOUNTS!
Leaving it open shows that they granted you credit and how much. Closing it will NEGATIVELY affect your credit report.
Yahoo.com has a finance section that has LOADS of great info on managing your credit report. You might want to check it out.