Recently, I received a letter that one of my cards was to be closed due to inactivity. I merely brushed this aside and figured, "I'll call them and request that it stay open and it'll be fine." Much to my dismay, when I called, the most likely minimum wage worker informed me that no matter what I did, the account could not be kept open due to the agency trying to close all dormant accounts. I was ticked, needless to say. Mostly because it was $8,000 worth of credit, and I felt that it would lower my credit score because it increases my debt/available credit ratio. I'm not so sure if it's calculated per card, or for all available credit. I'm thinking the latter, which is why I was so ticked off! GRRRR, it makes me angry to think about it!
Anyway, I ran across this tidbit on CNN Money and thought I'd list it here as well in order to keep that from happening to anyone else or me again for that matter. I'm also going to review my credit report and make sure I charge at least one small thing on my cards in order to keep them active.
- 35% Your payment history Pay your bills on time. Automating payments online can help.
- 30% How much you owe Keep balances on credit cards and other revolving accounts below
- 50% of your credit limit (lower is better).
- 15% Length of your credit history Rather than let old cards go dormant, charge a latte a month (then pay it off). No activity lowers your score.
- 10% Your new credit Don't open unnecessary new accounts. And if you're rate shopping for a mortgage or an auto loan, do it within two weeks; multiple requests could ding your score.
- 10% Your mix of loans You can't do much to change this (except get a credit card if you don't have one).
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1 comment:
I think I had this very list memorized my first two years out of college as I fought to raise my credit score - GREAT information! Lots of people are ignorant - thanks for posting!
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