Advice on Closing Credit Cards(Low Credit Limits)

[gotti5000]

Capital One/Platinum Mastercard - Credit Limit is $300 - Opened 3/2012

Captial One/Cash Rewards - Credit Limit is $500 - Opened 12/2012

Matrix/Discover - Credit Limit is $300 - Opened 12/2012

First Premier - Credit Limit is $300 - Opened 11/2012

All paid in full except First Premier w/a $100 balance

I'm considering closing my Matrix & First Premier Cards w/Balance Paid in Full & increasing the limits on my Capital One Cards. I wanted to know what effect it would have on my credit scores - Equifax(558), Transunion(550), Experian(561) which I'm still trying to increase & I will be applying for an Apartment next month(not sure if I should cancel before or after I get the Apt in California). My income is $80K(Base Salary), not including my bonus income which can range from 500 to 1500/month. 

I also should receive an increase in my credit score due to making my 9th/Final payment for my Student Loan Rehabilitation(TG/Texas Guarantee) on 4/2/13, I'm just basically waiting for a Lender to pick up the loan. It was with Edfinancial before TG; but I have heard the change in score and removal of past due payments can take from 30-60 days. 

Any advice would be helpful, Thanks.

[CS800]

On my part, if they have no AF, i SD them and leave them open

[NJTurnpike]

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@gotti5000 wrote:

Capital One/Platinum Mastercard - Credit Limit is $300 - Opened 3/2012

Captial One/Cash Rewards - Credit Limit is $500 - Opened 12/2012

Matrix/Discover - Credit Limit is $300 - Opened 12/2012

First Premier - Credit Limit is $300 - Opened 11/2012

All paid in full except First Premier w/a $100 balance

I'm considering closing my Matrix & First Premier Cards w/Balance Paid in Full & increasing the limits on my Capital One Cards. I wanted to know what effect it would have on my credit scores - Equifax(558), Transunion(550), Experian(561) which I'm still trying to increase & I will be applying for an Apartment next month(not sure if I should cancel before or after I get the Apt in California). My income is $80K(Base Salary), not including my bonus income which can range from 500 to 1500/month. 

I also should receive an increase in my credit score due to making my 9th/Final payment for my Student Loan Rehabilitation(TG/Texas Guarantee) on 4/2/13, I'm just basically waiting for a Lender to pick up the loan. It was with Edfinancial before TG; but I have heard the change in score and removal of past due payments can take from 30-60 days. 

Any advice would be helpful, Thanks.

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This sounds like a bit of an incomplete picture. With your income level, you should be in prime land within a few months if you have clean (or clean up) your credit reports.

No matter your situation, definitely close Matrix and FPB. They are bottomfeeders and you no longer need them. They are just a financial burden on you now. Perhaps if you gave us a more complete picture of your CR's, better advice would be forthcoming.

[gotti5000]

Thanks for the response, when you say more information what other info would you need to see a more clear picture?

[gotti5000]

>>>>>

[nfs_mw]

More info as in like ..Do have a BK, CO's , Any Late Payments. if so when are they falling off

Number of Inquiries in last 2 years etc

Same as NJTurnpike -  With your income level and clean record you should be in prime level right now

[codesingh]

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@CS800 wrote:

On my part, if they have no AF, i SD them and leave them open

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What doe you mean by SD? Please expand, it is not in the common list of abbreviations which is on this site.

[InvincibleSummer3]

SD stands for "sock drawer". It means to keep the account open but not use it, just let it age. Closing it can impact your utilization, and since util is 30% of your FICO score be careful when closing cards so you don't get any surprises.

[InvincibleSummer3]

I would not recommend closing the cards UNLESS you can get at least a $600 increased limit on the Cap One cards. And that may not be easy - Cap One is not great about awarding credit limit increases, and your scores are still fairly low.

With what you have now, your util is 6.6%, which is pretty good (although FP is high util compared to CL). If you close the cards, you'll go from $1400 available credit to $800, which means if you have the same $100 balance on one of those open cards you've doubled your utilization. That will cause your score to drop.

[gotti5000]

I was actually considering just keeping the Matrix & First Premier Cards with the balances paid in full & not using them; because since my scores are Equifax(558), Trans (550), Experian(561) & I'm trying to build the score up, I wouldnt want to do anything that would lower my scores, since I do want to Refinance my vehicle sometime this year(28K Balance). My only question is if I dont use the cards and keep the balance paid in full would this still help increase my credit scores?