Credit Cards

[FicoPower]

I closed a few small accounts from credit cards that I had years ago that I always paid on time.  I mainly closed them since I got a better card with a higher allowance and lower interest when the current card did not.  I also see on one of my credit reports that I have a card that is only for "bad credit" so that seems to be hurting my score?  So even though this account is closed and always paid as agreed, can I request to have it removed from my report?  Because a lot of times I try to apply for a new card and I get declined due to having too many accounts.

[Uncle_Money]

Yes, you can ask but the credit bureaus will not remove it. You would have to ask the creditor who you had the account with. If you always paid on time, you may want to consider what's known as a "goodwill" letter. Mail them a letter stating your request. Send it certified mail. Sometimes these work and other times they don't. It depends on several factors, including the credit card company, who reads the letter, etc. You have nothing to lose.

[haulingthescoreup]

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FicoPower wrote:
I closed a few small accounts from credit cards that I had years ago that I always paid on time.  I mainly closed them since I got a better card with a higher allowance and lower interest when the current card did not.  I also see on one of my credit reports that I have a card that is only for "bad credit" so that seems to be hurting my score?  So even though this account is closed and always paid as agreed, can I request to have it removed from my report?  Because a lot of times I try to apply for a new card and I get declined due to having too many accounts.

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How many open accounts do you have?

As a rule, you would never want to delete clean, closed accounts, because they're helping your history. If there's a dud on there, and it's closed, lenders shouldn't be bothered by that. Everyone had to start somewhere.

Which credit report said that the card was for "bad credit"? That doesn't sound like a FICO comment. The comments that accompany FAKO scores that you get with credit monitoring services are also FAKO, and they are best ignored. I used to get comments and advice all the time on my TrueCredit reports that, if followed, would have really hurt my FICO's.

[FicoPower]

I only use this site to get my credit report info.   Weird I went back and couldn't find where I saw that info about having cards that are for bad credit users.  I have a total of 11 accounts, when in fact only 3 of them are open.  I plan to leave the really old accounts there, and just remove a couple of the small ones that are now closed that had $300 - $500 limits on them.

EDIT

Oh no wait I remember... I had to signup for a new account with my city's eletric service, and they ran a credit check to see if I qualify for service without a downpayment.  The letter (like letters I have seen in the past) said that I had too many accounts.  That is where I saw that info.

Message Edited by FicoPower on 09-22-2009 05:28 AM

[GregB]

You have 3 open accounts and your history shows 11 total. That is a low number, not "too many". The only way I can think that looks like too much churning of accounts is if they are all very recent.

Seems like the city scoring system is defective. That is already done. Why work to change your CR when it will probably make things look worse for virtually all other creditors?

[FicoPower]

Well it is not just the city, I remember seeing the same problem on my bank of america credit card balance increase application and for when I purchased a new car.

[CreditAble]

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FicoPower wrote:
I also see on one of my credit reports that I have a card that is only for "bad credit"

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Which credit card is that?

Perhapse others who have experience with that particular card might be able

to advise if the card hurt their credit scores and what if anything they did about it.

The card only appears on one report? Would you have any idea why only one report? 

[FicoPower]

I wish I could tell you since it didn't specify.  I can only assume that it was my Orchard Bank account.  It was the first card I received that helped me rebuild my credit. It only had a $300 balance and $75 annual fee which I closed a while back once I began receiving a lot of good credit card offers.

[haulingthescoreup]

That's what happened, then. When you got a copy of your credit report from the utility company, the credit bureau gave you some nice FAKO comments, which --who knows? --might have frightened someone else into signing up for their FAKO scores. I forgot who BofA uses, but they're FAKO too.

I wouldn't worry about it. I used to get comments from TrueCredit about not having a long-history CC. Guess the 20-year-old Discover didn't cut it.