Hello everyone,
Upon reviewing my credit report for the first time, I noticed a closed Citibank credit card account. The card was opened in August 2000 with a credit limit of 300$. It was closed by Citibank in May 2007, presumably for inacitivty. (The last time it was used was March 2002.) I suspect it was a student card and do not believe it ever received a credit limit increase.
I DID NOT open up this account and I did not even know it existed until I pulled my credit report. Thankfully, the card in question has a clean record. As such, it has only helped my credit score. However, it is by far my oldest account. My second oldest account was opened five years later, in August 2005. Since then, I've opened one more credit card account, in November 2006, and two student loans, in January 2007 and February 2007.
My current (November 2008) Equifax score is approximately 750 and I have no reason to suspect the other two scores differ significantly. (Both my Experian and TransUnion reports contained the same data.) Although I know the closed Citibank account will remain on my credit reports for awhile, I'm worried my credit scores may take a severe hit when it eventually does fall off given the age disparity between my oldest and second oldest accounts.
My questions are as follows:
# 1 It is possible to reopen the Citi account that was closed in May 2007?
# 2 Assuming an affirmative answer to the first question, given my circumstances, would it be wise to do so?
#3 Assuming affirmative answers to the first two questions, what would reopening an account entail? What I mean by this is: A) Would I essentially have to reapply for the card and thus sustain a hard inquiry? B) Would the account continue to show its original opening date of August 2000? C) How would they report the period that the account was closed on my credit reports?
My sole reason for reopening the account would be to preserve its history as my oldest account rather than any actual need for credit.
Thank you all in advance for any advice you can provide.
