Effect of closing CC's that aren't being used and other questions

[Anonymous]

What is the current thought on closing CC's that you aren't using? How does that effect your score? It's my wife's card, we paid it off 3-4 years ago and can't stand Chase so we don't use it.  We have 2 cards that we routinely use and then 3 others that we are working on paying off.  Our scores are high 600's(mine), low 700's(her).

We will be listing our house for sale next month(in a hot market) and then preparing to step up to a bigger house.  Current loan is VA, but we might be going over the limit for a VA loan in King county Seattle WA.  Not sure what the current limit is, I know it was $417k, but it might be mid $500's now, which would be fine.

[Mike_B03]

I would leave them alone, especially since it sounds like they are older accounts, which helps your credit score. Plus, if they have a zero balance, the available credit on them is helping keep the utilization of all your other cards down. There really would be no benefit to closing them.

[Anonymous]

So utilization goes not card by card but all of them together?

[ceejx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So utilization goes not card by card but all of them together?

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yes util is your total credit card debt divided by your total available credit. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you, that's good to know.  How do other things like lines of credit factor in?

[HoldingOntoHope]

FICO scores on both individual utilization of each account and total overall utilization. The exact percentage of how each is scored is an unknown factor. Accounts such as lines of credit are factored in your revolving utilization. Larger lines of credit such as home equity are not factored once they cross a certain threshold. (I believe it is 30K but it may be higher, someone will chime in.) Even though you are not a fan of the bank itself, it is probably a good idea to put a small charge on the credit card maybe once a quarter just to show activity and keep the creditor from closing the account. Many people put a monthly recurring bill or subscription on an account and just pay it off before the statement date. Result is 0 balance reporting on the account but no threat of closure by the issuer.

In the end you do have to do what's best for you and not necessarily what FICO wants. And in a few rare instances people have been told by a mortgage lender that they needed to close some accounts to reduce their credit exposure. But that is far from the norm and probably won't matter to your situation.