Closed Acct - Asking a creditor to report CL as $0?

[MBOhio2]

I have a BOA LOC that is closed, but that still has a balance. (original limit = $29,200; balance = $19,100). Even though the LOC is closed, BOA is still reporting the credit limit as $29,200 and therefore, this account is totally skewing my utilization % (all CCs have a $0 balance) from 0% to 54%. Has anyone ever tried calling a creditor and simply asking them report a closed account's credit limit as $0? From what I understand, this would cause it to NOT be factored into the utilization %.

I understand that BOA is an enormous institution and they likely have standard procedures for reporting accounts, but I thought is was worth a shot. Any thoughts?

[MarineVietVet]

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@MBOhio2 wrote:

I have a BOA LOC that is closed, but that still has a balance. (original limit = $29,200; balance = $19,100). Even though the LOC is closed, BOA is still reporting the credit limit as $29,200 and therefore, this account is totally skewing my utilization % (all CCs have a $0 balance) from 0% to 54%. Has anyone ever tried calling a creditor and simply asking them report a closed account's credit limit as $0? From what I understand, this would cause it to NOT be factored into the utilization %.

I understand that BOA is an enormous institution and they likely have standard procedures for reporting accounts, but I thought is was worth a shot. Any thoughts?

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That's an interesting strategy and one I've not seen talked about in my short time here. It's true that if the CL is not reported then that LOC will not be factored into your utilization.

All BoA can do is say no.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[kelli1970]

If they do agree to do that please let us all know if it worked. 

[MBOhio2]

They said no

Unfortuantely, since BOA is such a large company, they have a standard process for reporting accounts and are very rigid. I tried explaining my case and pleaded with the CSR to change the limit reported to $0, but she essentially said "this is how we report closed LOCs, period." Oh well, it was worth the try!!

[RobertEG]

I am not surprised.  The higher-ups at BoA who make the rules understand the impacts.

They want all the clout they can muster as incentive for you to pay the remaining balance on the debt.  They understand that having a negative % util  affect on your credit score is an advantage to them.  Their concern is their interest, not yours.

If I were setting the rules at BoA, I would probably set the same policy.  Capitalism is not always pretty!

[MBOhio2]

Totally agree Robert, but I figured, all they could do was say no so it was worth the try!