Closed accounts are not reporting as open. What happened?

[danny4l]

Several years ago when my credit score dropped, my credit card companies closed the accounts.  I have since been paying off those credit card accounts through a DMP.  I noticed on my credit report that these accounts are now reporting as open and this is factoring into my length of credit history (which is a good thing) I can see on my file that for about a year, the accounts are listed as CLS for closed but now they are open and paid as agreed.  Even on my length of credit history it says my oldest accounts are going back to 2001 and 2003.

My fear is that the companies will one day just go back and close them again and this will drop my score even more because the only other card I have now is a secured card that I opened in November 2011.

[FocusedAndDetermined]

If the companies do, again, mark the accts as closed, it will have an impact on your scores, but probably not as much as you think.  Closed accts still appear on your reports and factor into your AAoA.  So, it would hurt you to have them close, but the damage wouldn't be total. 

Unless/until something happens just enjoy the ride.

[guiness56]

Closed or open they still count toward AAoA.  Closed or open, if the balance and CL are reported they factor into your utilization.

[danny4l]

So even if I close the card or the creditor closes the card, the fact that I still had the card to begin with helps my score?

I think I was confused with the fact that when you close the card, the utilization is affected.

[guiness56]

AAoA goes by the date the card was opened.  When closed, it still counts toward AAoA.

Your utilization is only affected by a closed card IF both a CL and a blance are reporting.  Once the balance is paid, it will no longer be factored into your utilization.

[Booner72]

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@danny4l wrote:

So even if I close the card or the creditor closes the card, the fact that I still had the card to begin with helps my score?

I think I was confused with the fact that when you close the card, the utilization is affected.

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Closed or open accounts are factored into AAoA until the account drops off (10 years from a closed account, though if it had negatives, those would fall off at 7 years). 

If the account has negatives, it is probably hurting your score more than the AAoA is helping. 

[guiness56]

It would really depend on what the negatives are.  If they are 30 or 60 day lates older than 2 years they aren't hurting much any more.  If they are 90+ lates, not matter when, they are having a bigger impact on your score.