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Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

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MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok


@MagicShot wrote:

So an account I opened 4 years ago that was that was closed 3 years ago will still count as 4 years in my AAoA untill it falls off after 10 years?


Any closed account in good standing will still help both your AAoA and credit length history for generally 10 years after closing. Sometimes the TL will disappear a little early and if you're lucky a TL will stay after the 10 years.

 

In your case that TL should report until sometime in 2018.

 

Your AAoA is the sum of the ages of every account (except CA collections and public records) on your report, whether open or closed, calculated in months, divided by the number of accounts and then divided by 12. I use the division by 12 to make it easier to convert into years. This is measured from the time each account was opened until present.

You’ll need to figure the age of each account, open or closed, on each report. If all three reports are identical (very unlikely), you're in luck; otherwise, you'll need to run this for each report.


 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, 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".

Message 61 of 81
MagicShot
Contributor

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

I was wondering if I wanted to help my AAoA in the short term untill my newer account age abit would my wife adding me as an AU on her older accounts help with my AAoA also?

Message 62 of 81
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok


@MagicShot wrote:

I was wondering if I wanted to help my AAoA in the short term untill my newer account age abit would my wife adding me as an AU on her older accounts help with my AAoA also?


Yes it might help you IF the account is older than any of yours (which you say it is), IF the payment history is long and clean, IF the utilization is very low, and IF it will report to the CRA's. Not all cards will do this. You need to ask the company first. You will inherit the entire history of this account. One caveat however; if this account starts to go south your credit will be affected as well. Keep that in mind.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, 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".

 

 

Message 63 of 81
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

eta:  Darn!  There were about a half dozen posts from the time I started this response til when I posted it.  S-l-o-w morning typer.  Smiley Very Happy  Glad MVV has sprightly morning fingers! 

 


@MagicShot wrote:


@Tuscani wrote:


@Anonymous wrote:
OK, tell me if I've got this right:
 
Say I have a five-year old card.  I close it today.  Two years from today, does it count towards my history as a seven-year old card?  It's not frozen in time today when I close it as a five-year old? 


Yes, it counts towards your history as a seven year old card. And the 10 yr clock for its removal begins on the date you closed it, not when it was opened.

Is this Still true today as in meaning since the the Credit Card Law went into effect?


Yes - the credit card law has not affected length of time reporting on your CRA's or how AAofA is calculated.  This is the same as before .

Message 64 of 81
MagicShot
Contributor

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok


@MarineVietVet wrote:

@MagicShot wrote:

I was wondering if I wanted to help my AAoA in the short term untill my newer account age abit would my wife adding me as an AU on her older accounts help with my AAoA also?


Yes it might help you IF the account is older than any of yours (which you say it is), IF the payment history is long and clean, IF the utilization is very low, and IF it will report to the CRA's. Not all cards will do this. You need to ask the company first. You will inherit the entire history of this account. One caveat however; if this account starts to go south your credit will be affected as well. Keep that in mind.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, 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".

 

 


If the account for some odd reason started going south, couldnt I just be removed as an AU so it doesnt mess up my profile?

Message 65 of 81
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok


@MagicShot wrote:

 

If the account for some odd reason started going south, couldnt I just be removed as an AU so it doesnt mess up my profile?


Yes you can always have yourself removed. It is usually a pretty easy process.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, 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".

Message 66 of 81
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

So, I posted this elsewhere, but maybe this is the right thread . . .  Thanks in advance for the help!

 

My wife and I are getting divorced.

My wife and I have a joint credit card that goes back 16 years, seven months (1994).

I dont have any other credit card in my name.

The next oldest account on my record is a mortgage that goes from 12/1999 until it was refinanced in 2003.  

I have no late payments.  

The current average account length on my report is 10 years.  

My Equifax FICO score is 779.

 

I called Chase and was told that there's no way to 'clone' our joint credit card account so we both keep the 16 year oldest account. Is this true?  Is there any way around this?  Also, how big a deal is this to my score?  My soon-to-be ex and I are on good terms, we could just leave the account open and occasionally use it. Is losing this account a big enough deal to go through the trouble?

 

From reading the above, it seems like in the short-term, keeping this card open or closing this card will not make much of a difference

 

But, in ten years, my 16-year, closed Chase account will disappear. All my other closed auto loans etc. will be gone too. The bummer is that my next oldest account is a mortgage that I will (hopefully) also close this year when we (hopefully) suceed in selling our house.  So that will disappear off my report at about the same time as the credit card, if I close the credit card now. All I have open right now is a mortgage (about to close), one credit card (might close it). So in ten years, my oldest account on record will plummet -- from 26 years old to 10 years old.

 

So that makes me think I should keep the account open if I can . . . seems like it would be a big deal, no?  Maybe I should become an AU on one of my parents accounts or something . . . .

 

Thanks again --

 

--Chris.

Message 67 of 81
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

Hi, I posted on your other thread, and normally I'd expect a mod to delete this one (no duplicate threads, please!!), but you've added some extra info, about your next oldest account being awfully young.

 

AU would work, IF the account reports to all three bureaus. Not all do.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 68 of 81
algorithmslave
New Contributor

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

The information provided here stands to reason. If it was not true it would not be fair, ie....if someone has two revolving accounts and two installment loans all with a late payment or two but closes all out with PIF and closes at consumer discretion, than only the negative would count and thus completly wreck ones score. This would not be an accurate snap shot of ones ability to manage credit. Thus by counting closed accounts, it would fix this issue. I think that made since........Smiley Surprised

You can wrap me in your flag, make me say a praise to your creator and make me spend your currency, but remember this, I am a loyal servant to Justice and a Patriot to none. I am free...
Message 69 of 81
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Closing Aged Accounts.. Yes It Is Ok

Explain why when I just payed off my mortgage that my FICO dropped according to my score alert
Message 70 of 81
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