How long before an account is "inactive?"

[Anonymous]

How many months can a revolving account report a $0 balance before it is considered "inactive" for scoring purposes? Anyone know for sure?

[llecs]

Nobody knows for sure. I remember asking Barry and he didn't know. I'm guessing over 6 months. ETA...and that's 6 + months of zero updates or date changes to the TL.

[Anonymous]

So how confident would you be that three consecutive months is safe? 50%? 75%? 90%

I ask from a mortgage perspective; I have the option to report basically any balance (small or zero) on three different revolvers, plus my "<9%" card, but between the initial App and the final pull before closing, don't want the line to die, so to speak.

[llecs]

I'm 99.99% certain that it's more than 6 months.

I too was playing with balances pre-mortgage app. There were some cards I didn't use in over a year and they still counted into util. They counted because, regardless of non-use, they still reported monthly with a $0 balance. I think FICO bases the inactivity off the reported date.