Need help

[ficonightmare]

Yep, very misleading and wrong. Everywhere I checked (except for this site), people were quoting their FAKO scores without realizing that's not what banks look at.

Apparently my DH is a FICO High Achiever. I asked him how he got his score so high. He said no formula just being responsible. Keeps his debt low, and on those occasions where he needs to charge hight amounts (like vacations), he'll pay all/or most off in the next billing cycle because he hates carrying large balances. But he does use his Citi CC for everything because of the points. Once in awhile he'll use AMEX and Chase to keep them active.

It seems simple enough and yet, I haven't mastered it.

When I checked my report, it showed I had an AMEX card from 1995 that was closed in 2008 because it was inactive. i totally forgot I even had it. It was my emergency card that I haven't used since the late 90's. The account was in good standing but did I take a hit for it? And if I re-apply will it be an issue?

[llecs]

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@ficonightmare wrote:

When I checked my report, it showed I had an AMEX card from 1995 that was closed in 2008 because it was inactive. i totally forgot I even had it. It was my emergency card that I haven't used since the late 90's. The account was in good standing but did I take a hit for it? And if I re-apply will it be an issue?

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Whether opened or closed, there's no impact per your utilization. Also, it'll continue to report until 2018 and that'll help with your length of history and AAoA. Moreover, Amex is quite desirable in that they will back date the opened date on all new, future CCs you open with the original open date of your first CC with them. I probably could have typed that better but any future Amex you open will have an open date of 1995.

[ficonightmare]

IIecs, thanks.

So even if they closed it do to inactivity, I'm not taking a hit  for it on my FICO score? Sorry for all the questions.

I don't plan on applying any time soon as I'm showing someone made an inquiry to TU in march 2010. I'm going to wait until that inquiry is off before getting AMEX again.

[llecs]

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@ficonightmare wrote:

So even if they closed it do to inactivity, I'm not taking a hit  for it on my FICO score? Sorry for all the questions.

I don't plan on applying any time soon as I'm showing someone made an inquiry to TU in march 2010. I'm going to wait until that inquiry is off before getting AMEX again.

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Your FICO likely isn't taking a hit at all. If this were any other CC, I'd say you are better to have it report open on the basis of utilization, but Amex (assuming this is a charge card since it's from 1995) charge cards factor in differently. On EX and EQ FICO scores, the current balance and "high balance" aren't factored in at all in your FICO score. So, even if it reported as open, there's no impact per utilization. The same applies to newer versions of your TU FICO score. However, the TU FICO version used still by many lenders and by myFICO.com does factor in Amex charge cards into your utilization. Since this CC is closed, it isn't factored into utilization. Amex will report a "high balance" for the basis for the CL in this TU FICO version. Amex will report the "high balance" and will adjust it from time to time (up or down). Since this CC had not been used for some time, and assuming it were still open, that high balance would have read $0 and it wouldn't help you anyway.

The other aspect to be aware of is your mix of credit. Open CCs factor into your mix whereas closed CCs do not. However, if you have other CCs, then don't worry about this.

This will continue to age and help your history. If you ever opt to apply for an Amex in the future, then you'll have extra bonus history.

[ficonightmare]

I just contacted AMEX and apparently I had 2 cards. The Green and Optima. Both were closed. Mine (Optima) due to inactivity (which is not showing up at all on my TU report), The other one from 1995, was the amex green and I  was an AU,  was also closed due to inactivity. My parents had a habit of adding me when I was  in my late teens/early 20's without letting me know just to build a credit history.

Both accounts were in good standing. They also said, and you were right about this, IIecs, was that if i applied today, they would backdate it to 1995 even though I was an AU at the time. My Optima card was opened later and closed in 2003. Weird that it's not showing up on TU. Checked EQ again and there it was.

Thanks again for all the help.