Number of credit cards

[RobertEG]

Thanks, Hauling!  WOW!  And.... Dah to me!  That kinda makes sense to me.  My oldest account dates back to 1984, and is still posting on my CR, even though I closed it as a result my divorce back in 1998 (ten years ago, oh poop!).  It gave me 23+ years of credit lenght in my scoring. My ex was a joint on the card, and due to my lack of FICO knowledge back then, I just cancelled that card for obvious acrimoneous divorce reasons, rather than dropping her as a joint card  holder. If I had only known then that there was even anything called a FICO score, I not would simply have dropped the card, only her!  her... but alas, water over the dammit.  She is still wreaking her revenge upon me!

 Wow, these forums give me such retrospective on what I SHOULD have done!  LOL! So, oh crap, that means I will lose it totally n my length credit this year, and be back amongst the shorter credit lenght consumers!  But hey, hey, my sage.....what about this pipe dream?.... it may then put me back into a lower bucket, and actually increase my score! Whatcha think?  LOL! Nah, I hear you resonding already, buckets are always a kick to the head, so I kinda dont forsee any bucket kicking me forward! I think I have a better chance of seeing Jesus!

Regardless of its impact, it is great info to have, Hauling! That AMEX card was the only one I had until 1993, so I guess I am about to lose 9 years of credit length in my scoring!  Yes, I shall tip-toe lightly on that bugger, and not ask questions if it does disappear into the ephemeral FICO ether, but it gives me some insight on a reason if my score takes a dive during this year!

Maybe others will learn from the errs of my ways!  "Credit cards can be more important than wives!"

Thanks for the useful insight!

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-27-2008 03:45 PM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-27-2008 03:48 PM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-27-2008 03:50 PM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 02-27-2008 03:53 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

We canceled a gas card that we had had since 1981, I think it was.

That is why it is so, so risky to dispute or even GW a late on an old, closed account. Many creditors will gleefully say, Sure, we'll be happy to remove that pesky 30-day, and what they do is stop reporting the TL entirely. And much to my surprise, I found that there is NO legal requirement for accounts to be reported for those ten years after closing.

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the consumer protection laws in this country are pretty pathetic in many areas. It's an election year. Do some research, and then start contacting your US senators and representatives!

[fused]

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cobra19 wrote:

I suspect with a 784, your utility was already pretty low. I think what hurt you more was losing the history those old cards gave you.  

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Credit cards rather open or closed in good standing are weighed equally in FICO scoring. By closing a card in good standing, no history is lost. 10 years after the card is closed then maybe yes.

[Anonymous]

Robert:

And thus I ask why we lose these longstanding tradelines simply for closing them......or more accurately, why do we get punished and considered higher risk for doing so?   I totally disagree and this results in myFICO overstating the risk on us......