Old Accounts

[Anonymous]

My score is fairly high (over 750), but the one thing that is shown as working against me is 35 accounts in the account list. Most of these are old mortgages and car loans that have been long paid off, and old credit cards that were cancelled long ago (some 15-20 years ago). How long do these stay on your account list, and is there any way to get rid of the old ones (or do I want to)?

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My score is fairly high (over 750), but the one thing that is shown as working against me is 35 accounts in the account list. Most of these are old mortgages and car loans that have been long paid off, and old credit cards that were cancelled long ago (some 15-20 years ago). How long do these stay on your account list, and is there any way to get rid of the old ones (or do I want to)?

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Welcome to the forums.

Closed accounts in good standing can stay up to 10 years on your reports. This is a good thing because it adds to your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts).

If you have closed accounts still reporting after 15-20 years and adding to your AAoA then count your blessings. In my opinion I wouldn't change a thing.

From a BK years ago to:
7/09 TU-742 EQ- 779
8/09 TU-765 EQ- 783
9/09 EX pulled by lender 802

You can do the same thing with hard work.

[RobertEG]

An interesting question that I suppose only the CRAs can answer.  I think it depends upon how long a CRA wants to retain information in their database, for storage reasons.

I have old accounts that are still included in my CR that are over 30 years old.  They do not drop at ten years, or at any fixed time.  This is totally unregulated under the FCRA.

Those accounts, if closed in good standing, never work against you.  They help you in calculating your AAoA.

I think a common misperception is that accounts drop from your credit file upon expiration of the 7-10 year periods set forth in FCRA 605(a).  Hence,they normally retain for 10 years in order to clear the FCRA 605(a) drop off dates.  All that FCRA 605(a) specifies is that prior delinquencies on an account cannot be included in any credit report they issue after that date, but it does not require deletion of the account from your credit file.  In fact, one reason why a CRA might want to retain account info in your file for a very prolonged period is that the drop off dates set forth in FCRA 605(a), usually 7-10  years, is not absolute.  Under FCRA 605(b), a CRA is still permitted to provide all prior credit history on an account, including any prior delinquences, charge offs, collections, etc., forever, should you apply for any credit transaction or life insurance involving a principal amount of $150,000 or above.

If they were accounts in good standing, they are gold.  Let it be.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 12-28-2009 10:47 PM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 12-28-2009 10:53 PM

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I appreciate your response. I won't worry about these, then, but it does seem odd that one of the flags that is supposedly lowering my score (to 764) is that I have too many accounts. Do they only include open accounts, and not the total of open and closed?

[MarineVietVet]

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@RobertEG wrote:

An interesting question that I suppose only the CRAs can answer.  I think it depends upon how long a CRA wants to retain information in their database, for storage reasons.

I have old accounts that are still included in my CR that are over 30 years old.  They do not drop at ten years, or at any fixed time.  This is totally unregulated under the FCRA.

Those accounts, if closed in good standing, never work against you.  They help you in calculating your AAoA.

I think a common misperception is that accounts drop from your credit file upon expiration of the 7-10 year periods set forth in FCRA 605(a).  Hence,they normally retain for 10 years in order to clear the FCRA 605(a) drop off dates.  All that FCRA 605(a) specifies is that prior delinquencies on an account cannot be included in any credit report they issue after that date, but it does not require deletion of the account from your credit file.  In fact, one reason why a CRA might want to retain account info in your file for a very prolonged period is that the drop off dates set forth in FCRA 605(a), usually 7-10  years, is not absolute.  Under FCRA 605(b), a CRA is still permitted to provide all prior credit history on an account, including any prior delinquences, charge offs, collections, etc., forever, should you apply for any credit transaction or life insurance involving a principal amount of $150,000 or above.

If they were accounts in good standing, they are gold.  Let it be.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 12-28-2009 10:47 PM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 12-28-2009 10:53 PM

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Robert you are a wealth of information but I have to disagree with you about this. In my limited experience all my accounts except one have always dropped off at the 10 year mark. I grant you that there is no regulation that says exactly when a closed account will no longer report but the 10 year anniversary seems to be the norm. If it stays on longer then you are fortunate.