topic Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards in General Credit Topics

Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:30:21 GMT

I think the time is due to investigate one of the biggest mysteries about credit cards: the length of the period in which creditors report closed accounts. Some people say it's 7 years; some others have said 10 years. We do know that there is no guarantee about either, and it is possible that the policy varies from one creditor to another. If you have experience with closed accounts, could you please answer the following questions:

1. When did the account get closed?

2. How long did account reporting last after that? If your account is still being reported, please tell us the amount of time elapsed from account closing date, in years and months if possible.

3. What card is it? Who's the creditor?

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card?

5. Any other information and stories about the card?

Feel free to skip questions if you're unsure about the answer.

If we have big enough of a sample size we'll be able to draw some conclusions. Let's kick it!

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Lambo23 — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:09:32 GMT

In for responses. Planning on closing a few cards within the next few months now that I hit primeville!

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

bs1234 — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:29:15 GMT

Just looking at closed accounts on my EQ report.

Bank of America credit card

Opened Feb 1989

Last Activity: Oct 2003

Status Date: Dec 2004

Since the status is closed, it's been closed since Dec 2004 (or earlier), so that's been there 8.25 years at least. I closed this card

And also Eastern Bank, which must have been an auto loan:

Open Jun 2000

Last Activity Jul 2003

Status date: Sep 2004. So that might drop off earlier. This was paid off and closed with zero balance.

And more confusing to me, a GAP card:

Opened May 2003

Last Activity Jul 2003

Status Date: Feb 2013 This says Closed or Paid account, zero balance. Clearly not used for quite a while but I don't know when it was closed. However, the EX report shows Paid OK up to 2008, so maybe this stayed open for a while

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:35:34 GMT

Here's what I collected from my friends back in January:

1. When did the account get closed: October 2012

2. How long did account reporting last after that: 3 months + (at least 3 months)

3. What card is it: GECRB, Banana Republic

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card: creditor

1. When did the account get closed: May 2008

2. How long did account reporting last after that: 4 years and 8 months +

3. What card is it? Some BofA card

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card: consumer

1. When did the account get closed: June 2006

2. How long did account reporting last after that: 6 years and 7 months +

3. What card is it: Some Chase card

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card: consumer

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:38:12 GMT

1. When did the account get closed: Jun 2004

2. How long did account reporting last after that: 8 years, 7 months +

3. What card is it: Comenity Bank, Express Next store card

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card: consumer

1. When did the account get closed: September 2004

2. How long did account reporting last after that: 8 years and 4 months +

3. What card is it: some Citi card

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card: consumer

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:43:25 GMT

@bs1234 wrote:

And also Eastern Bank, which must have been an auto loan:

Open Jun 2000
Last Activity Jul 2003
Status date: Sep 2004. So that might drop off earlier. This was paid off and closed with zero balance.

And more confusing to me, a GAP card:
Opened May 2003
Last Activity Jul 2003
Status Date: Feb 2013 This says Closed or Paid account, zero balance. Clearly not used for quite a while but I don't know when it was closed. However, the EX report shows Paid OK up to 2008, so maybe this stayed open for a while

Hmm, good points. To me, as long as an account appears on your credit report, it is still being reported, and the Last Activity date is also the closing date. Not sure what the status date and the subsequent payment history imply though. Can someone chime in on this?

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:16:58 GMT

Accounts are reported for 10 years to life; however, this is not the creditor's doing. The FCRA dictates how long positive history stays on the credit report (10 years to life). If your account continues to show positive payment history, then lucky you. Ultimately though, the numbers used in scoring are going to be open to close dates for the account.

Sorry, hit post too soon. To add on to above - the open and close dates will affect the length of account history, though an account may be closed and continue to be reported if there is a balance left and payments to be made. If there is no balance for payments to be made, and the account is closed, the runoff positive marks won't make a difference.

Status date is the date of the latest status of the account from the creditor.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:33:28 GMT

FCRA § 611(a)(6) sets the upper limit on the length of the period of time in which negative information is reported. AFAIK, FCRA does not require creditors to report for any minimum amount of time following the closing of an account. Let me know if you find something else.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

boomhower — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:14:11 GMT

I've got a Citi card that's scheduled to fall off this year, after being closed for ten years. It's going to kill my AAoA. Closed it back when I was in college and didn't know anything about credit.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

dddewdrop — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:16:02 GMT

Hi,

I have a Citi card on EX that I closed in 2005. It was opened in 1993 and the report itself has a line that says it is scheduled to fall off in 2015 so mark one in the 10 year box. It is reporting as inactive/never late although I can't remember if I was late at some point beforehand. All my other reports have no mention of this card. In 1993 I opened this card, a chase card, amex green, and an MBNA card and this is the only one still reporting. I, not so surprisingly, have not been able to pull my EX fico score other than fakos. I got one off a Chase denial letter and was self deluded into thinking it was a fico score but when I went back and looked at it, the letter said that the scale it was reporting on went to 990 so I now believe it was a vantage or other fako or proprietary Chase score from my EX file. Thus, I am not sure whether this card is contributing to my AAoA.

One of my goals is to obtain an Amex green before this card rolls off my report and get them to backdate it til 1993. That would replace this card as my oldest AAoA contributor.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

webhopper — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:42:30 GMT

I have several that were closed in 2004 that are still reporting...

Chase Auto Loan,

I had one Citi card that was opened in 1999 that was closed in 2003 that has fallen off within the last few months.

I also had a Chase Auto loan opened in 2002, but the car was wrecked and paid off shortly after I bought it. That account is no longer reporting but it did report for close to 10 years.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Open123 — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:47:31 GMT

@HiLine wrote:
1. When did the account get closed?

- 2000 - Closed Wells Fargo CC & Bank One CC, WF mortgage and Fed Student Loans (B of A).

2. How long did account reporting last after that? If your account is still being reported, please tell us the amount of time elapsed from account closing date, in years and months if possible.

- To the best of my recollection, CCs stopped reporting in 2006 or 2007. Student Loans are still reporting. Mortgages stopped reporting in 2006 or 2007. If memory serves, I was advised that I could request they continue reporting, but didn't think it was worth the effort.

3. What card is it? Who's the creditor?

- Wells and Bank One (now, Chase, I guess. Maybe that's why they're so generous with CLs?)

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card?

- I closed them all, and rather abruptly, along with terminating entire banking relationship.

5. Any other information and stories about the card?

- The rewards sucked.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

09Lexie — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:48:20 GMT

WF auto loan PIF 2006 ; fell off 2012

BoA home mortgage PIF 2004 ; only reporting on my EXP

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Roarmeister — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:17:02 GMT

1. When did the account get closed? 2002

2. How long did account reporting last after that? If your account is still being reported, please tell us the amount of time elapsed from account closing date, in years and months if possible. Last reported to CRA April 2009, Transunion is still has a record of this

3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? CIBC Visa, I also had chequing and savings accounts that I closed at the same time.

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer

5. Any other information and stories about the card? I was 60 days late at one point so the creditor TOOK back all the reward points ($500+). I called it theft, they called it READ THE FINE PRINT.

1. When did the account get closed? Aug 2004

2. How long did account reporting last after that? If your account is still being reported, please tell us the amount of time elapsed from account closing date, in years and months if possible. Continued reporting to April 2008, Equifax last accounted for it in Oct 2009

3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? MBNA

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Creditor

5. Any other information and stories about the card? Applied and got a new card from same vendor last year with CL of $20k so they obviously don't hold grudges.

1. When did the account get closed? Feb 2008

2. How long did account reporting last after that? If your account is still being reported, please tell us the amount of time elapsed from account closing date, in years and months if possible. Not sure, it was reporting as of last October but March Equifax doesn't show it. That would make it about 5 years of reporting after closing.

3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Future Shop

4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Creditor, they were cancelling all their cards when they were bought out by Best Buy and went to a different credit system not because of a fault by me.

5. Any other information and stories about the card? I think I used the card 2x, opened in Jan 2006.

Equifax removes an item from its database after 6 years after the last report so old deleted items do not enter into its AAofA. Transunion has a different retention period and a really wacky way of doing business. I also have a lot of accounts that I thought were closed but Transunion says they are reporting for example a car lease that closed in 2000 but was reported in 2009 and was still in their records in 2010. A car loan that closed in 1994 that reported in 2009 was still in their records. How does a car loan get reported on 15 years AFTER it was closed???? That makes no freaking sense! Even more strange - Transunion has a record of hard inquires going back to 2002!

Hey maybe they just keep their records permanently but don't enter into their scoring system? I don't know but Transunion is one funky weird company.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 05:58:27 GMT

@Roarmeister wrote:

Equifax removes an item from its database after 6 years after the last report so old deleted items do not enter into its AAofA. Transunion has a different retention period and a really wacky way of doing business. I also have a lot of accounts that I thought were closed but Transunion says they are reporting for example a car lease that closed in 2000 but was reported in 2009 and was still in their records in 2010. A car loan that closed in 1994 that reported in 2009 was still in their records. How does a car loan get reported on 15 years AFTER it was closed???? That makes no freaking sense! Even more strange - Transunion has a record of hard inquires going back to 2002!

Hey maybe they just keep their records permanently but don't enter into their scoring system? I don't know but Transunion is one funky weird company.

I believe that TU isn't responsible for reporting accounts; if the original creditor is still reporting closed accounts, the accounts will still stay on your report when you pull it.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 06:21:19 GMT

I just pulled EQ and discovered that several closed accounts were removed before 10 years. Let me look through the previous pull from EQ and get the ansswers to OP's question. More to come. I do think however, how long positive closed account stays is up to the CRA's and not anythign that the creditor does.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 07:14:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I just pulled EQ and discovered that several closed accounts were removed before 10 years. Let me look through the previous pull from EQ and get the ansswers to OP's question. More to come. I do think however, how long positive closed account stays is up to the CRA's and not anythign that the creditor does.

Here are the details. Most of the removal happened between 3/11/13 and 3/31/13 (two dates of my recent EQ pulls). Currently, I'm now showing 3 (installment an revolving) closed accounts only. all of them less than 3 years since closure. YOu can see from below that, there doesn't seem to be any kind of pattern. It does seems that they decided at least for me to purge a lots of cloed account sometime during last two weeks. Sucks for me, they were all positive accounts.

1. When did the account get closed? 11/2004
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 8 years 2 months (+ possibly 2 mor months)
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Capital One (Auto loan)
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? NA
5. Any other information and stories about the card?

1. When did the account get closed? 12/2005
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 7 years 1 month (+ possibly 2 more months)
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Capital One
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer
5. Any other information and stories about the card?

1. When did the account get closed? 1/2003
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 9 years 7 month (+ possibly 4 more months)
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? City
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer
5. Any other information and stories about the card?

1. When did the account get closed? 12/2005
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 6 years 8 month (+ possibly 4 more months)
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? HSBC
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer
5. Any other information and stories about the card?

1. When did the account get closed? 10/2003
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 9 years 5 month
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Merrick
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer
5. Any other information and stories about the card?

1. When did the account get closed? 11/2004
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 8 years 4 months
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? 4 separate student loans from the school itself
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? NA
5. Any other information and stories about the card?

1. When did the account get closed? 7/2003
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 9 years 8 months
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Citi (Sears card)
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer
5. Any other information and stories about the card? shows last reported date 3/2005 nearly two years after closing of the account.

1. When did the account get closed? 10/2006
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 6 years 5 months
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Chase (Circuit City)
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? creditor, however, this is false
5. Any other information and stories about the card? no closed date, date of last activity 10/2006, dat of last reported 1/2007

1. When did the account get closed? 5/2007
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 5 years 10 months
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Chase
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Consumer
5. Any other information and stories about the card? Show date reported 12/2008

1. When did the account get closed? 6/2011
2. How long did account reporting last after that? 1 years 9 months
3. What card is it? Who's the creditor? Home Depot
4. Did the consumer or the creditor close the card? Inactivity
5. Any other information and stories about the card? Date of Last Activity 4/2008

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

Roarmeister — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:40:12 GMT

@HiLine wrote:
@Roarmeister wrote:

Equifax removes an item from its database after 6 years after the last report so old deleted items do not enter into its AAofA. Transunion has a different retention period and a really wacky way of doing business. I also have a lot of accounts that I thought were closed but Transunion says they are reporting for example a car lease that closed in 2000 but was reported in 2009 and was still in their records in 2010. A car loan that closed in 1994 that reported in 2009 was still in their records. How does a car loan get reported on 15 years AFTER it was closed???? That makes no freaking sense! Even more strange - Transunion has a record of hard inquires going back to 2002!

Hey maybe they just keep their records permanently but don't enter into their scoring system? I don't know but Transunion is one funky weird company.
I believe that TU isn't responsible for reporting accounts; if the original creditor is still reporting closed accounts, the accounts will still stay on your report when you pull it.

Point 1: And yet those same reported accounts aren't logged by Equifax but they ARE by Transunion.

Point 2: What would set off a lender company to report on a car loan that has been closed for 15 years except an back inquiry by the CRA itself? There would be no point in the original creditor releasing that information unless it was in turn requested by somebody!

Point 3: Transunion keeping inquires beyond 3 years is not an acceptible practise if the other CRAs automatically drop the inquires at that point.

I don't know if Transunions' practices are different south of the border but I find their business practices weird up here.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

HiLine — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:22:34 GMT

I think the CRA's primary interests are in complying with the law; it doesn't do them any good to report data in a way that is favorable to consumers.

Re: Survey: reporting of closed credit cards

lg8302ch — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:34:21 GMT

I am completely confused. BofA reporting the same account as OPEN and CLOSED (with comment " card lost/stolen) - Does this mean it gets counted twice for the AAofA ? it shows up as sep TL. Sorry but I am new to US reporting issues.