20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Im sure most would prefer to have a Chase card on their report than a Credit One or Merrick, me included lol, but unfortunately not everyone has that option all the time. When things go wrong in credit or your life, Chase wont be jumping through hoops to help you out so sometimes those subprime lenders are all thats there.

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No, I'm not disputing that at all. If I had credit problems, I would definitely get a Merrick bank card. I'm just saying as your credit profile improves and you don't need a Merrick bank card, get rid of it. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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But in the long term, having that card on your credit report when accessed by a creditor will reveal you were/are a subprime borrower. That shows up 10 years after you close the account.

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Isn't everyone subprime at some point starting out? 

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Yes, but the point is, when you're not, get rid of those types of cards. You must have enough history and good cards to do that first. At some point, we all get there.

[BallBounces]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 At some point,  I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance,  Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.

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No, it's really not. 

And I am no fan of Merrick, but the analogy is absurd.

[Anonymous]

The positive side  would be a boost to AAoA though, right? Say if a person opend a CC and it only aged 1 year before closing it, if removed early it should in theory reclaim whatever points were lost when they applied?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@BronzeTrader wrote:

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Not true.  You can start on someone's AU and have a 730+ FICO to start with when you are 18. 

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Sure you can bring AUs into the equation if you'd like.  Those that aren't AUs though, many start out with accounts from less than ideal lenders.  That's not considered a knock against them a decade from now when such an account is visible on their CR.  Everyone has to start somewhere.

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Agreed. Even though they might not technically be subprime, they are treated as such In a way. You can be declined due to too thin of a credit file, and they don't trust lending money to you, as if you are too much of a risk in paying them back.

[Anonymous]

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@UncleB wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Larsim wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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At some point,  I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance,  Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.

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I thought about axing Merrick but they do give out monthly FICO TU scores which I like, plus there is no AF so I will keep it for now.

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Yes, you have to make sure your AAoA is in decent shape before you get rid of cards. But in the long term, having that card on your credit report when accessed by a creditor will reveal you were/are a subprime borrower. That shows up 10 years after you close the account.

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At the risk of sounding like a broken record, while closed accounts can report for up to 10 years they aren't required to.  I've had numerous closed accounts drop off my reports well before 10 years, and others have as well. 

For many people this nuance doesn't matter, but for those cases where it would matter people need to be aware it's a possibility.

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True, and I think some have fallen off in 7 on mine. I  may have seen one more than 10 years, not sure. I remembered thinking why is this account still on there. 

[Anonymous]

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@BallBounces wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 At some point,  I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance,  Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.

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No, it's really not. 

And I am no fan of Merrick, but the analogy is absurd.

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The key word in the statement is "lol", meaning it was a joke. Putting a DUI on a resume would be a job hunting career killer, unlike having a Merrick bank card.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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No, I'm not disputing that at all. If I had credit problems, I would definitely get a Merrick bank card. I'm just saying as your credit profile improves and you don't need a Merrick bank card, get rid of it. 

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But, if it's not doing any harm (no AF etc) and it's your second oldest revolver across 20+ of them, one can find value in keeping it open to further strengthen future AAoA/possibly AoOA.

[AverageJoesCredit]

My understanding is Merrick is one of the better subprimes. Though the DUI anaolgy might be flawed, lol, i lol'd

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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No, I'm not disputing that at all. If I had credit problems, I would definitely get a Merrick bank card. I'm just saying as your credit profile improves and you don't need a Merrick bank card, get rid of it. 

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But, if it's not doing any harm (no AF etc) and it's your second oldest revolver across 20+ of them, one can find value in keeping it open to further strengthen future AAoA/possibly AoOA.

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Yeah, just saying when you have good cards with decent limits and a subprime with a lower limit, it just doesn't seem to fit  if you can get a Merrick card with a 20K CL, that's great but I don't think they have lines that large.