How long until a "dormant" card is closed or balance reduced?

[Anonymous]

So, post BK, i went a bit nuts with opening credit cards. Now, I am trying to drop my utilization (I've posted elsehwere about my progress) and have paid a couple cards off. It is going to be a while before I am able to pay off all but one, so I my concern is that one of them is going to either close due to dormancy or my balance will decrease for lack of use, both of which would kill my UL%.

I realize it varies from lender to lender and there are a lot of factors to consider, so I am not looking for a hard/definite answer. I'm just trying get a ballpark.

[Remedios]

There is no ballpark. Some CC issuers may consider them dormant after only 6 months, others a lot longer, especially Cap One. 

Store cards can be dormant for longer period of time before they are closed by issuers or AA occurs (if it does). 

If you want to avoid any AA, try using each card  once every six months. 

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

There is no ballpark. Some CC issuers may consider them dormant after only 6 months, others a lot longer, especially Cap One. 

Store cards can be dormant for longer period of time before they are closed by issuers or AA occurs (if it does). 

If you want to avoid any AA, try using each card  once every six months. 

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That's the perfect ballpark I was looking for, I think. I was worried it could be something like 2 or 3 months. At any rate, I am going to hopefully pay off my predatory cards (Overstock, Credit One, Target) and replace them with a single "good" card that I can actually use and be rewarded for.

Thanks!

[KJinNC]

Not to hijack, but since the OP's question has been asked and I have a related question, this seems like a reasonable place to put it. Is there a rule of thumb about cards with an annual fee vs cards without an annual fee? In other words, can a card with an annual fee generally be dormant longer (or even indefinitely, aside from paying the fee) since they'll make money from the fee even if they get no revenue from swipe or interest?

[Remedios]

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@KJinNC wrote:

Not to hijack, but since the OP's question has been asked and I have a related question, this seems like a reasonable place to put it. Is there a rule of thumb about cards with an annual fee vs cards without an annual fee? In other words, can a card with an annual fee generally be dormant longer (or even indefinitely, aside from paying the fee) since they'll make money from the fee even if they get no revenue from swipe or interest?

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If you paid AF, there is no reason for them to close. You, however, would lose money by paying AF without getting any benefits, rewards and perks that card offers.

If I was not using cards with AF, or they were no longer useful, I'd close them myself.