Largest Past Balance

[Anonymous]

I'm noticing something with my reports now.  My credit limit is being reported as my largest past balance, even though I have never used even close to 100% of my limit.  Why is this happening and do I need to send disputes to correct this?

[visorboy1974]

Do you have a Visa Signature card or World MasterCard?  

[Anonymous]

I don't have either one.  And these are my closed accounts.

[Anonymous]

I pulled my TU and EQ reports last week.  It showed on my TU reports for all my CC but not on my EQ reports.  Not sure what it is either.  I don't remember it being on past reports.  

[Lel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm noticing something with my reports now.  My credit limit is being reported as my largest past balance, even though I have never used even close to 100% of my limit.  Why is this happening and do I need to send disputes to correct this?

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Do these closed cards have balances?

[Anonymous]

They do not.

[Lel]

In that case, there's no point in trying to alter the reporting.  Closed credit cards with zero balances are not factored into utilization, so it doesn't matter what credit limit is being reported.  Disputing could lead to undesirable consequences - for example, the account might be deleted from your CR, which could affect your AAoA.  The dispute could linger, and if you go to try to apply for a mortgage, the open dispute could put the brakes on your application.

[Anonymous]

Deleting the account would also be incorrect and I don't plan on applying for credit for quite some time, years probably.  But I am thinking about when I do apply for new credit.  So this is what I am worried about.  When I do apply for new credit in the future and lenders will see these high large past balances, I think I will have less of a chance of being approved.

[Anonymous]

Hi tudorjason,

You're fine.  It'll be a non-issue.  They'll be looking at on-time payments and current utilization when you app. 

[Lel]

You really don't need to fret about this.  As long as they were accounts in good standing with an unblemished payment history, then you're sitting pretty.  Seriously, any attempt to dispute could really backfire on you.  Even if the reporting is corrected, it will have zero effect on your credit score.  The potential downside from disputing is much greater than any upside.  Furthermore, I don't believe the CC company is obligated to change the reporting in any way as long as the information that they do report is correct - and from what I infer from what you've posted, there's nothing inaccurate about the largest past balance on these closed accounts.

People here often complain about the fact that certain credit cards - some Visa Signature, World Mastercards, and Macy's - don't report CL.  My Chase cards didn't report CLs for a while, though my Chase Sapphire just started reporting my CL in the high credit column.  There really isn't anything that can be done to force these CC companies to report the actual CLs.