Question about Closed Credit Cards

[trdmlc]

I have 4 CCs that were closed about a year ago when I entered into Consumer Credit Counseling.  I have since paid off 1 and I am actively reducing the balances on the other 3.  As far as FICO is concerned, is it better to pay these off completely or will paying them down to 10% and then only do min pay help with my utilization?

I was under the impression that if they are closed and carry a balance, they contribute to utilization.  However once there is no balance, they are no longer factored into util, so I stand to lose FICO points.

These are the only CC's that I have, so once paid off, I will have no other util to show.

My hope is to get my score up to a point where I can either re-open or open new CC's so I will no longer have to worry about this.  I have requested re-open at this point but with no success.

Thanks for any advice.

[Jazzzy]

Do these closed accounts show a credit limit? Or do they show zero for credit limit?

[trdmlc]

They do show a CL, but it's my understanding that once they reach zero balance, that might change.  Not sure if that's true or not.