To close, or not to close. Help me, Obi-Fico!

Miscellamy · ‎11-18-2013

MyFico friends, y’all have been unbelievably helpful and generous with your time/advice. So I’m going to prevail upon you once more. Help me decide what to do with some of my credit cards. And thank you in advance.

Now that I have my dream line up of cards in place, I’m thinking about culling the herd. I know that conventional wisdom says not to ever close a credit card in good standing, but I’m wondering whether conventional wisdom is necessarily, well, wise in my case. I have a lot of open accounts now, including a bunch of sock drawer’d crap with toy limits and no real benefits. I keep wondering if my profile wouldn’t be stronger if I trimmed some of the fat – not that my score would necessarily improve, but that I’d have a more attractive overall snapshot in a lender’s eyes (particularly mortgage lender).

Things I’m not particularly worried about:

Utilization: I pay in full every month and have enough available credit relative to what I run through monthly that closing a few toy limit cards shouldn’t hurt my utilization (right now I vary b/w 1-9%).
Age: My AAoA is over 5 years, and any accounts I close now will continue to count for 10 years. By that point, my new prime cards will be sufficiently aged that it shouldn’t matter.

Things I am worried about:

Big picture. Is there a reason to keep stuff open that I’ve not thought about?
The only remaining baddies I have are several lates on store cards (my general cards are flawless) that have thus far resisted my GW charms. I’d like to maximize my future GW odds. I did have luck with Comenity deleting a trade line with a late on a closed account, but that doesn’t mean it would work again.

So, here it is. Good, bad, ugly, and indifferent:

General cards

NFCU Cash Rewards Signature Visa. $25K, opened 10/13
Chase Sapphire Preferred Sig Visa. $5K, opened 11/13
Amex BCP. $2500, opened 11/13
Barclay Apple Financing Visa. $2200, opened 11/11
Cap 1 Platinum Rewards MC. $2250, opened 2/11
Cap 1 (former Orchard Bank) MC. $1100, opened 3/06
Cap 1 (former Orchard Bank) Visa. $400, opened 3/06
Bank of America Visa (AU). $21K, opened 1/97

Store/specialty cards

Limited (Comenity). $200, opened 11/07 (1 30-day late 2009)
NY&Co (Comenity). $220, opened 8/12 (1 30-day late 8/12)
Ann Tayloy (Comenity). $250, opened 9/09 (1 90-day late 3/10)
Shell (Citi). $200, opened 1/12 (2 30-day late 8/12, 5/13)
Care Credit (GE). $1000, opened 3/12
JC Penney (GE). $1500, opened 2/12
Kohls (AU). $2000, opened 5/03
Macy’s (AU). $5000, opened 4/99

That one Cap 1 in particular sticks in my craw. It’s been sitting at a $400 limit since the day I opened it 7.5 years ago as an unemployed law student. They JUST denied a CLI again, even though it has a flawless payment record and I’m being approved for prime cards at CLs 1000s times higher. Recon phone calls have gotten me nowhere. Haven’t tried the EO, so that’s an obvious next step. Except: is it worth it? What does that get me? Should I just close it? And if not, what should I be asking for? PC? Just CLI? How much of a CLI? Gah.

Then the store/specialty cards. I think I’d like to close Limited, Ann Taylor, and Shell. Possibly NY&Co. as well. I don’t use them, I have no reason to use them, and they’re toy limits. Plus there’s the (admittedly slim) chance that they’ll agree to delete the TL if the account is closed, making the remaining baddies disappear. Getting rid of all 4 would lower my available credit by $870 (out of more than $60K). Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks again! And kudos to anyone who’s still reading.

Anonymous · ‎11-18-2013

If you prune the cards with CLs less than $500, you'd still have a good lineup, and your AAoA would not be immediately affected.

I'd say to go for it.

Another point here is that there is an intrinsic downside to having a lot of cards, no matter how skillful you are at managing them. An example would be fraudulent use of a card that you have in the sock drawer.

FinStar · ‎11-18-2013

@Miscellamy wrote:
MyFico friends, y’all have been unbelievably helpful and generous with your time/advice. So I’m going to prevail upon you once more.  Help me decide what to do with some of my credit cards. And thank you in advance.

Now that I have my dream line up of cards in place, I’m thinking about culling the herd. I know that conventional wisdom says not to ever close a credit card in good standing, but I’m wondering whether conventional wisdom is necessarily, well, wise in my case. I have a lot of open accounts now, including a bunch of sock drawer’d crap with toy limits and no real benefits. I keep wondering if my profile wouldn’t be stronger if I trimmed some of the fat – not that my score would necessarily improve, but that I’d have a more attractive overall snapshot in a lender’s eyes (particularly mortgage lender).

Things I’m not particularly worried about:
Utilization: I pay in full every month and have enough available credit relative to what I run through monthly that closing a few toy limit cards shouldn’t hurt my utilization (right now I vary b/w 1-9%).
Age: My AAoA is over 5 years, and any accounts I close now will continue to count for 10 years. By that point, my new prime cards will be sufficiently aged that it shouldn’t matter.
Things I am worried about:
Big picture. Is there a reason to keep stuff open that I’ve not thought about?
The only remaining baddies I have are several lates on store cards (my general cards are flawless) that have thus far resisted my GW charms. I’d like to maximize my future GW odds. I did have luck with Comenity deleting a trade line with a late on a closed account, but that doesn’t mean it would work again.
So, here it is. Good, bad, ugly, and indifferent:

General cards
NFCU Cash Rewards Signature Visa. $25K, opened 10/13    Keep
Chase Sapphire Preferred Sig Visa. $5K, opened 11/13    Keep
Amex BCP. $2500, opened 11/13   Keep
Barclay Apple Financing Visa. $2200, opened 11/11   Keep (you can eventually contact Barclays to see if this one can be PC'd to another elegible product)
Cap 1 Platinum Rewards MC. $2250, opened 2/11   Keep (this one may need engagement with the EO to conver to either VentureOne or QS, waive-AF, upgrade reward structure and determine if elegible for a CLI - which would be SP)
Cap 1 (former Orchard Bank) MC. $1100, opened 3/06 Keep (this one may need engagement with the EO to conver to either VentureOne or QS, waive-AF, upgrade reward structure and determine if elegible for a CLI -which would be SP)
Cap 1 (former Orchard Bank) Visa. $400, opened 3/06    Hasta Luego!
Bank of America Visa (AU). $21K, opened 1/97   Keep - although it's an AU TL, it doesn't hurt much to have it given its long history
Store/specialty cards
Limited (Comenity). $200, opened 11/07 (1 30-day late 2009)   Close
NY&Co (Comenity). $220, opened 8/12 (1 30-day late 8/12)    Close
Ann Tayloy (Comenity). $250, opened 9/09 (1 90-day late 3/10)    Close
Shell (Citi). $200, opened 1/12 (2 30-day late 8/12, 5/13)   Close
Care Credit (GE). $1000, opened 3/12   Keep
JC Penney (GE). $1500, opened 2/12   Keep - do you use this one? Perhaps a review for a CLI? - would be SP
Kohls (AU). $2000, opened 5/03   AU TL, either keep or have it removed (BoA AU TL already helps)
Macy’s (AU). $5000, opened 4/99   AU TL, either keep or have it removed (BoA AU TL already helps)
That one Cap 1 in particular sticks in my craw. It’s been sitting at a $400 limit since the day I opened it 7.5 years ago as an unemployed law student. They JUST denied a CLI again, even though it has a flawless payment record and I’m being approved for prime cards at CLs 1000s times higher. Recon phone calls have gotten me nowhere. Haven’t tried the EO, so that’s an obvious next step. Except: is it worth it? What does that get me? Should I just close it? And if not, what should I be asking for? PC? Just CLI? How much of a CLI? Gah.

Then the store/specialty cards. I think I’d like to close Limited, Ann Taylor, and Shell. Possibly NY&Co. as well. I don’t use them, I have no reason to use them, and they’re toy limits. Plus there’s the (admittedly slim) chance that they’ll agree to delete the TL if the account is closed, making the remaining baddies disappear. Getting rid of all 4 would lower my available credit by $870 (out of more than $60K). Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks again! And kudos to anyone who’s still reading.

This would be my approach - again, just my 2c and based on what you've shared. Late payments are valid record of your history and if not due to any errors on the lenders' behalf, those are factually reported. Alternatively, you can go the GW route to see if any of them can be removed. Others will also provide their strategy or valuable input to help with shaping your decision.

Miscellamy · ‎11-18-2013

Thanks so much for the feedback! You're both confirming my gut instincts, which is always nice.

I do use the JCP card from time to time. They've been good with the auto CLIs, so I'll probably just let it ride for a while.

As for the lates, I should clarify (particularly so I don't confuse any new folks). It's true that they're accurate and closing the account won't make the lates go away. But I've been GWing the heck out of them, and so far these guys have denied all of my GW requests (which is, of course, their right). My only GW success with Comenity was with a Buckle account with several lates that Comenity had closed for inactivity. They agreed to delete that trade line per my request, which made those lates disappear. There's absolutely no guarantee that they'll agree to do the same if I close these other Comenity accounts, but it's a possibility.

SunriseEarth · ‎11-18-2013

@Miscellamy wrote:
MyFico friends, y’all have been unbelievably helpful and generous with your time/advice. So I’m going to prevail upon you once more. Help me decide what to do with some of my credit cards. And thank you in advance.

Now that I have my dream line up of cards in place, I’m thinking about culling the herd. I know that conventional wisdom says not to ever close a credit card in good standing, but I’m wondering whether conventional wisdom is necessarily, well, wise in my case. I have a lot of open accounts now, including a bunch of sock drawer’d crap with toy limits and no real benefits. I keep wondering if my profile wouldn’t be stronger if I trimmed some of the fat – not that my score would necessarily improve, but that I’d have a more attractive overall snapshot in a lender’s eyes (particularly mortgage lender).

Things I’m not particularly worried about:
Utilization: I pay in full every month and have enough available credit relative to what I run through monthly that closing a few toy limit cards shouldn’t hurt my utilization (right now I vary b/w 1-9%).
Age: My AAoA is over 5 years, and any accounts I close now will continue to count for 10 years. By that point, my new prime cards will be sufficiently aged that it shouldn’t matter.
Things I am worried about:
Big picture. Is there a reason to keep stuff open that I’ve not thought about?
The only remaining baddies I have are several lates on store cards (my general cards are flawless) that have thus far resisted my GW charms. I’d like to maximize my future GW odds. I did have luck with Comenity deleting a trade line with a late on a closed account, but that doesn’t mean it would work again.
So, here it is. Good, bad, ugly, and indifferent:

General cards
NFCU Cash Rewards Signature Visa. $25K, opened 10/13
Chase Sapphire Preferred Sig Visa. $5K, opened 11/13
Amex BCP. $2500, opened 11/13
Barclay Apple Financing Visa. $2200, opened 11/11
Cap 1 Platinum Rewards MC. $2250, opened 2/11
Cap 1 (former Orchard Bank) MC. $1100, opened 3/06
Cap 1 (former Orchard Bank) Visa. $400, opened 3/06
Bank of America Visa (AU). $21K, opened 1/97
Store/specialty cards
Limited (Comenity). $200, opened 11/07 (1 30-day late 2009)
NY&Co (Comenity). $220, opened 8/12 (1 30-day late 8/12)
Ann Tayloy (Comenity). $250, opened 9/09 (1 90-day late 3/10)
Shell (Citi). $200, opened 1/12 (2 30-day late 8/12, 5/13)
Care Credit (GE). $1000, opened 3/12
JC Penney (GE). $1500, opened 2/12
Kohls (AU). $2000, opened 5/03
Macy’s (AU). $5000, opened 4/99
That one Cap 1 in particular sticks in my craw. It’s been sitting at a $400 limit since the day I opened it 7.5 years ago as an unemployed law student. They JUST denied a CLI again, even though it has a flawless payment record and I’m being approved for prime cards at CLs 1000s times higher. Recon phone calls have gotten me nowhere. Haven’t tried the EO, so that’s an obvious next step. Except: is it worth it? What does that get me? Should I just close it? And if not, what should I be asking for? PC? Just CLI? How much of a CLI? Gah.

Then the store/specialty cards. I think I’d like to close Limited, Ann Taylor, and Shell. Possibly NY&Co. as well. I don’t use them, I have no reason to use them, and they’re toy limits. Plus there’s the (admittedly slim) chance that they’ll agree to delete the TL if the account is closed, making the remaining baddies disappear. Getting rid of all 4 would lower my available credit by $870 (out of more than $60K). Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks again! And kudos to anyone who’s still reading.

I'm usually of the philosophy that cards should just be kept open unless they're costing you money. However, given all the lates that you have on the store cards, you might have more TLs than you can manage properly. That's actually a very good reason to trim down and, IMHO, a responsible choice.

As for your major CCs, I'd call the EO on the $400 Cap One. If they don't budge, close it.

FinStar · ‎11-18-2013

@Miscellamy wrote:
Thanks so much for the feedback! You're both confirming my gut instincts, which is always nice.

I do use the JCP card from time to time. They've been good with the auto CLIs, so I'll probably just let it ride for a while.

As for the lates, I should clarify (particularly so I don't confuse any new folks). It's true that they're accurate and closing the account won't make the lates go away. But I've been GWing the heck out of them, and so far these guys have denied all of my GW requests (which is, of course, their right). My only GW success with Comenity was with a Buckle account with several lates that Comenity had closed for inactivity. They agreed to delete that trade line per my request, which made those lates disappear. There's absolutely no guarantee that they'll agree to do the same if I close these other Comenity accounts, but it's a possibility.

Looks like you're on the right track. Just continue with the GW requests and hopefully they will exercise some flexibility. Of course, as you mentioned, no guarantee but doesn't hurt to try or ask. Best of luck on those endeavors!

Miscellamy · ‎11-18-2013

@SunriseEarth wrote:

However, given all the lates that you have on the store cards, you might have more TLs than you can manage properly.

I hate to cop to it, but you're right. Or at least, this was the case. I didn't get really serious about credit rebuilding until this past July; before that, it was oh-so-easy to let those store card due dates slip by. And I shudder to think about what I used to dole out in interest and late fees. Not sure why I had the general card/store card dichotomy (where I was meticulous with paying the former on time and very very cavalier about the latter). But I'm grateful, since at least it limited the damage when it was time to begin the rebuilding.

SunriseEarth · ‎11-18-2013

@Miscellamy wrote:
@SunriseEarth wrote:

However, given all the lates that you have on the store cards, you might have more TLs than you can manage properly.
I hate to cop to it, but you're right. Or at least, this was the case. I didn't get really serious about credit rebuilding until this past July; before that, it was oh-so-easy to let those store card due dates slip by. And I shudder to think about what I used to dole out in interest and late fees. Not sure why I had the general card/store card dichotomy (where I was meticulous with paying the former on time and very very cavalier about the latter). But I'm grateful, since at least it limited the damage when it was time to begin the rebuilding.

Well, I'm glad to hear things are changing! Have you just done GW letters? Maybe calling into the regular CS line could get some of the 30 days waived as a one-time courtesy.

JCP is a good store card to keep, but closing the remaining ones might be a good move. Maybe you should close all the Comenity except one (you may want to keep/reestablish a relationship with them).

Miscellamy · ‎11-18-2013

Just a quick update: I made some calls this evening. Closed Shell, Limited, Ann Taylor, and the $400 limit Cap 1. I'm still debating about NY&Co. My favorite part was when the Cap 1 rep asked whether they could have done anything to keep my business. "Why yes. I'm glad you asked!" I am scrupulously polite to customer services reps as a rule, so I didn't give him a hard time, but I sure did express my displeasure with that credit line.

Thanks again for weighing in! I really appreciate the help.

FinStar · ‎11-18-2013

@Miscellamy wrote:
Just a quick update: I made some calls this evening. Closed Shell, Limited, Ann Taylor, and the $400 limit Cap 1. I'm still debating about NY&Co. My favorite part was when the Cap 1 rep asked whether they could have done anything to keep my business. "Why yes. I'm glad you asked!" I am scrupulously polite to customer services reps as a rule, so I didn't give him a hard time, but I sure did express my displeasure with that credit line.

Thanks again for weighing in! I really appreciate the help.

You're quite welcome - that's why we're here. If you want to leave the NY&Co CC open for a while, it should be fine until you decide its outcome - it won't hurt anything. Usually, once things have served their purpose, then it's time to move on to better pastures.