Am I better off closing the account???

[RobertEG]

With your relativley short history on the account,. and your low CL. it will have minimal FICO impact.

When you close the account,. you will lose all time with the account in your avg age of revolv accounts calculation, but that may in fact actually HELP you if the 11 months on that stupid account is less than  your combined age of all accounts.

Closing the account will cause you to lose the $300CL in your overall % util calculation, aqain no biggie with your other CLs

So the ONLY factor that I see is to ensure that you closed the account in good standing.  No delinquencies reported to the CRAs, and no account balance.  If that is the case, they are history..

[Anonymous]

Robert,

  So what you're saying is that it might be a GOOD thing to  close this account.  I have no deliquincies.  I'll call Orchard tomorrow morning and see if I canpay the balance monthly or if they want it paid in full.  My other six open accounts range in age from 1 year to 3 months.... average age is about 6-7 months old...My total available credit is around $7K and I'm only using about $2K of that$7K....

[llecs]

Orchard is meant to be a rebuilding card. It isn't supposed to grow with you. I also have the card (partially secured at $600) but plan on cancelling it very very soon. All my other CLs (except for a couple) are at $1500 or greater and the $600 is not likely to increase.

If you close it, it will continue to help your utilization so as long as there is a balance. Once the balance reaches $0, then it is removed from the calculations. Assuming you have 2 other revolving already, and if all your other CCs have a balance at $0 the time when you pay off Orchard, then your score will not drop at all. In fact in 10 yrs, it could increase once Orchard falls off your CR because your avg. age may increase (assuming you keep your new TLs in check).

But before you close, you should PIF. They can send you to collections if your CC is closed w/ a balance. Check your CC agreement, but I don't think they have to honor a monthly payment plan.

[Anonymous]

Certainly try to avoid any lates on that account whether you dislike the company or not.  Those can hurt your scores for YEARS, which is probably a lot longer than you will be angry at Orchard Bank!  Late payments are so easily avoided, but not so easily outlasted.