Cleaning Up Credit

[Anonymous]

I am interested in knowing if I close out credit card accounts for which I now have a zero balance would this hurt or help my FICO score?

[Madison]

I have heard closing out a credit card would not be a good decision unless you are paying an annual fee to keep the card open. You may want to read the Credit 101. Closing out credit card accounts reduces your line of credit and could effect your utilization.

[Anonymous]

TLE...........agree with Madison. Unless you're paying a fee to keep them alive, leave them alone. Not only. Remember also that when it coms to cc's, age is a good thing.  The older the account, the better.

[Anonymous]

I want to thank you for your feedback it was most helpful. Yes, I do have one of the cards that has an annual fee.

[Anonymous]

TLE, I've heard a  closed cc with a 0 balance will have no effect on your scores. But the history will remain for a the full time period on your CR after closing.

I too closed an account 2 weeks ago on a cc that was costing me a lot of money just to have it. Great starter card, and it served me well the time I had it. It helped me so much to rebuild my credit back to decent levels. But it served its purpose and time to rid myself of cards that cost money just to have.

Hope that helps.