Unless there's a fee to keep the cards open, I'd leave them open. The APR doesn't matter because you aren't paying interest on $0 balance accts. Just PIF monthly after using them. You can also call and ask for an APR reduction. But always be in the practice of paying it off monthly. The reason you'd want to leave them open is because closing them will remove the balance and CL from util calcs. So, if you care carrying balances on your open accounts (or closed showing a balance), then util will increase and your score can drop. Also, closing them will start the 10-yr clock. Roughly when the 10 yrs approaches or is hit, then the accounts will delete and that will likely have a negative impact on AAoA and your score can drop.
GW the SLs.
BofA - When an acct goes bad, you'll see 30, 60, 90-day lates, etc. Eventually they'll CO it. They can still own the debt and report a balance. Once it's paid or sold, then they'll mark it as a paid CO. Chances are it would be a charge off with 120 days. Even without the CO mention in the comments, the 120-day late is scored on par as a CO. I'd still PIF ASAP and GW later.
BMW - there's a risk they'll delete the entire TL instead of removing the late if you mailed a GW. You wouldn't want that to happen and it could hurt your FICO. Plus the 30 really isn't hurting in relation to everything else. I wouldn't do anything. I would consider it after all of my other baddies went away and would only consider it if it helped my length of history (meaning it's deletion).
CapOne - you could GW it, but the late removal won't likely result in any score change at this point because of the other baddies.
Macys - same thing. the 60s don't hurt in relation to everything else. Plus there is a moderate risk they'd delete. This account is 12 years old. AAoA is the average age of all of your OC accounts, whether opened or closed, good or bad. It's an average age calculated from the ages of your OC accounts. FICO rounds down the number to the nearest whole number. So let's say as an example your AAoA is 6 years and this 12 year old account is deleted and that results in AAoA dropping to 5 years. Your FICO score could drop. So, the late would be gone but you lose points out of the deal. Plus if the Macys is your oldest revolving then your FICO could drop even further. IMO, not worth the risk. I personally would risk it if it were among my worst-reporting accts, but you have some work to do first.
Express - exact same as the above. Not worth the risk. They could delete and score could go down. Plus a 30-day late at this point isn't hurting.
VS - if they still claim $200, then call a supervisor for the CC and ask them to explain it. If still at odds, then send a PFD for the lesser amount as a settlement. If after a few attempts fail, then call and get a settlement offer in writing for the lesser amount and pay that way.
I recommend starting the GWs using the address(es) on your CR first. If after a few attempts then expand it out to fax, calls, e-mail, 3rd parties like planetfeedback, smoke signals, etc.
They don't have to respond. Most won't. Pull your CRs very frequently to look for changes. I'd personally give them 30-45 days before sending another GW.
Focus on any myFICO report for score changes. Also recommend a CMS from somewhere to pull your reports frequently (doing this will save $$$ over time if you pull frequently). Just ignore any score from any non-myFICO CMS as well as the advice. None offer FICOs.
