Reopening a closed credit card

[Anonymous]

I have recently applied for a home loan and am looking to help my credit score improve. Though I meet the threshhold of 620, I'm worried about my score dropping due to a dispute that will likely come back not in my favor. One of the things I'm curious about is whether I could try to reopen an old credit card account. I've heard that creditors will sometimes reopen an account and allow you to keep your credit history. Is this true? The card I'm wondering about is a Capital One  card that was opened in July 2000 and closed in October, 2006.

So the questions about this are:

1) Do you think this card could be reopened? Capital One has recently started offering me cards again, so it appears possible to get credit from them, but I don't know if I could reopen the old card.

2) I already have 3 credit cards, all with low limits ($500 or less). Will having a fourth credit card help or hurt me?

3) Will opening the card initially cause a hit against my credit, regardless of the overall benefit, even if it's not truly a "new" card from the credit report perspective?

[Anonymous]

I should also add that the three credit cards that I have are all within the last two years (though one is only just).

[Anonymous]

What are you disputing ... are ur scores only reflecting the fact that the dispute was processed ... what were they before the dispute.  For example you run the risk of having this disputed account updated if/when it comes back verified.

[guiness56]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I have recently applied for a home loan and am looking to help my credit score improve. Though I meet the threshhold of 620, I'm worried about my score dropping due to a dispute that will likely come back not in my favor. One of the things I'm curious about is whether I could try to reopen an old credit card account. I've heard that creditors will sometimes reopen an account and allow you to keep your credit history. Is this true? The card I'm wondering about is a Capital One  card that was opened in July 2000 and closed in October, 2006.

So the questions about this are:

1) Do you think this card could be reopened? Capital One has recently started offering me cards again, so it appears possible to get credit from them, but I don't know if I could reopen the old card.

2) I already have 3 credit cards, all with low limits ($500 or less). Will having a fourth credit card help or hurt me?

3) Will opening the card initially cause a hit against my credit, regardless of the overall benefit, even if it's not truly a "new" card from the credit report perspective?

---

Was the card closed for non-payment?  If so, was it PIF?  They reopened a card for me that was CO'd.  They are typically not easy to work with but I am finding more and more posts where they are helping.

Any revolving can only help you if you keep the balance at 9% or below.  Maxing it out will not help.

I don't think it will hurt your score but I can double check.

As for the dispute, I have read that lenders won't approve a loan with an open dispute. 

[AndySoCal]

Due to the length of time the account has been closed there is a good possiblity they will want to run a credit report. I would ask about that before you go too far down the road on this. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for their answers.

The account was not closed for non-payment and was in good standing when it was closed. I suppose my main concern is whether or not re-opening the account will hurt me in the short term. Since my home loan is approved with conditions (the condition being that the dispute comes off), anything that could negatively impact my credit will be critical when they re-request my report.

The dispute came about because I had a Discover card in collections that had been paid in full but still showed an outstanding balance. I disputed this, not realizing that disputed items stop affecting your score until the dispute is resolved, which is why the loan officer told me it has to be off before I get final approval. The reason I submitted the dispute was because I was hoping that a zero balance collections would report better than one with a balance, though it sounds like that's probably not the case. Anyhow, I anticipate that once it comes out of dispute, it'll be down to a zero balance but it will still probably drop my score below 620.

I've been attempting to find ways to keep my score above the 620 threshhold, such as hoping that this Capital One card will increase my open credit while not hurting me like opening a brand new credit card would. Another item that will help is I submitted a GW letter to an old collection agency and persuaded them to delete the trade line (and have the letter to prove it), but obviously with a dispute about to drop off my report, I want to maximize my chances of retaining the loan. I have very good credit over the last couple of years and have faithfully paid my balances down to less than 9%, so I'm hoping an old credit card with a low balance will help a good deal.

Guiness56 - if you were able to double check on whether it will hurt, it would definitely be greatly appreciated.

Also, the score simulator here on myFICO says I'll gain between 20-50 points just paying my bills in a timely manner for 1 month, though I think that's probably a rather high estimate, so I'm definitely trying to do anything to improve my odds. I just don't want to try too hard and inadvertently hurt myself.

[Anonymous]

Curious about this as well.  I called Capitol One today to re-open a card that was originally opened on 5/01 and closed on 1/10.  I had absolutely no success - very difficult to communicate with the representative but all he would keep saying is that I must re-apply for a new card, they cannot re-open credit accounts.  I am going to try again.  If you have any success with this, please let me know.  Good luck.

[guiness56]

I have asked the question and am waiting for the answer.

[guiness56]

If they reopen your card and use the original date of the card and do not do a hard pull, you should see no drop in score.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, guiness.

Some new information to add as well - it's showing on EQ that my account is actually still open, though I know I haven't had a card through them in years. That indicates to me that they simply never reported the account closed. I'm guessing this doesn't help me when trying to persuade them to re-open my account, though?