Bank of America just closed my oldest account but..

[frankjaeger]

..they haven't reported it to the bureaus yet. It was due to innactivity, however it's only been six months since it was used. I called and talked to the highest of management credit reps with no luck on having them reopen the account.

Basically, it seems like my options here are to let them report my oldest account as closed and take that hit, or have them do a hard pull just to reopen the account WITH it maintaining the same account number and open date.

Which is going to hit my credit harder? One hard inquiry or having my oldest account closed out?

[simplynoir]

I view HPs differently and don't value them as much as others do on here so if it were me I'd take the HP to reopen your account if only to keep the AAoA top notch since it's your oldest card but that's me.

[K-in-Boston]

You didn't mention your current average age of accounts or the age of this one, but the closed account will not raise or lower your scores in and of itself.  The card should continue to report as a closed account for a decade and will be factored into your average age of accounts with the current scoring models.  If you have high balances on other cards and this will affect your overall revolving utilization then your scores could drop a bit depending on your circumstances.  A single inquiry is not going to really make a noticable dent in your scores; if they are willing to reopen the account with the same account number and original opening date it would well worth it if is your oldest reporting account by a substantial length of time.

[frankjaeger]

My overall credit is only about eight years old, with this being the oldest card, and it will not affect my utilization at all. I was just always told/always heard that you shouldn't ever close your oldest account. I did the whole 'score simluator' thing and both options dropped my score, but then again that's just a guesstimate.

[K-in-Boston]

How old is your next-oldest open account?

[frankjaeger]

Next oldest account is only about six months newer than that card. My average age is only three years. I should mention that I'm only 26 years old so everything is essentially 'new'. I'm just trying to keep everything looking the best it can.

[Anonymous]

---

@frankjaeger wrote:

Next oldest account is only about six months newer than that card. My average age is only three years. I should mention that I'm only 26 years old so everything is essentially 'new'. I'm just trying to keep everything looking the best it can.

---

I would take the HP to maintain the account...how much was the credit line...if you don't mind me asking...

[Anonymous]

Are you planning to app for a mortgage or another substantial loan in the next year? And if so, is your fico8 below 760? If both are true, I can understand the hesitation to take the HP. Otherwise, it'd be silly not to (unless you'll let the account go inactive again 6 months from now & have to repeat the process).

In the short term it'd be slightly better to let it drop, because you'd avoid the inquiry; this could save you $ if you're about to take out a big loan. BUT in the long term, it'd be much better to take the inquiry to keep it open. After just 2 years, it's already better to take the HP, because the inquiry falls off at 2y, and after 10 years it's FAR better, because instead of the account from falling off your report completely, you'll have a very old account in good standing)

[simplynoir]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Are you planning to app for a mortgage or another substantial loan in the next year? And if so, is your fico8 below 760? If both are true, I can understand the hesitation to take the HP. Otherwise, it'd be silly not to (unless you'll let the account go inactive again 6 months from now & have to repeat the process).

In the short term it'd be slightly better to let it drop, because you'd avoid the inquiry; this could save you $ if you're about to take out a big loan. BUT in the long term, it'd be much better to take the inquiry to keep it open. After just 2 years, it's already better to take the HP, because the inquiry falls off at 2y, and after 10 years it's FAR better, because instead of the account from falling off your report completely, you'll have a very old account in good standing)

---

Even the HP isn't much of a ding itself (3-7 pts I woud think on average) so like you mention the HP is worth it to keep the oldest line active. What I do for my oldest card I don't use is setup autopay with a recurring Netflix charge on it. Also have email/text alerts both when the charge shows up and when it gets paid so I don't have any surprises. Some would say just taking it out for a spin every 3-6 months is good but I don't have the inclination to keeping track on when to use a card I keep in my drawer and it works for me.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Why would they close the card ,that presumably, youve had in good standing, for only 6 months of no use?. Seems a bit drastic to me. Anything else going on with your profile that maybe made them look harder at tour account?