Closed Accounts

[Anonymous]

Sorry to jump in the bandwagon. I have a Citi card that I'm making payments on. It shows pays as agreed no lates ever - however it shows as DEROGATORY. The balance is $4600 and the Credit Limit is reporting as $0. It is DEFINITELY hurting my utilization. Is there something I can do, someone I can call...to make it report different so it doesnt hurt me as much?

[Jazzzy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry to jump in the bandwagon. I have a Citi card that I'm making payments on. It shows pays as agreed no lates ever - however it shows as DEROGATORY. The balance is $4600 and the Credit Limit is reporting as $0. It is DEFINITELY hurting my utilization. Is there something I can do, someone I can call...to make it report different so it doesnt hurt me as much?

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Have you tried calling Citi?

You say it shows as derogatory. Does it give an explanation?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I've been lurking the forums all day and I have "FICOhead"

Citi is a cc account that went into a payment arrangement on 04-2008. High balance was $17,000. Scheduled to be completely paid off 09/16/2010. Current balance $4600. Monthly payment $600. Interest rate 9%.

They told me the account would be open and normal once I paid off. Now I'm almost ready to be done paying them, and excited about getting my CL back... they changed the tune and say it will be closed once the balance is $0. I've talked to them about keeping it open, they won't budge. 

With the $0 CL and the $4600 balance, it is showing as one of my derogatories on EQ because it's being interpreted as a PAST DUE/OVERLIMIT balance, even though the account is not really reporting late. It's reporting normal on TU but with a $0 CL there too.

I guess, I'm trying to find a way for it to report some kind of limit, so it doesn't look like I'm OVERLIMIT while I work on paying it off in September.

[Jazzzy]

Have you specifically talked with Citi about reporting a credit limit so that the account doesn't report as over the limit?

If not, I would try a phone call. Those calls are best made during business hours, as you may ultimately have to talk with a supervisor.

If you have already tried that to no avail, I would write a letter...yes...snail mail. Sometimes those written requests are actually paid attention to. I would write directly to the CEO or a VP. I would explain that you have done your part to honor your agreement, but that agreement shouldn't be hurting your credit score...and it is. It would be nice if they reported the original credit line, but...if they won't...then they should at least report a credit line equal to the balance until it's paid off.

I don't see anything to really dispute with the CRA. I think you're at Citi's mercy on this.

[Anonymous]

Hm. I e-mailed a VP about letting me keep the account open based on the fact that I've never ever missed a payment before I fell into hard times - or after the payment arrangement was done. But it didn't occur to me to ask CSR to have them report a limit. That is a GREAT idea.

I'm gonna call tomorrow morning for sure.

[Anonymous]

I called CSR. They said the account should be reporting as CLOSED, not as OPEN and therefore shouldn't have a CL. They suggested I dispute with CRAs to get them to report correctly. Ideas?

[New_Beginning]

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@Lel wrote:

If a closed account still has a balance AND a credit limit is still being reported, then it will be included in utilization.

If a closed account has a zero balance, then it will be removed from utilization.

If a closed account still has a balance BUT the credit limit is reported as $0, then the account is removed from utilization.

pizzadude, your illustration perfectly demonstrates how closed accounts with balances and credit limits are treated.  Once you send in a check for $2, your utilization is going to go up.

Queenie17, you mentioned your closed accounts (which have balances) are still reporting CLs.  This means that these accounts will still be included in utilization.  You also mention that you have $0 in available credit for these accounts.  I'm curious - have your CCs been dropping your CL as you pay down your balance?  That is, let's say that you have a closed, maxed-out card with a CL of $1000.  If you pay the balance down to $800, did your reported CL also drop to $800?  This is a practice called balance chasing, and it makes it hard for persons with closed CCs to improve their score, since paying down the closed account balance doesn't in as much of a decrease in utilization as would happen if the CL were left intact.

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Thanks for sharing this information. I have 3 accounts that have been closed about 2 years now, each has a balance with $0 credit limit. Should i continue to pay until paid in full? The accounts are no longer in collections as I am just simply working on paying them off. They are on my credit report as paying as agreed but listed as still have a negative impact, what should I do in this case...suggestions?

Thanks!.

[Anonymous]

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@New_Beginning wrote:

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@Lel wrote:

If a closed account still has a balance AND a credit limit is still being reported, then it will be included in utilization.

If a closed account has a zero balance, then it will be removed from utilization.

If a closed account still has a balance BUT the credit limit is reported as $0, then the account is removed from utilization.

pizzadude, your illustration perfectly demonstrates how closed accounts with balances and credit limits are treated.  Once you send in a check for $2, your utilization is going to go up.

Queenie17, you mentioned your closed accounts (which have balances) are still reporting CLs.  This means that these accounts will still be included in utilization.  You also mention that you have $0 in available credit for these accounts.  I'm curious - have your CCs been dropping your CL as you pay down your balance?  That is, let's say that you have a closed, maxed-out card with a CL of $1000.  If you pay the balance down to $800, did your reported CL also drop to $800?  This is a practice called balance chasing, and it makes it hard for persons with closed CCs to improve their score, since paying down the closed account balance doesn't in as much of a decrease in utilization as would happen if the CL were left intact.

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Thanks for sharing this information. I have 3 accounts that have been closed about 2 years now, each has a balance with $0 credit limit. Should i continue to pay until paid in full? The accounts are no longer in collections as I am just simply working on paying them off. They are on my credit report as paying as agreed but listed as still have a negative impact, what should I do in this case...suggestions?

Thanks!.

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This thread is more than four years old.

I'd suggest reframing your question and posting it in the Rebuilding forum.