Credit Line Use

[Anonymous]

I've been wandering around this board for a while and notice many people saying that TL's should be used instead of placed in a drawer somewhere.

I'd like to know why  and if actual usage has been shown to raise scores vs. not using a TL. It seems to me that any month in which the TL had a zero balance(and is open) shows as "paid on time" for that particular month in the credit history.

If a credit report is just a snapshot of someones credit worthiness at that particular moment, creditors have no way of "seeing" that I have or have not used a TL beyond the last time the creditor reported, correct?

Just want to see if I'm missing some piece of information that could help me raise my scores. I have a few cards that I don't use at all.

[Anonymous]

I think it's more accurate to say the credit SCORE is the snapshot (smile   ).  The reports show some balance history by giving the highest balance you ever achieved since you opened the TL.  Experian has a section where it shows your balance for each month over the past 2 years I believe.  Now, how much any of this info goes into your score (if any) is anyone's guess.  Otherwise it would be visible by a creditor only on a manual review.

[Anonymous]

If you don't use a TL, eventually the creditor stops reporting it as is now and it goes "inactive" which means it doesn't get factored into your utilization positively and a few other things. Additionally creditors do close accounts after a certain amount of time with no inactivitiy.