Too many accounts. Should I close them?

[Anonymous]

I just saw that my FICO score is 715 with Transunion. That is due to the 36 accounts that appear on my credit report. However, only 12 of these accounts are actually really open and 4 of them are being used. How do I go about getting the unused accounts taken off my credit report?

Should I start closing the 8 accounts that are not actively being used?

I want to buy a home in the next few months and want my credit score to be as high as possible by November 2009. What should I do?

[Anonymous]

You have to be very careful. Closing accounts could effect a number of things. It could affect your average account age and it could also affect your debt to income ratio. There is nothing wrong with a score of 715. It will qualify you for FHA/VA/USDA, not sure about conventional only because I haven't dealt with them.

[haulingthescoreup]

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hopeful_1st_time_buyer wrote:

I just saw that my FICO score is 715 with Transunion. That is due to the 36 accounts that appear on my credit report. However, only 12 of these accounts are actually really open and 4 of them are being used. How do I go about getting the unused accounts taken off my credit report?

Should I start closing the 8 accounts that are not actively being used?

I want to buy a home in the next few months and want my credit score to be as high as possible by November 2009. What should I do?

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I wouldn't worry about the "too many accounts" flag. Many people get it, and there just doesn't seem to be an appreciable score ding for it. Old closed accounts typically help your scores a whole lot more than some unlikely benefit from trying to get them off. And definitely do not close accounts that are now open.

A different ding which does affect scores is "too many accountswith balances". If you do some reading on Understanding FICO Scoring and Credit Cards, you'll see where I've posted umpty-diddle times on how to minimize your util by paying all but one of your credit cards several days before the statement drops, and on the remaining card, let $10-20 report, and then pay it off. Controlling your util is one of the best ways to bump your scores up.

I'm going to move this to Understanding FICO Scoring. If you'll post a summary of what's on your current reports, and what TU says are your positives and negatives (on screen 2), we can probably give you some additional help.

[Red1Blue]

Unless you have AF on the accounts, I would not close the accounts. Closing the accounts does not help.