If you want a closed account removed from your credit report, you have a few options: disputing inaccuracies, waiting for it to fall off your report, requesting it by writing a goodwill letter, or writing a pay-for-delete letter.
Typically, a closed account can only be removed from your credit report if it is an error. For example, suppose an account was closed because the information was listed incorrectly. In that case, you can file a dispute to have it removed.
An account that was in good standing with a history of on-time payments when you closed it will stay on your credit report for up to 10 years. This generally helps your credit score. Accounts with adverse information may stay on your credit report for up to seven years.
Credit reports chronicle your history of debt management, and payments on both open and closed accounts are part of that history. Closed accounts may remain on your credit reports for seven to 10 years, and can help or hurt your credit over that time depending on how you managed the account when it was open.
Information about consumer credit accounts you have with credit providers (known as consumer credit liability information). This information can be held for 2 years after the account has been terminated or ceases to exist.
A credit reporting company generally can report most negative information for seven years. Information about a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. Bankruptcies can stay on your report for up to ten years.
Closed accounts that have missed payments associated with them will remain on your credit report for seven years. While your scores may decrease initially after closing a credit card, they typically rebound in a few months if you continue to make your payments on time.
If the account defaulted, it could be transferred to a collection agency. Paying off closed accounts like these should improve your credit score, but you might not see an increase right away.
While the closed account will still count toward your credit age in that part of the equation, if you close a credit card you may lose points in the credit utilization scoring factor, which counts for 30% of your FICO score.
If you have a closed account on your credit report, what you need to do next depends on whether you know why it was closed and if the information is correct. No action required. If you asked the creditor to close the account or you paid off a loan, there's nothing necessary for you to do.
Make a Goodwill Request For Deletion
If you have a good relationship with a creditor that has listed a late or missed payment, consider sending a goodwill request for deletion letter. The letter requests the original creditor to pretty please remove the offending item from your credit report.
Credit utilization — the portion of your credit limits that you are currently using — is a significant factor in credit scores. It is one reason your credit score could drop a little after you pay off debt, particularly if you close the account.
It can take one or two billing cycles for a loan or credit card to appear as closed or paid off. That's because lenders typically report monthly. Once it has been reported, it can be reflected in your credit score.
When to Remove a Closed Account From Your Credit Report. You may want to remove a closed account from your credit report if the account has a negative payment history that is hurting your credit score. Otherwise, aim to leave accounts closed in good standing on your credit report for as long as possible.
Removing addresses from the credit report won't impact your credit score. But incorrect identifying information can be a sign that someone else's file has been mixed up with yours. Or, more seriously, incorrect information can be a red flag of identity theft. Keep in mind that the addresses themselves aren't a problem.
It is a myth that being or staying in debt is essential to having a good credit score. You may have also heard that it's smart to leave at least a small portion of one credit card bill unpaid in order to have good credit. That's not true either.
Often, when an account is written off or charged off, the creditor will sell the debt to a collection agency and the balance on the original account will be updated to zero. If so, you no longer owe the balance to the original creditor. Instead, the collection agency becomes the legal owner of the debt.
If a collection account is a debt you legitimately owe, you do have a moral obligation to pay it off, even if the statute of limitations has expired and you no longer have a legal obligation.
Keeping a low credit utilization ratio is good, but having too many credit cards with zero balance may negatively impact your credit score. If your credit cards have zero balance for several years due to inactivity, your credit card issuer might stop sending account updates to credit bureaus.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
There is no universal number of credit cards that is “too many.” Your credit score won't tank once you hit a certain number. In reality, the point of “too many” credit cards is when you're losing money on annual fees or having trouble keeping up with bills — and that varies from person to person.
You can't reset a credit score but you can reset your habits
Bad credit doesn't have to be a lifelong sentence. While you can't restart your credit score or cleanse your file, you can improve your score with time and dedication. In a few years, your credit score could look good as new.
Keep in mind that making a partial payment or acknowledging you owe an old debt, even after the statute of limitations expired, may restart the time period.