I’ve been writing about credit histories and what helps or dings your credit score. Take a look at the story. I’ve started to receive comments on it and thought we could post them here.

Arlene is first! Do you agree with her comments?

Dated: 6/6/2008Comment regarding your credit article on 6/5/08. While I agree with most of what you wrote I disagree with two items and I think they should be shared with your readers.
The first is with respect to comment that a closed account would be interpreted as a problem with that account. I disagree. As a consumer, you have the right to close an account but do ensure that that the comment posted is “account closed by consumer” vs by “credit grantor”.
The other, perhaps more important issue was the comment about having a “wallet full of ccs”. This is a bad practice for a couple of reasons. First, with identity theft being such a problem, it’s important to limit your exposure. Trust me it was no fun trying to cancel ccs from the Czech Republic when my husband was pickpocketed. We’ve also had a situation whereby someone picked up a cc number over the web and charged up $500 worth of stuff, so one must really review charges on all statements. The more cards you have, the more statements to review. Finally, all those open lines of credit can work against you if you apply for a mortgage.
Although my husband and I haven’t carried a balance on a card for over 20 years when I submitted a loan app to B of A two weeks ago, my banker advised me that the underwriters qualify you as if you were going to charge up the $25k limit on each card.
Keep in mind that when I pulled my Experian report two weeks ago I got a perfect 990 and my husband is at 977 so my guess is that our FICO score is even higher than the 809 & 813 I pulled back in October.
My advice is that if you have a wallet full of cards and you’re not using them; slowly cancel them, perhaps one every six months. Get yourself down to a VISA, MC and perhaps a store card that gives you discounts/some kind of bonus and work on getting rid of the rest. Thanks and I hope you find this comment helpful.

June 6, 2006.