I have 4 store cards with a zero balance. Will it lower my credit score if I close them. I want to buy a house

Question

I have heard that your credit rating can decrease if u close an account rather than leaving it open. I am afraid having too many cards open will hurt my credit. Is this true?

Answer 1

Yes, canceling the cards may well have a positive effect on your score.

Answer 2

yes you cancel all of them ,it will raise up your credit score ...

Answer 3

Purely from a security perspective, you should close open accounts. This minimizes the chance of them being used by an identity thief.

And closing inactive accounts should not hurt your credit score. In fact, it may actually help.

Answer 4

It will most likely hurt your credit score if you close your accounts. Two things which help your score are (1) timely payoff of existing credit and (2) length of time you have had credit. If you close your old accounts, you will reduce the length of time you have had active credit.

Don't take my word for it. Go straight to the source at the Fair Isaac link below.

Answer 5

If you're about to buy a house, dont do anything to your credit unless your banker or loan officers says you need to.  You may very well close a long standing account with whom you have a great payment history.  Furthermore, some lenders require a minimum number of tradelines.  

If you want to know your credit score prior to house hunting, try www.myfico.com.  It my understanding that the credit bureaus do not consider this to be a hard inquiry and it will not affect your credit score.  Its $25 or so, but its good to know before you go out and put an offer on a home.  Good luck and have fun house hunting!

Answer 6

If you close the accounts, you close the history.  The length of your credit history improves your score.  If these are your only credit cards, or if you are carrying balances on other credit cards, you absolutely do not want to close these accounts.  It will hurt your score.

Experts recommend 3 or 4 revolving credit lines and 2 installment loans will give you the best credit mix for the best score.

If you have lots of other credit cards and are not carrying balances on any of them, keep the two oldest major credit cards that don't have an annual fee.  You might keep a third major credit card if it has a higher limit, better APR or rewards program.  Only keep store and gas charge cards if you have a specific reason and actually use them.

Close accounts via letter and request written confirmation that the account is closed and 0 balance.

If you are planning on buying a house, you might want to pull your credit report (AnnualCreditReport.com) and see what is showing.  Mortgage companies will require that any derogatory items be settled before you are approved.  Get a head start on making sure your file is clean.

Answer 7

Absolutely not. Do not cancel them. This will lower your score.

It could mess up your history (NEVER get rid of your oldest card)

It could change you open credit to credit balance ratio

Your mortgage broker is the best person to discuss how to proceed with your credit to get you the best loan.

Answer 8

Definitely DO NOT close them. It will hurt your credit score.  

Answer 9

By all means, close those unused accounts ASAP.  Once you have decided on a house to buy and make application for a mortgage loan, the loan processor will assign X number of negative points to your over all score for each account that is open, regardless of whether or not there is a balance due on the account.  This could very well make a difference on their decision to approve the loan.