mcjimbo

Hi all,

In a bid to improve her credit rating my fiancee is on a mission to cancel the masses of store cards she has. We plan on getting a mortgage in a year or two and want to work on getting her credit back on track now.

She want's to cancel her store credit cards at:

- JC Penney
- JCrew
- American Eagle
- Marshall Fields

What I want to know is how does she go about it, I don't think its as easy as walking into the store and asking them, as we've make some inquiries. So has anyone else cancelled there store cards, and if so how did they go about it? Call them up, write a letter etc.

Thanks in advance

James

thing1

Yes, call them up. It really is very simple. Just make sure she is cancelling cards that have no balance. Some card companies will tack on a HUGE interest rate if there is still an outstanding balance to pay when you close the account.

I plan to get rid of a couple of my cards as well once I have paid them off. I have already closed out cards I never used and, like I said, it was simple and painless. They will just ask for some key information from her to prove she is who she says she is.

Good luck!

Duncan Roberts

You need to call the customer service line on your bill. Store cards are generally not handled by the store, but some kind of bank or finantial service so going into the store probably wont help.

mcjimbo

Thanks guys, I found this article which was helpful:

http://www.tennessean.com/saving/Mon...49446296.shtml

James

julii2020

Hi James,

Your fiancee will need to write to each of the stores to cancel her cards and make sure she gets a written confirmation. She should then write to the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Trans-Union and Equifax), enclosing copies of the stores' letters and asking the agencies to confirm and correctly report that the accounts have been closed. In my experience, the credit agencies will not correctly reflect the closure unless you tell them about it in writing.

Remember, in most states, the credit reporting agencies have the right to keep the closed accounts (together with any negative information) on her report for 7 or more years from the date the account is closed. So simply closing the account will not improve her credit rating immediately.

Julie

dunroving

I recall reading an article (in Consumer Reports, maybe) about 6 months ago in which they reported that when you "cancel" your credit cards, that does not automatically make them "inactive".

There were examples of people who had canceled their card and then some scam artist used the card details to make purchases. Apparently, many companies keep your card open in the hope that you will change your mind and start using your card again (apparently, it's not all that uncommon). I would look into this if I were you, because I think they said your card would be valid until the expiry date, even if you have "canceled" it, unless you put in writing that you want the card inactivated. I'm not sure I'm even using the correct terminology to differentiate between the two, but hopefully you get my drift..

BritGuyTN

closing store cards will probably LOWER her rating

the best thing to increase the fico score is to pay off balances on revolving credit (credit/charge/store cards)

if these are paid then the next best thing is just to keep paying you bills in a timely fashion

so tell her not to do it if shes wants to improve her rating

one of the key factors in the way the credit score is calculated is the age of the various accounts - if some of her cards have been open a long tim then closing them will DEFINITELY lower her score

if she got the card in the last 6 months then it probably won't make a difference

two good resources:

www.creditboards.com
www.creditinfocenter.com

monster

Not necessarily true. You can have too many cards and too much available credit.

BritGuyTN

actually i think i may have got confused with closing and removing



but in any case having old credit lines is a good thing generally