i have 3 credit cards, 1 has a 0 balance and i dont use it, but have good history with it, should i close it?
442305
Strangely enough, it is better for your credit rating if you don't close it.  Buy something small once a year with it to keep it active and pay it off quickly.
618212
Please take the time to visit http://www.myfico.com\n\nThis is the site for the folks who developed the FICO scoring system, and you will find some of the advice in the previous responses are wrong.\n\nA major part of your credit score comes from credit history.  When you cancel your cards, you destroy a portion of that history, and that lowers your score a little bit.\n\nWhen you cancel a card, you also lower your debt/credit ratio.  Here is an example.  Lets say you have 5 cards, with a total credit limit of $10,000.  You have $1,000 in debt, so your debt/credit ratio is 10%.  Not bad!\n\nNow, lets cancel two of those cards, with the larger credit limits.  YOu now have a total of 3 cards with $4,000 credit limit, but you still have that $1,000 debt.  Your new ratio is 25%.  You have more then doubled your credit ratio, and this will lower your score.\n\nThese changes will be reflected for several months, but your continued good credit use will eventually recover the score.   Therefore, if you are planning to make a major credit purchase within 4-6 months, NEVER cancel a credit card.  Anf if you do wish to cancel them, only do one every few months.\n\nOne reason you would want to cancel a card is if you have a very high amount of available.  Lets say those 6 cards have $5,000 balance each.  You have $30,000 in available credit, and that may scare off prospective creditors.  In this case you may wish to cancel one or two.  It's recommended that you have 3-5 credit sources.\n\nNow, regarding the unknown accounts, you need to immediately investigate any accounts you do not own or recognize.  It can be either a simple error on the credit agencies part, or it can be someone who has stolen your identity and is getting credit in your name.\n\nVisit the link below to find out more on ID Theft.
960694
You might call the number on the back of you card and inquire what credit amount you have remaining. It would serve you better to reduce your personal debt.
276145
Apply to different credit cards but don't overdo it.  3-5 should be ok.  Make sure you do not send a late payment, that hurts your credit.  Try to pay more than just the minimum payment.  Don't max the credit cards either.  That won't help your credit.
368008
Don't cancel a card unless you have no choice.  When you apply for any sort of loan or another card they look at your credit rating.  Part of that rating is how much people are wiling to give you versus how much you debt you carry.  Say you have two cards with a $1000 limit each and a total balance of $1000 between them.  If you cancel one card you go from having $2000 trusted to you, with $1000 used to having $1000 trusted to you and all of it spent.\nCut up the card, throw it away, hide it until you pay it off, but don't cancel it.
298710
Actually, cancelling them may lower your score. Here's why.\n\nLets say you have 15 cards, and the average limit is $3000.  that gives you $45,000 in available credit.  Now lets assume you have $6,000 in debt on these cards.  The differance between these numbers is $39,000 (your available credit).\nYour debt to credit ratio is 14%. Very nice!\n\nNow lets cancel those 8 cards.  That removes $24,000 in available credit.\n\nNow you have 7 cards, $21,000 in available credit, but you still have that $6000 in debt.  Your new debt to credit ratio is now 28%.  By their standards it's not bad, but not as good as 14%, so they may lower your credit score.\n\nThat said....(that was your question?)...if it was me I'd go ahead and cancel them.  15 cards is crazy!  By wisely using those other 8 cards, you will easily restore your store within a few months.  If you have no plans to buy a car orhome soon, that would be my recommendation,.\n\nGo to www.myfido.com and read up on how credit scores are calculated.  Once you have educated yourself, you can examine your own situation and see if it's worth it.
714181
The previous responders are correct.  If you close out excess credit card accounts, you will actually hurt your credit score.  You are erasing a portion of your credit history, plus lowering your debt/credit ratio. Both of these factors make a major part of your credit score.\n\nIt is recommended that you have 3-5 credit cards or other forms of accounts.  If you have (for example) 10 credit cards, and most are not in use, then it may help you to cancel some of them.  But you need to be careful how you do it.\n\n1) Cancel only one card every 3-4 months.  This will lower your score by a few points but it will restore itself in a few months.\n\n2) Do not cancel any cards if you are intending to apply for credit soon (car loan, mortgage, etc...)  You need every point you can get.\n\n3) Consider getting some of the credit limits lowered.  You really don't need that card with $10k of credit limits on it, do you?\n\n4) Use a couple of cards each month.  Buy something you usually pay cash for each month anyway (groceries, utility bill, gas) and pay it off a the end of the month.  The improved use of your credit will help your credit history and will deflect the negative hit when you start canceling other cards.\n\nCheck out http://www.myfico.com This site is the home site for the folks who developed the FICO scoring system, and has lots of consumer advice you can read.  Understand how your credit score is put together and calculated, and you will do just fine in the future.
930458
The first step is to stop using the cards!  I keep my credit cards at home in a safe place so that I do not get tempted to use them while I am out and about.  Once you have done that, the next step it to look at your budget.  You can easliy make a spreedsheet  in excel to keep track of what you pay each month.  When you know how much you HAVE to spend (like rent, food, gas, etc) then the money left over goes to things such as credit card bills and extra spending money.  What works for me is to start paying off the smaller bill first...I like to see that I have completed something.  That way, you also have more money to pay on the larger bills.  Only in extreme cases: try to tranfer the larger balances to another card that has a smaller interest rate.  If you do that, CANCEL the cards that you just zeroed out.  That way, you will be paying less....but you should CANCEL the zero balance card.  It would be good to just have one credit card for emergencies.
268916
Not if you close the old account.  If you keep it open, it will add to your "available" credit and lower your score.
487175
Would need a bit more info to advise you.  How many credit cards arewe talking about, what balances, what state?\n\nTake a look at the link below.  It describes what the Statute of Limitations is, and the reporting period for your credit.  \n\nLike Icsowesmemoney stated, they can sue you.  But as a general rule, they usually don't go after you unless you owe more then $1000, and it depends on if the collection agency is located near you or not.  Having to hire an out-of-state attorney isn't worth it unless your balance is fairly large.\n\nIf the Statute of Limitations has run out, you are home free.  If it's about to run out, you can gamble and hide from the collectors.  \n\nAs for your credit rating, debts are reported for 7 years, beginning on the day of the delinquincy.
342398
Are your cards that you wish to cancel, paid off? If not, you should not cancel them.\n\nEven if they are paid off why do you want to cancel them? It may hurt your credit score. Before you take any action go to www.myfico.com and look in the Credit Education section and learn about credit scoring. \n\nGood Luck
260212
Contrary to logic, it's not always best to close old, unused accounts.  It can make the overall credit rating worse.  Check out the linked article below.  It explains how closing those accounts will affect a credit rating.
147671
Never paying CC bills leads to a lot of negative things.  1) you will have harrassing phone calls at work and home ALL THE TIME (this has happened to me).  2) you will not be able to clear your credit card debt off your credit report for at least 10 years depending on which state you live in.  3) You will never be able to repay the debt because one default on a payment and your interest rate shoots up to the maximum % rate allowed by your state.\n\nClearing your credit report won't be easy.  The "free" report you get once a year from the BIG 3 credit reporting agencies is sketchy and doesn't show the entire picture of your credit.  You have to pay for that privilege through their web sites.  For every single item on your report that you have an objection to, you have to write to that particular reporting agency to get it cleared and provide proof that you either cleared the debt yourself or some documentation clearing you of the debt (a court order or something like that).  Now remember:  all 3 agencies will report different things about your credit.  So what you see on one report may not show up at all on another.  It's a very long, tiresome process to clear your credit report.\n\nNow, you CAN buy a home, car and other things with bad credit.  But usually you'll be talking about a higher than normal interest rate (which adds to the amount you have to pay back), some really nasty folks to work with if you should get behind in your payments and other negative things too many to mention.  \n\nCredit Counseling is different, too.  Be very careful of these folks because what they can do for you differs from place to place.  Some will only lower your interest rate but you keep the same balance.  Some will reduce the balance but maintain the same interest rate.  Depending on your situation, you may even get reported to the Big 3 credit reporting agencies as a bad risk, thus lowering your credit scores.  \n\nHope this helps!
674537
No, don't do this.  This is fraud.  Your card would likely be cancelled, your access to deposited funds would likely be reduced to zero so that you couldn't do that again and your account may be closed.
1006626
Do you actually have BAD credit after doing nothing, or is it that you just don't have ANY credit because you've never used credit?\n\nIf you just don't have any credit -- you've never proven yourself to be creditworthy and reliable -- then you just have to accept a low credit score for a few years, like everyone else, and although there are ways to establish credit quickly (secured credit cards, etc.) it won't just happen overnight.\n\nOn the other hand, if your credit report reflects negative information that you feel is in error, your next step should probably be a talk with all three of the major credit bureaus (Experion, Equifax, and TransUnion) to figure out why there are negative marks on your report, and to identify possible remedies for these problems.\n\nHowever, you have not provided enough information for anybody trying to answer this question to actually do any good, as the question is very vague.  Good luck, though.
850440
Pay the smaller cards off first and then work on the larger one using power pay method.  Then close three of the four cards you paid off and be sure that they note when you close the cards that they are closed at the request of the customer.  You will have reduced  your ability to jack up your revolving debt the the limits on the three cards that you closed out and paid off and that will also help your credit score.  Your debt to income ratio is only one part of your credit score, so the outstanding balance will be the same regardless of where you apply the money and will not effect your ratio either way.  Your ability to go further in debt (available credit) on open cards will effect your score as well.
186890
If half of you paid any attention he was talking about his bank account...\n\nno closing your account will have no effect on you credit report so long as you do not have a negitive balance when you close it.\n\n...see simple and to the point!\n\n-Good Luck