Does cancelling unused credit cards damage my credit rating?
454969
kharma217's answer is excellent.  Let me expand on it a little.\n\nLets say you have 4 credit cards, each with a $5000 credit limit.  Two have no balance, one has $4100 charged, and one has $200 charged.  \n\nYour credit limit totals $20,000, and your debt is $4300.  So your "debt to credit" ratio is 21%.  Not bad, but could be better.\n\nNow lets cancel those two unused cards....\n\nNow your credit limit is $10,000, but you still have $4300 in debt.  Your new debt/credit ratio is now 43%, twice what it was before!  And this sudden change in your debt will also have an effect on your credit score.\n\nGo to the link below.  This is the home page of the folks who developed the FICO credit scoring system.  There is lots of information on how to improve your score, and other usefull hints.
296951
"Technically", just the act of using a company Debt Service Company does not hurt your debt rating.  However if they "negotiate" a special payoff amount of say a credit card debt then, yes the "Charged Off" part of the debt will show up as such on your credit report.  How long it stays on your credit report varies from State to State, with the average being about 7 years.
803028
Too many cards will hurt your credit rating.  They look at your available limits (i.e. what you could borrow); if it's too high, the rating is lower.\n\nThey look at payment history.  Just have one or two cards, use them for purchases, and pay them off regularly.  That will build your credit history and resultant credit rating.
622345
Joieanew, please tell the whole truth!\n\nIf you pay your bills, you have to hope that the creditor will do something about your negative credit report he placed.\n\nJust placing "Paid in Full" does NOT remove any additional bad marks, such as that it was in collections, or that there were late payments.\n\nTherefore, unless the item is completely deleted, or the entire status is changed to "Paid As Agree, Never Late", you will still have bad marks on your record, and it will still keep your credit score low.\n\nThat is why, if you plan to pay off your debt, make the creditor agree IN WRITING to remove any negative report from your record.  Yes, they can do it.  Yes, it's totally legal.
403295
leave them open, closing them could hurt your credit score
562090
The creditor can remove the bad credit information if they want to...you just have to ask them.  If they won't clean your record, why pay them?  \n\nSend them a letter saying that in exchange for a written promise to delete the negative information, you will pay the debt.  That's the only way you will get your record cleaned up.\n\nThese people who tell you that they will put "paid" on your account and it will look better then an unpaid debt are lying!  It's still a negative report, and it's going to hurt your credit score!
903930
unless the banks have notified you that the card has been cancelled - cos you missed payments, went over etc., the cards are still active. however, remember that it is so easy to fill them to the hilt again. it starts off as oh its just this one thing, its just this emergency, il pay it back on pay day, then its oh and this thing and that thing, oh ill pay a bit now and the rest later and before you know it, your maxed out and taking out a bigger loan.\n\njust be cautious is all x
77144
yes. you need yo contact a credit help agency like crusader or careonecreditcounseling.com they will put you on the right track. items can be removed in as little as 3days but will report in 31days.
366279
There is a opt out tool online.  Its to stop credit card companies from being able to get a preapproval from your credit score.  http://www.optoutprescreen.com  I used this a few months ago and have seen a big drop in the number of credit card offers.
912951
As mentioned above, there are a lot of good answers listed here.  To reiterate, it will have a positive AND negative effect on your credit becuase it plays with factors of the FICO equation.  Part of the FICO equation looks at how many creditors you have, part looks at how old the active creditors are, and part looks at how much credit you've been extended versus how much you've actually used.  No one in the general public knows 100% what the actual FICO eqution looks like because it is considered proprietary information of a very classified nature.  Fair & Issac will not release the full equation fearing that nefarious people would be able to manipulate it to their benefit and screw over a lot of companies while still maintaining an 820 score.  In 2000, the high courts forced Fair & Issacs to release generalized information on the equation...the courts argued that people's misconception about their credt and what affects it is needlessly hurting even good credit people's scores.  \n\nDone with the info/history lesson...here is the affect it will have:\nCancelling older cards will hurt your credit because it is cancelling long established accounts, regardless if the cards cancelled have balances or not.  \n\nCancelling the cards increases your debt ratio (amount of credit available versus how much you've used).  The closer you are to your available credit roof, the lower your score will drop.  \n\nThe score will look to improve on eliminating the number of creditors, but you're hitting the American average of 4.  If you have other store cards, then the closer you get to 4 creditors, it will help your score a tad.  \n\nAs many have said, what you want to do is not a bad thing but could have a slight, temporary negative impact on your score.  If you chose to cancel a card, aim for the newest cards and the cards with the smallest available credit.  \n\n**Possible idea that may have the least impact on your score**\nAssuming your credit is good because you have been paying your bills on time.  Total up all the available credit all four cards are giving you.  If you're comfortable with that available amount, call your two oldest cards and ask get them to respectively increase your credit limit.  If they increase to an amount you're comfortable with, cancel the newest two.  This way, your available credit limit stays the same, your creditor number drops and your debt ratio is minimally impacted.  Thus, your score should be only minutely affected.
136045
Don't cancel your accounts.  Keep them open but don't rack the bills up any more.  If you cancel your cards - what you will be doing is cutting off your credit history.  This will NOT help your credit.  It WILL hurt it.  Paying the cards up will help your score!! this is the best thing you should do. then don't use the cards anymore unless you know that you can pay the balance off in full at the end of the month when that bill comes.  \n\nIf you feel that you must close out at some of your accounts - don't close them all... Keep at least 3 or 4 of your best cards - these would be major cards like visa, mastercard, or discover etc...  Then also the main thing is that they are free (don't charge you a membership fee each year)  Keep them open for the rest of your life it will show that you have credit but can be trusted not to run it up all the time.  \n\nGood luck.:)
653128
If they dont report the information to the credit bureaus it does not affect your credit.  Going 7 dollars over does not effect your credit if paid within the 30 day period
641403
Even if you have a zero balance, your card will never be cancelled unless you cancel it.  People can get in trouble with this if they forget they have a card, and then move address, then an annual fee comes due (which they don't pay cos they don't know about it) and their credit rating gets marked down for non-payment!\n\nYou must, in most cases, cancel the card in writing.
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.
292770
Have you moved since you stopped using the cards?  I would go on www.AnnualCreditReport.com  Get a copy of your report to make sure there are not any problems.  Its a free service provided by the 3 major credit bureaus.
1033816
these so called fraud protectors are a waste of time and money!  these credit card companies are supposed to do this service for you for free.  You will know if your card was not used by you or with your consent because it will show up on your report.  the companies should repay you for this also!  They may close the account and reopen a new one in your name with a different number but that is better than paying those rediculous prices for this protection.
370857
Bankruptcies will stay on your credit report for 7 years (Chapter 13) or 10 years (Chapter 7).  There is no way to remove them.\n\nIf you want to do some letter writing and play the "game" read the files below.  They outline the proceedure and laws involved in protesting inaccurate and unfair listing to your credit report.