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My old credit card company shut down my account after 12 years with no warning
Got a letter in the mail last Tuesday saying my oldest credit card account was closed due to 'inactivity.' I had used it maybe once every 4 months to keep it alive, but I guess that wasn't enough. Took a 40 point hit on my credit score overnight because my average age of accounts dropped from 8 years to 3 years. I called them and they said there was nothing they could do to reopen it. Has anyone else had a long term account get axed like this and found a way to recover the score loss?
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wells.evan9d ago
40 point hit" sounds dramatic but honestly if you weren't using the card that much it's not gonna matter long term. Just keep paying everything else on time and that score will bounce back in a few months.
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gracej999d ago
Actually I gotta push back on that a little. The age of your accounts is a pretty big deal in the credit scoring models, especially FICO. Even if you weren't using the card much, that 12 year history was doing a lot of heavy lifting for your overall profile. Saying it'll bounce back in a few months might be optimistic, it really depends on the rest of your credit file. If you don't have another card that's almost as old, that lost history doesn't just rebuild overnight. I've seen people on here who took over a year to fully recover from losing their oldest account. Plus a 40 point drop isn't nothing, especially if you're planning to apply for a mortgage or car loan anytime soon.
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