One member believes she made a terrible mistake by closing her two credit cards that are paid off. She is worried that closing the accounts may have lowered her score. Here is her question:

I have reviewed my credit report. I have two credit cards that I m paying on every month. One has a bal. of $2,400. or so and the other is under $400.00.

In the past I had several credit cards and they all all reported to the credit bureaus “PAID NEVER LATE” however, the cards are closed at my request. I did not want to be in over my head in credit card balances. Now I feel I need to reopen or apply for one to show on the credit bureau reports that I have at least one credit card open.

Ben, I keep asking for advice. I know that your advice and time is part of your business. I can not recall what your charges are? Please have one of your rep’s call me.

Ben, I have so many legal questions on if I should leave the positive paid and closed account’s on my report or have them removed they are old account’s. Then there is the issue of a tax lien I have no Idea who reported it I have to go to San Joaquin clerks office and get that information. And last but not least I’m in the process of a home modification. which for sure lowers my score.

First, let’s address whether it was a mistake to close your credit card accounts. Although the credit bureaus keep their scoring formula TOP SECRET, they have publicly stated that keeping an unsecured bank card such as a Visa or Mastercard OPEN will help improve your score.

So, my suggestion is to get an unsecured revolving credit card account. Keep the card active but the balance low. In other words, it is good practice to use the card for small purchases and pay off the balance. That way you get the benefit of the credit score improvement along with avoiding interest payments.

Second, that is scary that a lien has popped up on your credit report. A lien could have resulted from any number of things such as a tax balance or any debt where the creditor went and obtained a judgment.

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Since you don’t even know where it came from, my suggestion would be to dispute the accuracy immediately. You can do this yourself, or have a law firm like lexington law take care of it for you. There are benefits to both routes, but with something as damaging as a lien, I would consider a credit repair service, which is affordable and provides great service. Get a FREE credit consultation with credit repair experts by calling 1-800-298-4297