Is it a good ideal to close old inactive (but open) cc

[JillWelc]

Should I close all my old inactive (but open) Credit cards before filing BK? I'm filinf individually (without husband) and we have one joint CC that has not been used in like 8 years...I should prob. close that one down so it won't go against his credit right? Plus I'm an authorized user on his gas card...should I write the company to take me off?

Thanks,
Jill

[LadynRed]

As long as the balance is ZERO, they will close it , but it will take a letter signed by BOTH of you to actually get it completely closed. The problem is an old, inactive account goes to your length of credit history.. a plus for FICO scoring and closing it could cause a hit to both your reports. If its a zero account, you do NOT have to include in your BK matrix. They may close it anyway, but its impossible to say. If you've both got other long-standing GOOD account histories, then closing 1 may not hurt either of you much. You DEFINITELY want it reported as 'closed by consumer' if you DO decide to close it.

[Alexander]

I would just leave it open and inactive.

My oldest account on one report was a Macy's account opened in 1988. It had been inactive since around 1989. I filed BK CH 7 in the late 90's. Around 2003 or so I applied for and got a Macy's card. The adding of the new card caused Macy to delete the old inactive account. That old account was 48 months older than any other account on that particular credit report and caused my score to drop 23 point. It took over 12 months to regain the 23 points.

Old inactive account can be gold. Let them be.