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When I was young, my father had me co-sign a bunch of loans, and credit cards. However, he subsequently defaulted on these loans, and therefore trashed my credit.
The only one benefit was his credit card, which had a sky-high limit, a long history, and was never late. That card was closed at the end of 2006, and I'm worried that it's about to drop off my credit report and dump my credit score, which has finally passed the 700 limit for the first time since college after several years of restoration work.
Is there any way to keep this old account on there? Could I open a new account with the bank and somehow tie it to the old account number? If I lose this, my available credit will drop by literally 90%.
What should I do? please help.
old account on credit report
Hi Casey,
Like the negatives, the positive listings on closed accounts falls off your credit report after 10 years. Thus, you have enough time to repair your credit in these years, before the item falls off your credit report. You can work on your credit, and remove the negatives from your credit report.
If there are unpaid items, try to pay on those. Making on old collection accounts can lower your credit score. However, "Paid" accounts are much better than unpaid ones.
Whenever you are going to start a payment on a negative account, first request the creditor, or collection agency to agree to a "Pay for delete" (PFD) agreement. With the creditor, or colelction agency agreeing to the Pay for Delete, the negatives from your account gets removed.
You can also try to get a secured credit card to repair your credit. Check if the credit card company reports to the credit bureaus. After getting the secured card, make small purchases using the card. Then make on time payments on these purchases. Payment history is the most important for building your credit.
Thanks,
Aaron