How to Get Unused Credit Cards Off Your Credit Report
If you have a credit card account that you have never used or no longer use, the card will still appear on your credit report as an open line of credit. The only way to get the unused credit card off of your credit report is to close the account and play the waiting game. Before closing the account, be forewarned that doing so can actually do your credit score more harm than good. According to the credit experts at MyFico.Com & Credit.Com, you should not closed unused credit cards as a short-term strategy to raise your score.
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Instructions
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Contact the credit card company that you obtained the card through. You can generally find the "Customer Service" telephone number listed on the back of your credit card, the monthly statement, or on the company's website.
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Advise the company representative that you have not used the credit card and would like to completely close out the account. Get a confirmation number from the credit card representative as a reference point indicating that the credit card account has been closed.
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Wait 60 days to give the credit card company time to report the closed account to the credit reporting bureaus.
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Order a copy of your credit report from the three credit reporting bureaus to ensure that the unused credit card is now showing up as a closed credit card account on your report. Pay attention to the "Date of Last Activity" for the unused credit card as it is indicated on your credit report.
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Wait seven years past the "Date of Last Activity" for the unused credit card account. According to the "Fair Credit Reporting Act," after seven years, you can write a letter to the credit reporting bureau to request the removal of the unused card off of your credit report due to the fact that the information is outdated.
When writing a letter to the bureau, be sure to list the credit report number, along with the account number for the credit card as it appears on the credit report.
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Allow the credit bureau 30 days to remove the outdated information.
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