Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor

No. Keep the account open. That’s the information a lender sent me. I thought it might help some of you.

If you close the account, it will make your credit score go down for two reasons. 1) You have stopped the amount of time the account has been opened -- the longer an account is open, the higher the score. 2) You have lowered the amount of credit available to you. That raises the ratio of used credit to available credit.

In addition to your score going down, you could also run the risk of having too few accounts to get a loan. Underwriters look for at least three open accounts. With fewer than three open accounts, you might have your loan denied.

Credit scoring is complicated. If you are thinking about getting a loan and have questions about your credit score, ask a lender who keeps up with current rules and underwriting guidelines.