Credit line decrease

What is the name of your state? CA

I just received a notice in today's mail from Bank One stating that they have reduced my credit line on a card I have with them. I have never been late or over my limit, and I always pay $200 or $300 over the minimum due. They say I have too many open accounts. I just pulled my credit report from Experian it states that I have 26 open accounts; but upon further review of the report only 5 of them are open which includes my mortgage and car loan. I paid off all of my charge and unneccesary credit cards about 5 years ago to clean up my report when I applied for a mortgage. My FICO score is 805 so I'm stumped as to why Bank One is doing this. The accounts all say "Paid/never late" - shoulld'nt they list as 'closed at consumer's request'? Either way, if there's a zero balance why would they do this to my credit line? Also, how long do closed accounts remain visible on one's credit report? Many thanks for reading and any advice you may be able to give.

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally Posted by stumpedagain

What is the name of your state? CA

I just received a notice in today's mail from Bank One stating that they have reduced my credit line on a card I have with them. I have never been late or over my limit, and I always pay $200 or $300 over the minimum due. They say I have too many open accounts. I just pulled my credit report from Experian it states that I have 26 open accounts; but upon further review of the report only 5 of them are open which includes my mortgage and car loan. I paid off all of my charge and unneccesary credit cards about 5 years ago to clean up my report when I applied for a mortgage. My FICO score is 805 so I'm stumped as to why Bank One is doing this. The accounts all say "Paid/never late" - shoulld'nt they list as 'closed at consumer's request'? Either way, if there's a zero balance why would they do this to my credit line? Also, how long do closed accounts remain visible on one's credit report? Many thanks for reading and any advice you may be able to give.

My response:

They did it because you have the POTENTIAL use of an enormous amount of debt with those credit cards. People have been known to go belly up and sink with that amount of credit availability - - and they don't want their ship to be a part of that potential. Your overall credit availability versus your income ratio are probably out of whack.

It's a calculated and statistical business move on their part.

IAAL

Thanks IAAL for your reply. I had requested that all of the accounts be closed when I paid them off, don't know why they were not. In fact I just got through requesting the same on my credit report for all of them. Do you happen to know how long they stay on the report?
thx

[Ladynred]

Positive tradelines can stay on for a minimum of 10 years. Negatives can only stay on for 7 years +180 days.

You have too much available credit - and BankOne/FUSA has sunk itself so far into the sub-prime slime world that they are very, very conservative and will nail you at the drop of a hat to get higher interest rates from you. B1 has even told some people who asked why 'because we can'. B1/FUSA has also been sued numerous times for its nasty business practices and screwing consumers. They have been known to deliberately hold payments to collect late fees, then jack your rate.

As for the accounts you *thought* you closed, if you didn't request the account be closed in writing, then your request was ignored. If it's not in writing - it didn't happen. Start writing letters - but you won't get B1 to bring your rate back down.

Ladynred, thank you for the info. I called Bank 1 and they said I was "a potential risk". I spoke with a supervisor and then with her supervisor but got no where, other than that "explanation" about being a potential risk. I paid the account balance off this morning and closed the account with them. I don't have a lot of debt on my other card and the second card I have is AMEXCO which I pay off every month anyway. I guess Bank 1 is entitled to their opinions and can run their business which ever way they see fit; their attitude with me on the 'phone is what irritated me. I maybe (a big stretch) could see their point if I was late or over my limit but I've hardly used the card. I don't think they quite understand what customer service is about. Thank you for telling me that I have to request accounts be closed in writing, I verbally did that when I paid the other accounts off and cut up the cards. Since I didn't get any correspondence from any of them I just assumed that they had closed my accounts.