How to Get Closed Accounts off Your Credit Report

What Is a Credit Report?

Your credit report is a collection of information about your credit history that is compiled by one or more of the three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. The financial data that appears in your credit report includes information that comes from creditors such as credit card companies and lenders. Your credit report is used by lenders and other entities to determine your creditworthiness when it comes to taking out credit and loans.

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A credit report includes a few different types of information. First, it lists your personal information like name, birthday, current and former addresses, phone numbers and social security number. It also includes public records such as foreclosures, bankruptcies, liens and civil suits. Your credit report will also reflect credit inquiries—meaning who has requested access to your credit report and why. Lastly, your credit report shows all of your credit accounts. The listed credit accounts includes credit cards, lines of credit, and installment loans like auto loans and mortgages. Each of these credit accounts should be categorized on your credit report as open, closed, or negative. Often, a credit account that has been “closed” will disappear from your credit report after a period of time. However, sometimes the status of your credit accounts is incorrect and requires you to file a dispute. We’ll cover why and how to handle this scenario in the next two sections.

Can I Have Closed Accounts Removed from My Credit Report?

Here’s a scenario that’s not uncommon: You’ve paid off a credit card and decided to close the account. You expect that this credit account will be listed as “closed” on your credit report, but it still appears as “open”. The issuer of the credit card no longer has a record of the account because of the amount of time elapsed and can’t do anything about the discrepancy on your credit report. What do you do?

It is possible to remove a closed account that still appears “open” from your credit report—you simply have to file a dispute with each of the three credit bureaus.

How to Remove a Closed Account Online

To dispute a closed credit account online, you’ll need to submit dispute forms to each of the credit bureaus. After you’ve digitally submitted your dispute form, the credit bureau will contact the entity associated with the incorrect credit account information.

How to Remove a Closed Account By Mail

If you prefer to make your dispute by mail, you can print the required forms and mail them to each of the credit bureaus at the following addresses:

Experian
P.O. Box 9701
Allen, TX 75013

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256

TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016

How to Remove a Closed Account Over the Phone

Lastly, it’s possible to file a dispute to the credit bureaus over the phone. You can reach them at the following numbers:

Experian
1-888-397-3742

Equifax
1-866-349-5191

TransUnion
1-800-916-8800

In the next section, we’ll discuss whether or not it’s worthwhile to file disputes and request to have closed accounts removed from your credit report.

How Can a Closed Credit Account Impact My Credit Score?

Although it’s counterintuitive, closing a credit account will oftentimes hurt rather than help your credit score. Why? Closing a credit account can impact a few different data sets that factor into your overall score:

• Your credit utilization ratio, or the amount of credit you are actively using compared to your overall credit limit.
• Credit history and age, meaning the length of time that you’ve had accounts like credit cards and loans open.
• The diversity or “mix” of types of credit accounts you have open.

The potentially negative impact that disputing and requesting a closed account be removed from your credit report makes the question of whether or not you should try a little murky. On the one hand, correcting mistakes on your credit report so that the information is completely accurate is a valid impulse. On the other, closing credit accounts can result in a lowered credit score. If you do opt to file a dispute and request to have a credit account removed from your report, it typically takes about 30 days to reflect a change in your credit score.