Close Down Your Credit Cards
The more credit you have available, the greater the likelihood you have of going further into debt beyond your mortgage loan. The more debt you assume, the higher the risk of non-repayment. Close all your credit card accounts that are not absolutely necessary, eliminating available credit and thus raising your credit score. However, before closing down the accounts, make sure that the amount owed on each is less than seventy-five percent of the available credit. High balances on your credit cards—over seventy-five percent of your available credit—are held against you. Once you get under that seventy-five percent level, your credit rating will rise. So, if you have to, rob MasterCard to pay Visa to get all your cards below the seventyfive percent level.
For accounts you intend to keep open, transfer your balances to zero percent interest rates. If zero percent is not available for a limited time, call the credit card company and ask for a lower rate, saying you want to stay with the card. You may or may not get it.
Before closing down your cards, use them, if you can, to close all judgments, liens, and so forth.
If you have a problem with a credit card company, ask them to fax you a letter saying they will delete something from your credit report. Ask the person you are talking to if he or she has the power to do so. If the person says no, ask for a manager who has such power. When you receive the faxed letter—which happens more often than you think—fax it to the three credit rating companies immediately.
