Tagakawit,

Here is what I know about credit reports from both credit bureaus. The items in your Equifax credit file will remain in your file whether you pay them or not by law for six to seven years depending on the province or territory. The items that are in good standing in your Trans union file will remain in your credit file up to twenty years. If you no longer have the accounts after six or seven years, you can request to have them removed from your Trans union file. The negative items will be removed whether you pay them or not six to seven in your credit file depending on the province or terriotry.If you close an account, it can affect your credit score and that’s why they tell you to keep them open whether you use them or not.

Thank you Razzz for an added assurance.

Thank you Razzz for an added assurance.

As you have already known, the closed accounts, provided that they are closed by you, have no effect on your FICO score at all. I believe by law all items have to be purged after 6 years to 7 years, depending on which province you are currently residing in. 20 years seems to be too drastic for me, and I cannot imagine something that would follow you for 20 years, unless for criminal records then it is another story. If you are determined to get them removed, it is ok. I would, however, save the hassle as lenders do not care about those items.

I spoke with one of the reps from TransUnion to request that most of my closed accounts be removed from credit report. The guy said that old closed accounts need to stay on my credit report for 20 years. When I asked which law stated that rule, I have been told to call the Ministry of Consumer Services, so, I did. When I spoke to one of the reps from the Ministry, she said she can not "comment" on the specifics of the record retention, however, hinted that it maybe an internal policy from TransUnion.

So, to be sure, that this move is not going to bite me, I raised a question to Suze Orman via tweeter, and she said it will not hurt my FICO Score.

I am now waiting for the "free credit report" that the TU guy had sent me. The credit report that we buy from TransUnion via online does not contain last activity date and I need this to determine which account I need to get removed from my credit report.

Those accounts have not value to me, and therefore, should be purged.

As well, given the experience I have had these past several months, after having been closed and inactive since 2003, two of those closed accounts started getting reported again in 2009.

It's scary, you'll never know what those creditors are thinking. That's why, I'm on a mission to have those closed accounts removed permanently.

TagaKawit