will canceling lot of credit cards on a same day hurt my credit ratings?

Public Comments

1. It very well could. It depends on how long the cards have been open and how closing those cards will affect your total credit available vs. credit used. The longer you've had them (assuming these are positive credit accounts), the better they affect your credit. The average amount of time all of your cards are open has an affect on your credit. The longer the better. Also, if these cards negatively affect the % of credit used on all of your cards, it could hurt.
2. It maynot be a good idea. Freeze them into a block of ice if you can't stop spending.
3. It depends on your total credit lines and available credit. It would be best to close the accounts gradually over a period of time. If I were doing it, I would close one a year. If you close a credit card with a balance on it the available credit goes away but the balance remains, and this would lower your crdit score.
4. No, this should not hurt your credit rating. I would highly recommed sending them a letter stating that you would like them to report the closing of the account to all credit reporting agencies. If you do not do this, the credit line will remain an open "revolving" account: meaning that it is using up your "available" credit. If you are trying to apply for a mortgage this is not good!
5. Yes, it will hurt your score for several reasons. Your debt to credit ratio will drop, you lose part of your credit history, your available credit limit drops...... Go to http://www.myfico.com and read about it. This is the site of the folks who developed the FICO scoring system that the agencies are using. DO NOT cancel any cards if you are planning to make a major purchase in the near future (car or home, etc...) When you do cancel them, do only one or two every 3 months. There will be a small drop in your score, but it will return in a few months.
6. Never close your credit cards. The legnth of time a credit card is open helps your credit score. If you close it, there will be no more "good Standings" history reported. If you apply for a mortgage, open credit cards with no balance will NOT hurt you. Anyone that says it eats up your available credit does not deal with credit, they only spread false info they "heard about". I do mortgages and it is important to have open tradelines (credit accounts). If they have no balance they do no affect your debt-to-income ratios.