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In 2006, I was notified by mail that a credit account I had opened three years earlier was being transitioned to a new, different account. Both accounts are currently reported as open on my credit report, but only the newer one is being counted toward my total credit limit and (presumably) my average credit history length. I called the credit company to have the original account closed as I no longer wish to have it appear as open on my credit history but they were unable to find a record of that account – the only account they could find under my SSN was the second account that was created as a result of the account transition.

What are my options for going about having this unwanted account marked as closed on my report? Could it be that in some way it's attached to the other active account entry whereby closing that would close them both?

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  • If by the chance, the original is left open indefinitely... then it will be a boost to your credit score by creating an an average credit history length that will increase over time. Even if you close the account, it stays on your credit report for 10 years until it falls off the report. You wouldn't see any benefit for 10 years either way. Waste of time IMO.
    – Sun
    Dec 11 '14 at 0:41
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Dispute the account with the credit bureau(s). They will contact the credit card company that has no record of the account and they will remove it from your credit report.

Disputing Errors on Credit Reports | Consumer Information

Thanks to ssaltman's comment: Dispute everything on your credit report that has a negative effect on your credit score. The cost for disputes is zero and the possibility of an improvement is high.

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    In fact, dispute everything on your credit report that has a negative effect on your credit score. The cost for disputes is zero and the possibility of an improvement is high. source: boosted my credit score by disputing every negative item on my credit report with all three major credit bureaus. I now do this every few years.
    – ssaltman
    Dec 7 '14 at 0:25

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