Question- Credit Cards, Rebuilding Credit after Bankruptcy

[ndawg27]

I have a question for the moderators and members: So I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit (I'm a year out of bankruptcy). I got a new car and car loan through Capital One which I pay every month on time. I also have 2 Capital One credit Cards, a Credit One credit card, a First Premiere credit Card, and a Total Care credit card.

My question pertains to the last three cards (the First Premiere, the Credit One and the Total Care). They all have monthly participation fees (6-8 a month) and annual fees (usually 48-50 a year). My question is will my credit look better if I keep these accounts open? I am seriously thinking about closing them because I do not want to keep paying monthly participation fees and annual fees (which I do not have to on my Capital Ones). My ultimate goal is to make my credit look better, and I am not sure if these accounts will help me or ultimate not have an effect on my credit? What do you all think? (FYI: i opened all of these account a month after bankruptcy about a year ago)

[CCsAreEvil]

I'll just give my opinion on what I would do in your situation. I've never dealt with "monthly participation" fees ever. That sounds just evil. I hate annual fees, too, but they don't sound as bad as monthly fees. If you have a CC that charges monthly fees and an annual fee, I would ditch that card right away!

Think about it. 1 month = $6 x 12 months = $72? And then possibly an annual fee on top of that? Highway robbery!

I'm no expert but being a year out of BK and with your credit building, you "should" be able to apply for a better CC (higher CL and lower fees). Once you get one, then close a couple of these loan sharking CCs. I know overall "total CL" is a factor when dealing with utilization, but my guess is the cards you have now have low CLs. So, it's worth it to ditch em.

Let us know how it goes.