Close the accounts. You won't need them. Yes they will bring your credit score down temporarily but who cares. The great almighty fico scorers will look at the available credit to you has dropped, but believe me that will fix itself in time. It's really to bad they don't look at real factors when figuring out the credit score like "net worth", "Savings", "not running up credit balances". Stop using credit cards, use your bank card and never miss your payments. I keep one card open for groceries and gas and pay it off every month. If they ever mess with me they are gone for good. American Excess is a good example of that. They will raise your interest rate and lower your limit without telling you.

Thank you for posting and for all the great advice.

Since this thread was created, I decided to keep the credit cards and stash them well under the mattress to avoid the temptation of using them again. I did manage to stay out of CC dept and I'm only using one for emergency purposes and have stayed withing below the $500 line.

Last week I received a letter from one of the credit card companies that I have not used in a while and they have decided to lower my credit limit. At first I really didn't care because I didn't use it and it wasn't my highest limit card but I was concern if their action would affect me in any way.

Has this happened to any one else?

Keep the cards but cut them and throw them away. Imagine you never had them so that you maintain a good credit rating!

Once you have paid off an account, still keep your account open. If you want to destroy the card, that's fine. Closing the account actually hurts your credit because it shortens your credit history, which is 15% of your FICO score.