Jimmies

Thank you all! I knew that she had some debts, but I had no idea it was this much. I agree with you guys on filing for BK... it's probably the only reasonable option. I'm going to talk to her this weekend and try to explain it to her, but she can be stubborn! She has been trying so hard to get these bills paid down, and I feel so terrible about the whole situation. She wants so bad to just pay these companies off, and I know she won't like the idea of writing them off in BK. My mom is 68. She's always been good with numbers (literally down to the penny), but when I found out she was so far into debt I just *knew* she must have late payments. But nope! Which is part of what makes it so sad... looking at her reports she has basically perfect credit, except for the insanely high balances. If she files for BK that basically means nothing. That's so sad, I can't see how someone can take advantage of another person like that... especially when it's family. It makes me so mad! But I'm glad things kind of worked out for your mother in law. The more I think about it the more I think BK might be the best thing for my mom.

Hi all! About a week ago I learned that my mother is about $17k in debt. She is disabled due to a medical condition and retired, and the only income she receives is from Social Security. Most of her debt is from retail accounts like QVC, Fingerhut and a bunch of mail order catalog accounts, and the interest rates are so high that most of the payments actually go to interest charges rather than the actual principal of the loan. One bill actually says that she'll pay it off in 18 years if she only pays the minimum (which is ~$150)... that's just insane. Anyway, she got this offer from Discover for a personal loan, and we thought if she coud get approved, we could pay off most of her debt, and she'd be paying a lot less than what she does now for a much shorter amount of time. I checked her credit report and believe it or not, she has no recent lates. So we applied online and were instantly denied. Just got the letter today and it was due to income - they didn't even pull her report. At this point I have no idea what to do. She's barely staying afloat right now and I feel terrible. Should I have her call Discover and ask for a recon, possibly for a lower CL? She originally asked for $15k against my advice to request hallf of that to just pay off the top 2 or 3. Are there any other options?

Whelp, I think I did something wrong. I tried applying for the CLI today, everything went well until it asked if I wanted to opt to sign the load document online... which I did. But it wouldn't let me continue on with the last step - it just kept refreshing the same page when I hit submit. And then I got logged out, and now when I log back in the offers are gone. WTF??

Thanks all! You know, when I saw the preapprovals in my account, the first thing I though of (besides "holy moly, Penfed really DOES love me!!") was CB. Without this place, I never would have gotten a grasp on my credit and found Penfed in the first place! I think I'm going to do this. Does Penfed have a maximum combined CL? I vaguely remember someone mentioning $50k total... or was it $100k? It's about 760 right now (well, as of 2 months ago). And my usage has been pretty low ... < $300/mo (I only use it for gas). If I remember correctly, my credit score was around 745 when I was approved.

Hi all! It's been ages since I've visited CB and TBH I'm not sure why. I learned so much from folks here and really improved my credit portfolio... I guess I reached a couple of goals and just decided to stop for awhile. But just recently, I got this from Penfed after being a member for almost 4 years: Whee!!! Not to shabby! I have a $3500 CL (Visa Platinum Cash) with them right now. What should I go for? The VISA Platinum Cash Rewards? PLOC?

Ah, I see. Well, I'll give Citi a call and get this sorted out. I'll post back with the results! Thanks Mike!

So this is a negative item on my reports which can prevent getting credit? Shoot... The thing is, I've never done a chargeback or disputed any charges on this card either. It's bizarre. I can't for the life of me figure out why that comment would be there! Any other ideas?

Hey all! It's been awhile since I've posted here (but I've been lurking!). I recently pulled by reports and noticed that under one of my currently open and paid CC accounts is the notice "Dispute resolved - Consumer disagrees" under both EX and TU, and "Consumer disputes after resolution, Credit card" under EQ. I haven't disputed anything though! The account has no lates, always PIF, so I have no idea why that comment is on there. What exactly does it mean?

Yes. This month for the month and year of member since date that you see when you log in to their website. Interesting! So if I got an AMEX in April 2011, and then app and get approved for another AMEX in January 2012, they would backdate the new card to 1/2011, adding an extra 3 months of age to the account?

Those are some nice scores Bob and Trevor! Here are mine: C - 784 June 2011 C - 783 March 2011 Up a whopping one point!

Since when? The Art Association of Harrisburg (permanent PA residents only) (Employees & Association Members) I emailed them over the weekend and I got a response this morning that the AAH is is still "a valid eligibility," but sure enough, they've updated the app with the permanent PA resident line. Doh, I was planning on apping tonight after I got a yes/no answer from them!

So, PRPS is no longer an option for us out-of-staters, and the only in is the Arts Association of Harrisburg? I've been meaning to apply, if only for the EX score... I've just been putting it off for awhile. I just don't want to miss the boat like I did with Navy! Also, my EX is frozen... I'm guessing I should unfreeze *before* apping?

I thought a freeze only prevented NEW creditors from pulling credit, but your current ones could still pull hard or soft? I haven't had a CLI on my Dividend card (~3yrs old) in over a year - probably close to a year and a half. I always get the form when I hit the CLI button, and I've never filled it out. My income has increased since I originally apped, so I might give it a try after reading the positive comments in this thread... although I don't really NEED any more credit right now.

Congrats on getting off restricted status - Penfed is definitely worth it!

The new Blue Cash Everyday isn't like the old one. 3% on Supermarkets 2% on Gas and Department Stores 1% on All other purchases. I just got a preapproval for this card a few days ago and shredded it... now I realize it's a completely new card without the $6.5k spending threshold which would be an awesome compliment to my Penfed and Forward! But, I just got a regular Blue card a month ago. Can Blue be converted into BCE? And is there a time limit between being approved before one can convert?