toopooor

Got a letter declining my cli request due to "high amount of credit available from other accounts." Lame. I did the CLI on my Bank Atlantic business card. I got the same exact message, hard free though. I think we previously determined Juny is bi-polar. They cut my 2 lines from 5 figures to 1300 each about a yr ago - maybe longer. I rewarded them by closing one card and not using the other. No auto-CLI yet and i refuse to waste an inq. DH had one card with a 15K limit and one with 12.5K. He put a total of 21K on the 12.5 over a period of 3 months, paying off the early purchases and carrying part of the last 12.4K for the last 6 months. They rewarded him in Feb with a 3K CLI and another 2K this week. The 15K card is untouched (and rarely used) - i actually checked to see if the CLD it for the CLI on card #2.

Priority card bonus is 80K points - we stay at holiday inn a lot as its near a family member we visit frequently so the points would come in handy. FAKO is 750-ish. I have 1 - 3 inq on each CR, newest is from last fall. I have 3 personal cards with chase - 9K, 3K, 4K - 2K balance on one card. Those two low cards were CLD maybe 2 yrs ago when they were panic slashing. The 9K card is rarely used right now (using discover for the bonus) but is one of my oldest cards. Planning on closing the 4K card when its paid off - which i can do anytime but holding off to keep cash free until we're done paying contractors for work for my business. Also have some business cards with balances (also CLD in their panic.) So... what are my chances at approval and keeping the 9k CL intact?

ain't that the truth Yeah... but you paid nearly 10% for the food you ate today and the clothes you're wearing. My food is tax free... (I forget if clothes are sales tax free in OH, like they are in PA). It took me weeks after moving from TN ,where there is no income tax but a nearly 10% sales tax, to get used to going into the store for a gallon of milk and paying the shelf price.... it took us just as long to figure out why takeout food is so popular - eat in is taxable, carryout is not. We come out a little bit ahead in OH since most of our expense is food... plus, biz taxes in TN were higher than in OH.

I just noticed it - i wonder when they made the change? I have two (Key bank and Kroger) from 2007/2008 so it should help. I'm in a pay down mode and have fewer cards with balances - I gained 30 fakos in recent weeks but thought it was from the lower balances and fewer cards in use. (since the score went up on days the new balances reported).

Yeah, its just their goofy system... on the other hand, the time it showed up as $2000 more than my payment it really was a CLI. I still waited 5 days and checked again before i believed it.

you'll be better off filing now - debts are tolled while you are gone and filing now and returning in 2 or 3 yrs gives you a head start to better credit. if you wait, it just adds more years and a worse looking CR. You'll come back to a cleaner slate...

I don't think pristine credit helps either. We've had our card about as long and had a $3K limit back in the late 90's. We hit trouble and Sears CLD it to 700. After we got squeaky clean CR, we were able to get $200 CLI (with a hard!) a few years ago but the second time i tried (about a yr later) it was a hard and no CLI. We even used it for a $1100~ microwave - they approved it but did not CLI (many creditors will give a CLI when you do this). I use it for blue rhino tanks every few months to keep it active - last time i traded tanks they said i was pre-approved for the MC. I said i wasn't interested (in part because my store card is so old).

I haven't had it with BOA, but did when we opened a thomasville card (GEMB) - they asked like 3 to 5 lexis nexus questions, including 20 yr old addresses, either street address or county. They did it as multiple choice so it was a little easier but the questions were way out there because they referred to really old locations we lived.

You did about 100 times more than i would have - I'd have told them to shove it - no one needs an amex that bad and once you are out of college and working, you can try again. At most, I would send them the auth for the tax transcript - they can request it and pay for it if they want it bad enough. I also would not bug my banker to write letters or call. That is nuts and Amex is so not worth it.

Just a plug here: I love Bank Of America. My checking account Bill Pay has a feature "EBill Initiated Payments." The gist is, they download my bill -- cc, utilities, etc -- and can PIF or pay the minimum or whatever. Automatically. It's a killer feature. My main bank is BOA and i use the bill pay features but i forgot to set up the 5/3 payment until the due date - they don't do same day payments (and 5/3 only accepts payments at their site if you use a 5/3 checking account) so pushing a payment from BOA would make the payment late. I have a local account at key (no BOA branches around here) but their billpay is even worse - they say to allow 5 days for 5/3. (They say that with most payments tho - i think its 2 day like it is with BOA). I don't think 5/3 uses ebills, at least not in the checkfree system.

Yes, was at the branch by 10 AM monday and paid it. They have an "offer" for me for $100 bonus for opening a checking account. I didn't have time Monday but may go back over before the end of the month and open one. As long as i keep a couple of hundred in it, i won't have to worry about forgetting to pay. Plus keybank is starting to annoy me and the 5/3 branches are near the key branches...

Payment is due today so it's not a matter of payment date on the weekend, it's me being forgetful. I usually set up payment when I get notification that the statement closed but was busy and put it off and then forgot to check on it. (I'm east coast... so it was 'today' when i posted. <g>)

They are my highest limit, so i will make time - most of the others (especially with card act restricting RJ) I'd eat the late fee and not worry about it, but i don't want to risk getting CLD, so I'm planning on running over first thing this morning. If i could make a payment over the phone, i would do that, even if it meant a small fee. Although... knowing how sometimes the CSR mis-type the number, i think I'm better off paying at the branch. I really need to set my bank up to pay automatically every month - it has a BT & I'm not using it for normal purchases, so I don't have to worry about the min. changing on me. (I almost always pay the same amt anyway.)

Can you make payments over the phone? There is a branch nearby but I don't really have time to run over when they open.

Apparently. I got the notice for a bunch of accounts. BOA is about the only lender who hasn't sent one - yet.