thesaintly

There's a PenFed Pathfinder Rewards American Express® card that also has this benefit.

Haven't gotten any offers so far for this year on any of my 3 AMEX accounts.

$400 in average balance is enough to improve approval odds? Seems like a great way to create sub-prime 2.0.

Thanks for the education. I've called SPS and they can and will apply extra principal payments against your mortgage, providing you push them from the bill pay system from your bank, using an overpayment above and beyond what your normal mortgage payment is due for that month. So if your mortgage is $1000 and you send a payment of $1200, they will apply the original $1000 to your monthly payment, and the remaining $200 towards principal. Not the most elegant system in the world, but a way around the extra payment fees if you use their system within the website. Just a heads up in case anyone else deals with them, or another servicer that charges fees to make payments.

I'm helping a friend who has a mortgage that was originated with Citimortgage a few years ago, then the servicing was transferred to MrCooper/NationStar. MrCooper this last month transferred servicing to a company called SPS Select Portfolio Servicing based in Utah. After the servicing transfer was completed, I helped her setup her online account with SPS. A couple of issues immediately stood out: 1. There were nearly $400 of unapplied funds that MrCooper had been holding, but had been transferred to SPS. SPS coded that entire payment against interest, and none against the principal, despite there not being a payment due at that time, or instruction to pay against interest, instead of principal or a regular monthly payment. 2. There's a no-fee option to setup monthly ACH payments for the full regular monthly month via direct ACH on their website. However, if you wish to make a one-time payment against the principal, to pay down the loan faster, their online system tacks on a $5 fee. Remember, this is an ACH payment done online, not a call-in by phone with a rep kind of fee, nor a credit card processing fee. A link to their payment FAQ: https://www.spservicing.com/StaticDetails/PaymentFaq Neither Citimortgage, nor MrCooper/NationStar charged for online ACH payments, whether they were partial payments, full regumar monthly payments or extra payments against the principal. It is my understanding (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that if a mortgage company transfers service to a different company, that the new company has to abide by the terms of the original loan. There are no terms in the original loan documents that state there shall be online ACH payment fees. Does SPS charging these fees seem legal? It seems very underhanded to charge someone a payment that doesn't involve a rep or credit card. 3. From reading online reviews about SPS, they seem like they have atrocious customer service, misapplied payments and a fair number of lawsuits. Is it possible to encourage them to transfer the servicing of this mortgage to another company? Is there any recourse for my friend as the borrower? Thank you for any pointers you can provide.

I'm interested in starting an online business out of my home, selling services. My home will not be a place where I will meet with clients. I'd like to establish business credit for this new business, but would prefer to have a PO BOX instead of my home address on my business listings. Does having a PO Box/UPS Store box affect one's ability to acquire credit? Also, if I incorporate in a different state than where I physically live, does that affect one's ability to get business credit? I have a perfect, thick and older personal credit file for whatever it is worth. Thank you for your input.

Atascadero

Atascadero

Atascadero

Atascadero

Just got BOFA to reallocate limits from one account to another, done over the phone in a few minutes. Made a new $34k CL with my BankAmericard for a 0% BT offer to float a lot of home improvement debt for 15 months with no BT fee. Very helpful.

Discover It Miles, two separate accounts for the folks, $5k and $1k. Lame credit limits, will call in once cards arrive to see if they will boost it up. Was looking forward to float more on the 0% APR for 14 months on a home improvement project. They are already Discover cardholders with larger limits. My guess is that they don't want pay out more than needed on that first-year 3% cash back.

Nothing in my offers this go around. Had an approval for a $4400 Power Cash Rewards last quarter which I took advantage. All the usual car loans and other offers are missing. Interestingly enough, my FICO is higher this quarter than last quarter. PenFed's pre-approval system seems to have no logic that I've been able to figure out.

Considering how many options are on the market, they are probably leaving rewards on the table. Some people are just happy in their little corner and don't want to wander out of it.

Max out payments to the cards with the highest APR first, you'll pay less in total interest. Focus not on the balance amount, but rather the interest rate. Also, call each one of your issuers and ask them to lower your interest rates on your cards. If you ask nicely enough (sometimes you need to speak to a manager), they'll often lower them for you if you've paid on-time. Also, if they don't lower your APR, you can also ask them if you're eligible for a product change/conversion, as often they have different card types with lower APR's than the ones you may currently have. Have you checked any of the pre-qualifier tools here? https://www.doctorofcredit.com/view-your-capital-one-pre-qualified-cards/ If you can get pre-qualified for a good 0% APR card for balance transfers, you should apply and hopefully, transfer as much of your existing balances there as possible. You can also use plastiq.com to pay your monthly rent. If you get approved for a 0% APR card, you can pay plastiq.com's 2.5% fee, make minimum payments on the 0% APR card and then throw the excess cash at your highest APR card first. I know it isn't "fun", but if you can get rid of all non-essential purchases (Hulu, bars, eating out, etc.) for several months, you'll have quite a bit more free cash to through at your balances to get them zero'ed out.