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I’ve been getting ready to do some CLI’s and such, and have been compiling information on BofA - jotting down my own personal dealings (not feelings), combing through threads, sending PM’s, making phone calls to BofA CSR’s and having others try things in their phone dealings as well (thanks Uber). I started to put together a repository of sorts and figured what the hell, I’ll just post it for everyone- present and future. Hopefully this can be a wiki-type post and people can add to or correct any of the below info. This is an objective post, not subjective. I didn’t put this together as a “reason I <3 BofA” post, nor for someone to list a bad CSR experience. I also understand that in 2008-2010 BofA balance chased individuals. I cannot find any widespread evidence of that recently (within 4 years) happening. So please try to keep this as a what you can/can’t do post and leave feelings out of it. Perhaps some info on how BofA treats BK's (how long since discharge is required for secured, how long since discharge is required for unsecured), how BofA treats people who burned them (do they blacklist) etc could be added. Applications BofA, Fidelity and Merrill all use the same underwriting and analyst departments. According to the credit pulls database, BofA products pull from various CRA’s, even in the same state. You can have multiple BofA products with little problem. If you already have any BofA/Fidelity/Merrill product and would like to apply for another product, you might want to do the application by phone. BofA is notorious for taking credit line from one product in order to give you another product. You cannot apply for two products with the same hard pull. CLI’s While Bob’s “Master Issuers who give Auto CLI’s” does list BofA and I have found several other examples, on the whole they do not appear to be common. A CLI will more than likely require a request. Some people get hard inquiries, some people get soft inquiries. So expect a hard. Requested CLI’s have been granted in as little as 60 days since opening a trade line. Requested CLI’s have been granted in as little as 60 days since the last CLI. If you have more than one BofA/Fidelity/Merrill product and would like to request a CLI, you might want to do the request by phone. BofA is notorious for taking credit line from one product in order to increase your credit line on another product. You cannot request CLI’s for two or more products on the same hard pull. You cannot combine a new application for one product and a CLI for another existing product on the same hard pull. Doesn’t matter which one you try first. Maybe you get lucky and the CRA combines the pulls, but that is luck and not the doing of BofA. With supporting income, BofA cards can have extremely high individual limits. I have seen reports of $100K.

I have lost my job a few months ago, got behind on bills and racked up a few judgements (one from an eviction). My only money is my unemployment that is direct deposited into my Fidelity Checking account. I have a a small (its being rapidly depleted to pay bills) IRA with Fidelity. I know in NY the law is that about $2500.00 of money in a checking account is protected from levy's if its direct deposited unemployment. Here is my concern; Fidelity is not a bank, its a brokerage. Also, Fidelity uses various clearing banks across the country to hold funds. So with this in mind, is the money in Fidelity still covered under New York's garnishment and levy laws?