Creating credit for my new wife... and increasing my credit lines

[JeffeVerde]

<snip>

I want to start now though. So don't you think if I put her as AU on a handful of cards with $100k+ in combined limits and she all of the sudden has a 800 score, creditors would recognize that her score is completely made up of AU accounts and not approve her?

 

<snip>

 

In a manual review, the UW will see that her accounts are all AU's. This in itself isn't an issue - it's fairly common for accounts to be in one spouses name and the other spouse be an AU. What might count against her in the near term is that along with an "Date Opened", credit reports also show "Reported Since". So it will be clear that she was only recently added to these 20-year old accounts. With time, they'll overlook that too.

 

But in most cases, she'll probably be auto-approved strictly on the basis of the awesome FICO score she'll have, courtesy of your best/oldest TL's

Edited January 16, 2016 by JeffeVerde

[jb71]

Cool. I'm going to add her to some old ones.

I got an email saying I was approved with Amex BCP. It let me go create my online account and everything. Oddly, it didn't tell me what my limit would be.

So, once I get the card I should instantly call the number on the back of the card and say, "Can I get a CLI of 3X my current limit?" Is that correct? Never had an Amex before.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

<snip>

I want to start now though. So don't you think if I put her as AU on a handful of cards with $100k+ in combined limits and she all of the sudden has a 800 score, creditors would recognize that her score is completely made up of AU accounts and not approve her?

 

<snip>

 

In a manual review, the UW will see that her accounts are all AU's. This in itself isn't an issue - it's fairly common for accounts to be in one spouses name and the other spouse be an AU. What might count against her in the near term is that along with an "Date Opened", credit reports also show "Reported Since". So it will be clear that she was only recently added to these 20-year old accounts. With time, they'll overlook that too.

 

But in most cases, she'll probably be auto-approved strictly on the basis of the awesome FICO score she'll have, courtesy of your best/oldest TL's

 

[fiveyearplan66]

Sounds like you're getting punked. Hope you have a pre nup

Hahaha

[jb71]

ok so I logged into my AMEX BCP account that I set up once it said I was approved. It now shows a $20,000 credit limit. Should I call and ask for a CLI of 3X the limit now or should I wait till I get the card. How exactly do I go about this? Do I just ask for a CLI or do I specifically say "Please consider giving me a CLI of 3X my $20,000 limit."

 

Again, now or once I get the card?

What's the phone # I call? The number on the back of my card?

 

If they require tax returns, that is not an issue as I reported and paid taxes on $195,000 in 2014. Haven't done 2015 yet.

 

Thanks!

Edited January 18, 2016 by jb71

[cashnocredit]

 

You have a long, thick credit file. An Inq. will have almost no affect on your scores. Why do you think you would get declined? Stop worrying.

OMG!!! This has never happened to me before.

 

Chase Sapphire... Pending 7 - 10 days... listed my wife as AU. Wasn't given the option to apply as joint

 

Citi Double Cash.... DECLINED!!! I didn't list my wife as AU, nor was I given the option to list her as joint. Declined, wtf???

 

Amex Bluecard Preferred... Pending further review... 14 days. I listed my wife as AU. Wasn't given the option to apply as joint

 

I have never had this happen before. Wtf? My scores are all three over 780??? Why would I not get instant approvals?

 

Well, in spite of high FICO scores something is putting you near the cutoff.

 

Banks look at more than FICO. They also look at how much money they expect to make if they extend credit and weigh that against risk. It's sufficiently unusual for declines to occur with FICOs over 760 that it would be useful for others here to get some details of what is on your credit reports. In particular a breakdown of balances and monthly spend on each account.

 

It looks to me like you are pretty effective at using credit without paying much in the way of fees or interest. Aside from those banks make money on transactions so it may be that your credit card spend is relatively low. This translates into low net profits. However, you already have a fairly high set of CLs. Also banks make the assumption that if you carry any debt at all you have no savings. A few of the smarter banks ask about savings and investments but most don't so you might want to give more weight to those. Be sure to mention your savings/investments and such when calling for reconsideration.

 

One other factor is being self employed. Banks love employees and self employed people are associated with high risk. If at all possible, you should arrange your business so that you are an employee and apply as an employee, not owner. At least until your business is established. Considering risk, being employed for > 2 years at the same place is best. Being self employed is considered an even higher risk than being retired.

[JeffeVerde]

ok so I logged into my AMEX BCP account that I set up once it said I was approved. It now shows a $20,000 credit limit. Should I call and ask for a CLI of 3X the limit now or should I wait till I get the card. How exactly do I go about this? Do I just ask for a CLI or do I specifically say "Please consider giving me a CLI of 3X my $20,000 limit."

 

Again, now or once I get the card?

What's the phone # I call? The number on the back of my card?

 

If they require tax returns, that is not an issue as I reported and paid taxes on $195,000 in 2014. Haven't done 2015 yet.

 

Thanks!

 

AmEx will counter if you ask for more than they're willing to grant - so that's not a problem. However, somewhere around the $25-35k mark, they'll typically ask for a 4506-T, to do income verification via a tax transcript. Your income seems to support the CL, so if you don't mind AmEx sniffing around your taxes, ask away

[josephina]

 

I thought that adding a person as an AU to an old card no longer helps with their AAOA, it starts their age from the date they became AU.

That's specific to the card issuer. Typically, an AU account gets the same OpenedOn date as the original account. AmEx used to have an added twist on that, where an AU would inherit the MemberSince date of their "sponsor", and this would then apply to any AX accounts that the AU later opened on their own. But that went away along with D*

[josephina]

 

 

I thought that adding a person as an AU to an old card no longer helps with their AAOA, it starts their age from the date they became AU.

That's specific to the card issuer. Typically, an AU account gets the same OpenedOn date as the original account. AmEx used to have an added twist on that, where an AU would inherit the MemberSince date of their "sponsor", and this would then apply to any AX accounts that the AU later opened on their own. But that went away along with D*

Thanks for clarifying.

[jb71]

Cool. Will do once I get the card.

Called Chase today, the one that was pending. They gave me $10k. Not really what I was looking for, but something is better than nothing given they pulled EQF & EXP.

Missed Citi's 4:30pm closing time today. They were the ones who flat out declined me. Hopefully I can get them to give me a little love, they pulled EQF & EXP also.

 

I do see on my fico that my EQF score dropped 17 points with 2 new Inqs and EXP dropped 20 points with 3 new inqs. Oh well, I won't be applying for anything else for at least a year and by that time I'm sure I'll have all my 0% cards paid to $0 or at least paid down significantly enough to get me over 800 before I apply for anything else.

 

 

Going to follow everyone's advice and put my wife on a few of my cards that have a long aging and then get her into Penfed and Navy.

 

Thanks for all the help folks!

 

 

 

 

ok so I logged into my AMEX BCP account that I set up once it said I was approved. It now shows a $20,000 credit limit. Should I call and ask for a CLI of 3X the limit now or should I wait till I get the card. How exactly do I go about this? Do I just ask for a CLI or do I specifically say "Please consider giving me a CLI of 3X my $20,000 limit."

 

Again, now or once I get the card?

What's the phone # I call? The number on the back of my card?

 

If they require tax returns, that is not an issue as I reported and paid taxes on $195,000 in 2014. Haven't done 2015 yet.

 

Thanks!

 

AmEx will counter if you ask for more than they're willing to grant - so that's not a problem. However, somewhere around the $25-35k mark, they'll typically ask for a 4506-T, to do income verification via a tax transcript. Your income seems to support the CL, so if you don't mind AmEx sniffing around your taxes, ask away