Rolling Over $20K of 0% Debt in Three Weeks - Fairly Complicated

[shifter]

Just now, Drchaos said:

If I do not have any accounts with Edward Jones would applying for one of their cards be a waste of a hard inquiry?

Can you even apply for the card except through a broker? 

[Drchaos]

19 hours ago, shifter said:

Can you even apply for the card except through a broker? 

It seems so.

 

It is a business credit card and they ask a lot of questions such as annual sales, tax ID #, business structure (sole proprietor, S Corp, LLC, etc.), and whether your business address and home address are the same.

 

Asking these questions might mean that they don't look kindly upon gig workers, or home based businesses but I am just speculating.

 

From the site where I found the link they want a 750+ credit score for approval.

 

The link is below:

 

Apply Now

[hdporter]

14 hours ago, Drchaos said:

It seems so ...

The link is below:

 

Apply Now

 

Not getting this link to work, no matter how I parse it.  Curious about the source.

 

My gut feel here is you're barking up a wrong tree.  Of course, I'll admit that I steer clear of business cards.  Most agreements have you stipulate that the card will be used for "business expenses" only.  To the extent that you also define your "business" in the app, I suspect that there may not be a lot of wriggle room should something go south with the account at a later date.

 

Setting that concern aside, I don't want to carry any debt that, worst case, I wouldn't be eligible to discharge in a personal bankruptcy.

 

I grasp that a LOT OF PEOPLE, without businesses for which they'll run charges through the card, have opened such accounts and skated by just fine.  Simply not a path I'm interested in treading.

 

Again, just popping a suggestion that Barclays offerings may be worth a look.

 

 

[shifter]

1 hour ago, hdporter said:

To the extent that you also define your "business" in the app, I suspect that there may not be a lot of wriggle room should something go south with the account at a later date.

Meh. They don't check nor care. I blew a bunch of business cards for hookers and blow and they never even blinked. And they never come after the "business" for the money anyway in a BK. They called me and I told them there was nothing left in the business either and they never called again. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by shifter

[Drchaos]

Just got my annual free credit report from Transunion.

 

I then signed up for a 30 day trial of their credit monitoring service and paid $1.06 to see my credit score.

 

While Bank of America had reported a score of 728 for Transunion the credit monitoring tool has a credit score of 637.

 

I did notice that the credit report has the AMEX balance of $23,611 (94% utilization) and does not include the payments of $4,172.22 I made a week ago on 10/17/2022.

 

Current balance is $19,508 (78%).

 

I disputed my AMEX balance with Transunion and uploaded my latest AMEX statement showing the new balance.

 

The automated response from Transunion says my dispute will be sent by mail but "don't worry we will complete your dispute investigation within 30days".

 

If I had received better news this morning I was planning to apply for the Navy Federal card today, now I don't see how I can get a decent balance with the old AMEX info killing my scores.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Drchaos

[Drchaos]

After being prompted by an e-mail from AMEX I used their credit reporting tool only to see the same 637 score and that my AMEX information was last reported on 9/21/22 which is over 30 days ago.

 

How long does it take them to report?

[Drchaos]

I noticed that I have an offer on my Bank of America Card (the one with the zero percent debt due November 11th).

 

Any balance transfer to this card before December 5th will carry a zero percent rate until November 2023 (with a 3% fee).

 

I could potentially pay off the card and transfer the AMEX balance to it afterwards instead of applying for a new BOA card.

 

I would rather have a new card that gives me 21 months at zero percent but it is nice to have options.

[shifter]

1 hour ago, Drchaos said:

While Bank of America had reported a score of 728 for Transunion the credit monitoring tool has a credit score of 637.

BofA is FICO as mentioned. TU is the same useless Vantage skore that CK gives you for free. 

[shifter]

1 hour ago, Drchaos said:

I disputed my AMEX balance with Transunion and uploaded my latest AMEX statement showing the new balance.

That can have unintended consequences. I already told you that you could call the Amex credit report team and ask them to push an update, which would happen in a day or two. Disputing the balance can sometimes work out for you and other times create more delays and hassles. 

[Drchaos]

4 minutes ago, shifter said:

BofA is FICO as mentioned. TU is the same useless Vantage skore that CK gives you for free. 

Thanks for letting me know.

 

Just trying to nail down the details before pulling the trigger.

[Drchaos]

1 minute ago, shifter said:

That can have unintended consequences. I already told you that you could call the Amex credit report team and ask them to push an update, which would happen in a day or two. Disputing the balance can sometimes work out for you and other times create more delays and hassles. 

Thanks for reminding me this was an option.

 

I will call them today.

[shifter]

1 hour ago, Drchaos said:

my AMEX information was last reported on 9/21/22 which is over 30 days ago.

So your statement just cut. That's the reported as date, and the reports usually update 2-5 days later. So basically if you had waited another couple of days, everything would have probably updated. But now you threw that dispute in there and it may actually delay the updating process. 

[Drchaos]

It has been a while since my last apporama and I had forgotten how long the payments take to show up.

 

Given my time constraints it has been very frustrating waiting on AMEX to report payments made prior to my last statement.

 

If I was to pay down AMEX and Bank of America further this week, when do you think I would see the result on my credit reports and scores?

 

I am trying to figure out if it makes any sense given what I have seen so far. 

[hegemony]

2 hours ago, Drchaos said:

 

I disputed my AMEX balance with Transunion and uploaded my latest AMEX statement showing the new balance.

 

The automated response from Transunion says my dispute will be sent by mail but "don't worry we will complete your dispute investigation within 30days".

 

 

[Drchaos]

Not crazy, just made a mistake.

 

I was hoping to apply for cards today and did not understand what I was doing.

 

I forgot how frustrating this process can be.

[hdporter]

1 hour ago, Drchaos said:

Not crazy, just made a mistake.

 

I was hoping to apply for cards today and did not understand what I was doing.

 

I forgot how frustrating this process can be.

 

 

In truth, you're far more intrepid in navigating "uncharted waters" than I was in your shoes some years ago.  I respect that.

 

Just remember, if you're contemplating a move that your gut isn't completely sure about, ask us; we're waiting here with feedback and advice.  (And, hopefully we won't slap you upside the head too hard in imparting it )

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by hdporter
another f'in typo that spell check didn't catch!

[shifter]

1 hour ago, Drchaos said:

Not crazy, just made a mistake.

 

FYI, you can call TU on the phone today and they can cancel your dispute.

[Drchaos]

I really want to see where my credit score is after AMEX reports the current balance.

 

With that said I usually have better facts when applying for credit cards.

 

At this point I have two choices.

 

Plan A

 

Apply for cards once AMEX reports.

 

Use a balance transfer to pay off BOA on or before November 11th

 

Plan B

 

Take a 30 day loan from the ROTH IRA

 

Pay back the 30 day loan I took from the Inherited IRA on October 3rd ($23,500)

 

Pay off Bank of America in full from my checking account (online payment) right away

 

Pay down AMEX to 30% $7,500 - this would mean an additional $12,000 payment.

 

Wait for the payments to get reported (two weeks?)

 

Do balance transfers to cards creating negative balances

 

Get refund checks from credit card companies

 

ROTH IRA gets paid back no matter what, withdrawal from Inherited IRA covers any shortfall.

 

===================================

 

I sold stocks to get my cash balance in the ROTH up to $60K giving me the flexibility to do this.

 

I think the funds will be available for withdrawal on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

 

Plan B would get me more approvals and higher limits

 

The risk would be paying down the AMEX card now instead of waiting until the end of February potentially adding $12K to my taxable income this year.

 

I have several cards I am using for spending that do have balances  but I am not sure if overpaying them to generate cash is feasible, especially with the time constraints I have.

 

I am not sure how much success I would have with plan A right now given the amount of outstanding debt.

 

The timing (payment vs reported payment) (balance transfer request vs balance transfer payment) has made everything more difficult.

 

Thoughts?

[Drchaos]

Score with Bank of America tool went up from 728 to 746.

 

Scores from credit karma were split Eqifax went up from 637 to 723 (AMEX may have reported to them) while Transunion is still at 637 (I will call them today to cancel the dispute).

[shifter]

5 hours ago, Drchaos said:

while Transunion is still at 637 (I will call them today to cancel the dispute).

Too late now. The dispute blocked the regular update, so now if you cancel the dispute you'll likely have to wait until next month's update. But with the dispute you'll probably have to wait until next month anyway. As they like to say, you screwed the pooch on this one. 

[Drchaos]

2 hours ago, shifter said:

Too late now. The dispute blocked the regular update, so now if you cancel the dispute you'll likely have to wait until next month's update. But with the dispute you'll probably have to wait until next month anyway. As they like to say, you screwed the pooch on this one. 

So am I better off calling or should I just do nothing?

 

Is one choice marginally better?

[shifter]

I would leave it at this point. Your only hope is a quick resolution of the dispute that updates your balance. 

[Drchaos]

Since I seem to have screwed things up with Transunion I am going to buy myself more time.

 

Initiated a transfer from my ROTH IRA for $60K.

 

Tomorrow I will do the following:

Repay 30 day loan from Inherited IRA $23,500

Pay off Bank of America Card $20,011.38 - New balance $0

Pay down AMEX another $7.200 - New balance $12,308.90 - 59.6% Useage 49.2%

 

When these payments show up on the credit reports getting the approvals and high limits should be much easier.

 

Now I have until November 26th to put the money back into the ROTH.

[hegemony]

8 hours ago, Drchaos said:

Since I seem to have screwed things up with Transunion I am going to buy myself more time.

 

Initiated a transfer from my ROTH IRA for $60K.

 

Tomorrow I will do the following:

Repay 30 day loan from Inherited IRA $23,500

Pay off Bank of America Card $20,011.38 - New balance $0

Pay down AMEX another $7.200 - New balance $12,308.90 - 59.6% Useage 49.2%

 

When these payments show up on the credit reports getting the approvals and high limits should be much easier.

 

Now I have until November 26th to put the money back into the ROTH.

sounds stressful. I hope it works out for you.

[hdporter]

5 hours ago, hegemony said:

sounds stressful. I hope it works out for you.

 

Same here (in ref to Drchaos post) .... When we bought our home in MA in 2019, there was a delay in liquidating some source of our closing balance and we resorted to a 30-day withdrawal out of a tax-advantaged retirement account (401-k or IRA).  We sweated the return of the withdrawal, which went down very close to the 30 day deadline for redeposit (to avoid a taxable withdrawal).

 

I'm keeping fingers crossed for @Drchaos that all goes smoothly!