Zoe
Member
Nah
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My oldest credit cards closed due to no activity. 15 years of built up credit gone.
- Thread starter LQX
- Start date
Nah
StarCreator
Member
This may have been lost in the last page shuffle, so to repeat:
You should be able to call your banks and request to increase the credit limit on your existing cards to try to push your total credit close to where it was. That is probably the most you can do to minimize the hit to your credit at this point.
I need to get around to do this just to push average utilization down. Stuck in the low 800s because of it.
Nope, it's always unfavorable to close a line of revolving credit.
You're doing it right. Don't change. There is no situation where paying credit card interest benefits you.
You should be able to call your banks and request to increase the credit limit on your existing cards to try to push your total credit close to where it was. That is probably the most you can do to minimize the hit to your credit at this point.
I need to get around to do this just to push average utilization down. Stuck in the low 800s because of it.
Nope, it's always unfavorable to close a line of revolving credit.
You're doing it right. Don't change. There is no situation where paying credit card interest benefits you.
UnemployedVillain
Member
You're pretty fucked if you ever need a large loan
You're good. Credit is weird because among the things that help increase your score are
1. Having credit debt that you're paying off (so it probably helps never to completely pay it off all at once)
2. Having lots of cards...even if you aren't using them
slick7rick
Member
BofA did this to me with a card I've had for 12 years, but I've gone more than 5 years of inactivity so I received a letter in the mail saying they closed it and I lost 140 points from my credit score. Assholes.
Its all secrets and magic formulas but I do believe its advised to at least show some activity on a revolving account to demonstrate you can handle it.
This doesn't mean paying interest, it means let the bill sit for a minute so it can get reported as usage. My score actually took a slight dip when I got everything down to 0% utilization.
I am currently using my amex for points and whenever I check my credit it always says some balance even though I pay it off every month. As long as this monthly statement balance is below 5% of your total limit you should be good.
hydrophilic attack
Member
credit culture is weird
John Oliver did a show about credit and boy, it's pretty insane how much of our lives depends on a number attached to our names.
I have a ton of old cards closed and am still above 800. My most recent closed account was over 10 years old and was closed by Chase after a lengthy period of inactivity. The difference in my score was imperceptible from regular monthly fluctuations. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
What's weighing down my score right now is actually a series of hard inquiries dating back almost two years - I bought two vehicles within two weeks of each other, and each vehicle had an inquiry from my credit union, the manufacturer's financial arm, and another bank that they checked against for a better rate. That's six total inquiries in one month. Those have done more to lower my score for an extended period of time than closing an old account did.
What's weighing down my score right now is actually a series of hard inquiries dating back almost two years - I bought two vehicles within two weeks of each other, and each vehicle had an inquiry from my credit union, the manufacturer's financial arm, and another bank that they checked against for a better rate. That's six total inquiries in one month. Those have done more to lower my score for an extended period of time than closing an old account did.
StarCreator
Member
I mean, it's not like we decided this is how the system works, but it's quite easy to work a little credit optimization into your daily life. I carry three credit cards (Amazon.com, Chase Freedom, and PlayStation) and use all three for various purposes depending on which card offers better rewards for the category I'm spending under. I usually don't go out of my way to spend just for the sake of gaining rewards, nor do I open new credit cards just to get reward bonuses (though I've been considering doing this as I currently have no travel rewards). I just pay everything with my cards and pay off my statement balance every month, so I'm building up my credit while not spending any more than I would have paid cash for anyway.
If they were the same type of inquiry within a certain span of time they should have only counted as one. The algorithms allow you to shop around for optimal interest rates.
has anyone successfully petitioned their credit card company to remove old nonpayment activity from your credit score? i just sent a mail to capital one (and also my student loan peeps) pleading to delete my missed payment activity from
the credit bureaus because i was going through some shit in 2013 and have been paying consistently ever since
i just wonder if it will actually work
if it does, i should be catapulted out of the 600s grotto well into the 700s
the credit bureaus because i was going through some shit in 2013 and have been paying consistently ever since
i just wonder if it will actually work
if it does, i should be catapulted out of the 600s grotto well into the 700s
I mean, we are gamers.
For me personally one day I realized I was putting way more effort into games than IRL finances. Starting treating my bank account and credit score like a game I wanted to win.
No you did this backwards.
You need to file a dispute with the monitoring service (equifax. experian) they will then contact the credit company and make them prove you were late.
If there is anything negative on your report you should dispute it.
Yeah, I'm not sure what happened. I could see two being reasonable, but not six. I'm not super motivated to fix it since I don't have any need to, but I bet I could get all but two of them removed. None of them resulted in a decline so I don't see how there should be six of them.
We started by both of us getting 2 cards for a total of four (we aren't married yet). We used one solely for gasoline. The other solely for groceries.
Pay them off in full every month. It's basically the same as you are probably doing now with your debit card, except you'll be building credit. Your credit ceilings on both cards will climb over the years hilariously.
Ron Mexico
Member
One of the better analogies I've seen-- makes sense.
Also, while it will vary slightly lender by lender, anything above 740-ish is just icing on the cake. Stressing out over moving your score from 800-810 or anything like that isn't going to open up any doors that weren't previously available to you.
StarCreator
Member
It's normal that they all appear. They happened, after all. The algorithms are supposed to realize that you were shopping around and ignore a few of them when calculating the hit on your credit.
I have a credit score in that range and I'm definitely still not getting optimal APR offers on big loans, like for cars or housing.
Glass Shark
Banned
Don't get one. You don't need it.
StarCreator
Member
This is flat out untrue. Even a credit card that sits in your desk drawer is better than not having one at all.
but i -was- late, there is no dispute to be had is there? i mean it was like three months late
dont i need the company on my side in this? the internet told me to wrote a goodwill letter
im not trying to be naive i just feel like if i dispute something for which there is evidence, then i will look like a jerk and the credit card company wont help me
StarCreator
Member
I'm not sure I understand the reasoning. Unless there's a fee required to keep the account alive, you absolutely should buy a soda on it every so often to keep it alive.
Thaedolus
Member
Until you need a loan...
yeah, no.
having a good credit score is absolutely beneficial and in many instances, needed.
michaelius
Banned
Ehh they are usefull - as long as you always pay in your interest free period and don't spend money you don't have.
After all if you delay payment by 30 days you get 30 days of your money working for you as bank deposit.
StarCreator
Member
Uh what
I mean, yes, credit card companies try to incentivize spending as much as possible on the off chance they can get a cardholder to spend beyond their means, but I've never been under threat of a credit line I was using being shut down.
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
This thread reminded me to stop being lazy and after a 5 minute phone call with Discover they doubled my credit line on my 5 year old card. It was the first one I ever had and was only at $3000, so 6 is pretty nice. I mainly use it to pay my Netflix every month and pay it immediately.
I haven't paid a cent in interest across three credit cards in a decade and have never had anything approaching the credit line being shut down. Huh?
1) Get a credit card with rewards.
2) Buy everything you can with it (groceries, restaurants, gas, games, bills if possible)
3) ???? (pay it off every month)
4) Profit (literally)
You are thinking about it in people terms. Its not a person you need to convince. Its literally spreadsheets and algorithms you are fighting. Further even if capitol one grows a heart and deletes it, the credit scoring agencies will still have it on their records. You will still have to file a dispute to have it removed there.
Trust me, I had a legit dispute (parents had my name on utilities and never closed them after moving... thanks mom!) and calling the power company and bitching up and down did nothing. If you want to boost your score you need to contact the scorekeepers. They will generally want to retain as much data as possible on you.
Ron Mexico
Member
I have a number of questions regarding this, but I'll try to to simplify since I of course don't have your credit report in front of me.
Assuming your score is north of (and let's be aggressive here for the sake of argument) 750, there's something else at play that would prevent you from qualifying for the offers you're looking for.
My first guess would be the loan-to-value of the item you're looking to purchase. The closer you get to borrowing 100% (or more if we're talking a vehicle-- usually see approvals of up to 115% LTV in that range), the higher your rate is going to be. That's not a FICO-driven risk, that's an equity driven risk.
Second would be your debt-to-income, though I would expect that to be a yes/no qualifier rather than a rate modifier. Having an 850 isn't going to instantly qualify you for any loan regardless of circumstance of course.
Next, I would question the source of the scores. I look at CreditKarma and the like in the same way I look at Zillow for my home's value. Many lenders have their own customised risk formula which takes into account length of time in residence, DTI, LTV and the like among others. If CreditKarma or similar shows you having an 800 or whatever, I can assume you're a solid borrower, but not necessarily elite.
Only other answer would be the lenders you're looking at are absolutely terrible. For that, there's no shortage of competition.
mkay. well i will give it a month just in case any deletioning happens behind the scenes due to my lovely letters, then i will pull the trigger on disputing the claims through equifax and transunion
It could also be dealer add on points. Last time I went for a car loan they told me the best I could get was 4% on a used car. As I started to gather my things to leave it magically became 3%.
Temeculan3000
Member
details
StanleyStutters
Member
Auto loans can vary depending on where you shop for the loan. Some institutions will grant better rates for length of the loan, year of the vehicle, LTV, relationship/history with the institution etc.
You've no idea what you're talking about I see.
OP's cards were turned off due to no activity in 2 years which is just about standard for most cards out there. 24-36 months.
StarCreator
Member
It would be nice if that happened. I actually did leave the dealership, with a promise to return with a check to pay for the car I was driving off in.
It's really just minor griping that I got 1.99% on my car loan and not 1.49%. My income definitely doesn't support me buying property right now, so I've not even attempted to apply for a mortgage. This is my first car loan (I did not own the cars I previously drove) and I intend to keep it open at least a year or two into the five year period before paying it off for the sake of building credit, even though I had the cash on hand to buy it without a loan at all.
SomedayTheFire
Member
...how many credit cards do you have?
Forerunner
Member
Yeah, I fully paid off my CC a year ago. I occasionally put purchases on it just to make it look active.
i have four
i think my total credit lines add up to around 10k
I had 5, 3 I use regularly, 1 that sits mostly unused (it was a store credit card that I used for one big purchase and paid off immediately), and 1 that was closed since it was dormant (it was my first "high school" credit card with meh rewards. )
Jaguar Victory
Member
As someone who works in the industry, it shouldn't affect your credit as credit score calculations are changing. It might actually benefit you.
Also, the company was right to do that because that's money they could be lending to sumeone else instead. It's just good business.
Also, the company was right to do that because that's money they could be lending to sumeone else instead. It's just good business.
tonysidaway
Member
This sounds like the original poster is following a gaming strategy (not surprising given the nature of this forum). Essentially it looks like they're grinding a score up in the hope of getting to a higher level. I can't say whether that's likely to be successful because I don't know why the poster wants a large amount of credit.
Lenders are quite willing to offer you credit if you seem to be reasonably solvent and likely to generate income for them. But remember that, like you, they're playing a game for points, and probably unlike you they have large resources, tightly defined goals and metrics. They're aiming to maximize return on investment. As far as they're concerned, you don't live in Bedford Falls, you live in Pottertown. You're a number on a ledger.
The house always wins.
Lenders are quite willing to offer you credit if you seem to be reasonably solvent and likely to generate income for them. But remember that, like you, they're playing a game for points, and probably unlike you they have large resources, tightly defined goals and metrics. They're aiming to maximize return on investment. As far as they're concerned, you don't live in Bedford Falls, you live in Pottertown. You're a number on a ledger.
The house always wins.
Soapbox Killer
Grand Nagus
800 credit score? I might hate you..my credit is so bad I have a pre-paid light bill.