I've done several app-o-ramas for the past couple of years, before i found fw. As i have read the threads I have found I had made some basic mistakes. hopefully I learned from my errors. Here's what I am doing and planning to do.
Have good income no late payments ever. credit history more than 16 years I currently have a lot of open accounts all personal cards: 3 citi, 2 mbna, 1 chase,1 cap one, 5 AMEX, 1 gm, 1 providian, 1 juniper and one Credit union cc over the years built up total Credit lines to more than 230K- Currently owe more than $160K. Plus have a mortgage and a car loan( balance owed additional $130K)
STEP1: I had started by getting my 3 cr's and the current FICO score as of 6/1/06 by signing up for identity monitor for 30 days free.
My scores equifax 675 experian 692 Transu 681 OUCH: This was mostly due to high credit utilization of my 0% BT got $129K that most are coming due this month(115K). Had the funds in High yield savings and cd's.
Step2 -Pay off due BT's transfer funds from savings account Step3 When looking at the credit analyzer on how to improve credit score when i pay off to $0 all the accounts(not close) that I opened within past 12months, it will bring my fico up more than 75 points after they report. even a $39 balance on a 8 month old card reduced my score by 12 points. I paid off all new cards and have no Credit utilization on any card over 50%. I have $9K at 1.99% until oct <50% and $21k on a 2.99 for life card that does not report credit limit, both are more than 1 year old citi nor reporting that credit limit actually helps my score.
PLANNING: Step 4 on 6/22- get updated fico. Should be approx 750-775 each based on credit analyzer. My score would have been higher by have a lot of inquiries on my account due to mostly opening bank account where they pulled Hard inquiries(wish i knew they weren't soft inq). The good news is that based on the credit analyzer new inquiries won't immeditaly hurt my score since I have so many already on file, it will keep the score down longer though. Step5- dispute any balances not updated so it would be discarded until updated. Step 6- Apply for business credit cards through card offers.com for . Advanta, Citi, Chase with my "new" business with current annual business income of $1 to get bonuses and 0% BT . Step 7: apply for citi professional card, and a chase card(haven't decided which) I already have 3 personal citi cards so not sure if i should apply for more as I have heard they don't give more than 3(may or may not be true). apply for a few other personal cards haven't yet decided which but will do all apps within 2 days.
Before I submit my apps. Am I forgetting something? was thinking about closing a few of my newer cards that are at 0 balance as it won't hurt my utilization as it has gone down to < 20% overall . Even though it wont help my score, it may help with approvals as i may spook some cc issuers with so many account and large available credit. When i simulated the scenario with the creidit analyzer it had no effect on my score Now.
I will update scores as I progress
FICO scores as of 6/29/06 TU EXP EQ 728 745 732
fico scores as of 6/30/06 TU EXP eq 728 743 724
Fico as of 7/4/06 TU EXP eq 728 735 724
FICO as of 7/6 TU EXP Eq 728 734 734
fico as of 7/16 tu exp eq 726 745 732
Tu exp eq 7/22 754 745 732
tu exp eq 8/24 715 723 718
tu exp eq 9/10 735 744 735
Cards Approved to date:
citi personal at&t ---------TU $7500(0% nofee 12 mo+10,000 ty points) citi business diamond -------- TU $12000 (0% no fee 12 months +10,000 ty points 1st purch) BOA-Effectiva -------------EQ $13,000 (o% no fee 6mo) Penfed CU ----------- EQ $10,000-no bonuses no bt or cash advance fees GM Flexcard--------------- EQ $600 0% 6 months 3% fee $75 max (I CANCELLED CARD) Discover Personal ----------- Exp $6000 instant approval (0% 12 months no BT fee) Citi business premier pass------ TU $14,000(0% 12 mo no fee +15,000 ty points 1st purch) juniper Orbitz -------- TU $28000--------------- (0% 6 months no bt fee) citi personal home rebate --------Tu $7500-----------(0% 12 mo no bt fee) WAMU Personal- TU $10,000 (0% 13 months 3% bt fee $75 max) Advanta Business 0% 15 months --------EQ$12000 (o% BT 15 months fee 3% $50 max) AMEX business ------------ EQ $13,000 (o% 6 months purchases only 5000 pnts) AMEX business Delta ------- EQ $3000 (10,000 mile bonus 1st purchase) Chase Conitnenatal Business--- eq $2500(15,000 mile bonus) Chase Personal -----------None $40,000 (reallocated from existing $50K line $0 new, but 0% 12 mo BT fee 3%$75) Agriculture Federal credit union- Tu $20,000. No bonus, no cash adv or BT fees 1.25% Cash Back on purchases
TOTALS: 161500 New credit + 40,000 reallocated with new card ($0 additional credit on chase personal card)
Cards Declined
Advanta 2.99%- only one app allowed within 60 days-(no cr pull) Discover bus----Experian (not enough time in business ) Juniper frontier -- TU- Sufficient credit available on Juniper accounts Citi-Drivers edge- app limited within 60 days-(no cr pull)
Cash/point Bonuses received: I am listing below the bonuses actually received, I will not list it until the amount is paid out or credited.
citi 25,000 Thank you points paid out to date(2 cards) 5600 pointd ATT (suppose to get 10,000) disputed with citi-to be credited within 2 statements Delta Business: 15,000 miles AMEX bus cash rebate $50 statement credit after purcahse of $100 or more 15,000 miles from chase continental
Card Offers cash bonuses posted to account to date:
Efectiva™ Visa B Of A $30.00 AT&T Universal Rewards $40.00 Discover® Gold Card $40.00 GM Flexible Earnings Card $35.00 Citi®Home Rebate Citibank $40.00 Advanta Platinum Rewards $50.00 AMEX bus Delta $75 AMEX bus plat $75 citi bus premier pass $10 citi bus plat $10
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I dont figure how you can do an AOR next week if you still have a lot of balances to pay down. You are aware that most cc's update balance at statement closing date?
i paid them off this month and the last statement date of the ones I paid off is 6/19, most have cut off at the beginning of the month. it seems most update 2-3 days after the statement closes
nymgiants said:i paid them off this month and the last statement date of the ones I paid off is 6/19, most have cut off at the beginning of the month. it seems most update 2-3 days after the statement closes Citi seems to report statement balance. It shows on my credit report 2-3 days after the statement date.
If you want a new citi, perhaps you should cancel or consolidate one of the old ones. In doing so, they may even offer you 0% on old card with retentions department. This has happened to me.
I had two Citi cards and recently got two more for a total of 4 (no business cards). Others also have more than 3 Citi credit cards, so you may as well take a shot. If you get one, you could reallocate limits from the other cards to the new one to take advanatge of the introductory rate.
As far as Citi is concern, I have had the same perception that they won't allow you more than 3 cards at one time including AT&T card but When I did my AOR, I applied for 3 more citi cards (1 AT&T, 1 professional and 1 PP), I have been approved on all of those. Before AOR, I have 1 AT&T Cash rewards dated back to 2002 and 1 citi Plat. Card with almost the same age, also I have 2 citi branded cards as well before AOR (1 Sunoco and 1 Sears) so in general YMMV .
just a advice, if you are going for Citi, I would suggest applying for citi PP card thru cardoffers.com. In this way you will get $90 in bonuses ($50 GC and $40 from cardoffers.com) and not to mention, you would be approved easily on this card with reasonable limit. Later on you can convert it to any other citi card. You can get the better bonuses on citi professional card via cardoffers.com as well. I am in the process of getting, actually got 25000 TY points and $80 from cardoffers.com is in the process.
JuNooNi said:As far as Citi is concern, I have had the same perception that they won't allow you more than 3 cards at one time including AT&T card but When I did my AOR, I applied for 3 more citi cards (1 AT&T, 1 professional and 1 PP), I have been approved on all of those. Before AOR, I have 1 AT&T Cash rewards dated back to 2002 and 1 citi Plat. Card with almost the same age, also I have 2 citi branded cards as well before AOR (1 Sunoco and 1 Sears) so in general YMMV .
just a advice, if you are going for Citi, I would suggest applying for citi PP card thru cardoffers.com. In this way you will get $90 in bonuses ($50 GC and $40 from cardoffers.com) and not to mention, you would be approved easily on this card with reasonable limit. Later on you can convert it to any other citi card. You can get the better bonuses on citi professional card via cardoffers.com as well. I am in the process of getting, actually got 25000 TY points and $80 from cardoffers.com is in the process.
Good Luck.
The citi cards I presently have are premier pass elite, diamond rewards and AA signature. I will give citi a shot
Thanks for sharing. Would be interested in how you plan to invest proceeds. Liquid investments (HY savings, TBills, CDs)? Paydown existing debt? If latter, what will be repayment source for the BT balances owing? Again, thanks for the writeup and good luck.
tuphat said:Thanks for sharing. Would be interested in how you plan to invest proceeds. Liquid investments (HY savings, TBills, CDs)? Paydown existing debt? If latter, what will be repayment source for the BT balances owing? Again, thanks for the writeup and good luck.
Depending on how much I get will either go to hy savings or cd's. Not risking principle. Tbills do'nt do me much good as I live in a no state income tax state. plus still have a 1.99% bt deal that will end later this year. funds for those currently in cd's
JuNooNi said:nymgiants: Isn't PP Elite card have annual membership. Any reason you are keeping this card? just curious
I have a citigold account the fee is waived for me and I get a lot flight miles using the card for business trips. I even got miles when redeeming my American airline miles for a "free" ticket. When you redeem for a ticket the security fee is not included so I had to pay $5-10. but got miles for the flight since I paid the the fee for the ticket with this card
Reporting updated balances to the reporting agencies is something that doesn't always happen quickly. I would leave a month or so to be sure that all your cards are really showing a zero balance before doing your applications. Some companies report your balance as of statement date (but take a few weeks to send it in), others report balances from the 1st of the month (again it may take a week or so for this report to appear at the agencies). If there's not pressing hurry, I would definitely wait until I could confirm my $0 balances and improved FICOs before applying.
If they're all reflecting $0 on 6/23, then yeah, go for it. If not, I'd probably wait as has been recommended by others.
Regarding the speed of updates on the three major CRAs: * EXP is almost immediate -- typically updating the day after a balance is reported. * EQF is a little slower but still reasonable -- they usually take 2-3 days after a new balance is reported. * TUC is the slowest...sometimes they'll be updated in a week after a balance is reported. Other times -- specifically when I've paid accounts down to $0 -- they won't update for a month or so (I believe this is intentional).
Why'd I phrase it like that -- "after a balance is reported"? Because different cards report balance changes at different times of the month. Most do it at the closure of each billing cycle. Some do it at the end of the month or the last Friday in a month (Discover?). Still others do it every time your balances crosses one of the percentage utilization boundaries typically used for scoring -- 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, etc. (Capital One does this).
So yeah, pull your reports and review your scores. If the balances are showing appropriately, pull the trigger and do the AOR.
Heck, even if TUC is lagging behind and isn't 100% accurate, I'd still pull the trigger if I didn't expect many of my applications to pull from TUC. Chase and MBNA are typically the only ones that pull TUC for me.
I am waiting until I think the balances are updated to do a new cra report, which i plan to do mid-week, If most are there and my credit score goes up to 750 or more then I will begin. Otherwise I'll give it more time. trying to get the apps in beofre the end of the month. that way they would drop off sooner , in 2 years in july, rather than 2 years in august if I get inquirires hitting on July
SCORE UPDATE:
Since citi 30 day free trial only gives you one credit pull. To check on updates I have done 2 things. Since I had been "denied" credit. I am entitled to a free credit report. with experian, you can go back in for 90 days with the same report number as your free report to submit disputes and to see updated info. I checked and all my accounts other than 4 that the statement date wsa friday or this monday were updated. At the current point, using the simulator, my score should now be in the mid 720's.
I also got my free transunion report online, they do not update the report after you order and it is viewable for 30 days. However, it you click to submit a dispute online you will see the info is based on the Current date as there were several updates that showed on the dispute form that are not viewable when i clicked to view the report. Trans union also updated all but 3. so that score should be around 720. Equifax is the toughest as you can't see updated info when disputed. So i signed up for the free 30 days score watch and as suggested on other threads, am changing the alert to 1 point higher than what I pull. When I pulled it today it was at 722. At this rate by mid-late next week I should be good. There is only one card that may give me trouble. My AMEXDelta for some reason did not update on transunion or equifax even though it is more than a month old and the statement cut off on 5/7, I guess I need to dispute it as it impacts my score by 12 points according to the simulator.
nymgiants said:Looks like transunion only gives you a few days to file an online dispute with your "free report". I went to take a look and got a message that the time to file a dispute online for this credit report expired.
All my balances have nowbeen brought down and all but one statement has been generated. Will give it a couple of days. I should be getting an alert from equifax on mysdaily scorewatch that it has gone up in the next couple of days should go to about 750. One I get that one, I will retry transunion and begin the apps
Update 6/21: My providian card gave me an updated score 725. I still have 4 cards that have not updated on my credit reports so 750 still looks like a realistic number soon .
for some reson American Express seems to wait to report a $0 balance. I had one of my AMEX's for 2 months at $0 and it still shows on my equifax with a balance. I got it off of transunion and experian by disputing it online and it was updated, but equifax has a ridiculous route to dispute and based on my address I need to go through their "partner" CRC services for disputes.
I have a total of 5 AMEX cards , broguht them all down to $0 but only 2 are showing as $0 on all the cr's. So I am submitting disputes to get them so they won't count. The ones that seem to hurt my score the most are the 2 under 12 months old. even though they had only a small balance on them $300, and $700. Other than AMEX only one of my citi cards didn't get updated but that one should happen by tuesday or wednesday, wasn't going to wait as it should have little impact on my score (about 4 points), but that combine with the AMEX is too many points
Current scores- no application sent in yet transunion- 725 Experian-722 Equifax-731 Once AMEX get updated should be around 750-760 Still trying to begin apps before End of month
nymgiants said:for some reson American Express seems to wait to report a $0 balance. I had one of my AMEX's for 2 months at $0 and it still shows on my equifax with a balance. I got it off of transunion and experian by disputing it online and it was updated, but equifax has a ridiculous route to dispute and based on my address I need to go through their "partner" CRC services for disputes.
I have noticed that AMEX is always a month or 2 behind on reporting on my credit reports as well.
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