triggerhappy007 said:Azurik said:DamnoIT said:Here is my little honeypot:

Citi ProfessionalSM Card
• 10,000 bonus points after 1st purchase, redeemable for a $100 gift card*

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card
• 10,000 bonus ThankYou Points®, after your first purchase, redeemable for a $100 gift card†

Citi PremierPass® Card - Elite Level
• 15,000 bonus points after first purchase within 60 days of account opening Convert to regular premier pass after you use and get credited with 150k points to avoid the $75yr fee

CitiBusiness PremierPassSM Card
• 15,000 bonus points after first purchase within 60 days of account opening Convert to regular premier pass after you use and get credited with 150k points to avoid the $75yr fee

CitiBusiness® Card with ThankYouSM Network
• Receive 10,000 ThankYouSM Points after your first purchase, redeemable for a $100 Gift Card†

That is about $600 in gift cards.

Reward yourself :)

Thanks for that Citi side-bit DamnoIT.

I am looking through your list and the list SIS provided for me through his link. I think my MAIN goal is to get as many statement credits/gift cards as I can. Secondly, I want to apply for a few 0% BT and put the BT check into a MM fund earning interest on their dime. The majority of them charge 3% BT fee though (with a cap of $50-$75), so I'm seeing if the second part of what I want to do is worth it.
I just got 2 Citi cards recently, the Professional and Diamond AMEX. Both have 0% BT and no 3% fees.

SIS PM'ed me today and said Citi has changed their BT policy to now include the fee.

joey791 said:Azurik said:scott1961 said:One other thing, You say you work in Defense related industries , Could what will appear as a sudden run up in debt possible cause any problems for you?

That, is a VERY good question. We are starting to look into credit reports to see if potential new hires are financially responsible. Although, my background check is done, I am in the process of applying for my security clearance at the Secret level. That is probably something I should look into and if that presents itself as a problem, I might need to scale it down a bit - like doing a mini-AOR instead.

Hey Az, I have to second Scotts sentiment, I recently(in the pass 2 years) had to get access to a federal site, one of the forms I had to approve them pulling my credit report, I was against it at first because big brother knows everything about us already, but anyway when I started inquiring about why it was necessary, I was told that having or gaining alot of debt is a sign that you could be a candidate to steal or spy(worse case scenarios). With the business you have and what you are doing I can honestly say that I dont think the monetary gain from this AOR is gonna be a benefit, especially down the road.

As someone who recently got his secret security clearance I would also like to tell you to be cautious in your App-o-rama. One of the primary reasons people leak classified information is due to financial difficulties, and large amounts of debt can trigger red flags when they review your application for clearance.

As a side note, your Taiwanese business may also cause clearance problems. Frequent foreign travel as well as significant interests overseas make you a greater risk to give a clearance, so be aware of that as well.

And again, regarding security clearances, I have to stand on the other side... go for it!

Azurik's COMPLETE background, to include financials and businesses (as well as FAMILY Business) will show that he has the wherewithall and experience with LARGE amounts of money. He can easily show that he has the money to COVER all of his debt. The government only worries about large amounts of unsecured debt, and NO Savings, investments, career path and salary, or other means to repay.

On a side note, I hate to say this but an interim secret clearance is simple... they hand those out like candy.

Lastly, [and hypothetically speaking]...just a quick question for those that have or have had a clearance... have you EVER seen an unexplained HARD PULL on any of your CR's??? ANYONE??? Ferris???

You won't... all the agencies involved with the clearance process [hypothetically] have a Liasion person with the CRA's... and can review your CR whenever they want, without a trace of a pull. Same with banks, Credit Unions, S&L's, etc. So Azurik's TOTAL profile will show someone NOT deep in DEBT. However, because of the DHS and counter-terrorism / money laundering rules in effect, THAT aspect of an AOR could raise a few eyebrows.

And the comment about foreign travel / involvement in foreign business / and $$$ in foreign accounts is spot on... that will DEFINITELY raise eyebrows.

I'll chime in on the security clearence issue.

First and foremost, an App-O-Rama WILL NOT preclude you from getting a Secret clearence. Confidential and Secret clearences occasionally will do a credit review. Without bancrupties and huge debt loads (without the means to pay them off) you will be fine. You have to remember government employees and members of military get clearences. They, like anyone else, get behind on the mortgage, have more kids than they can afford, etc. Just because someone might have their car repo'd doesn't mean they are willing to sell their country out for $20,000.

I speak from the experience of seeing the people that have Secret and Top Secret clearences around me. Trust me, a few aren't exactly FatWalleters.

This will be a VERY interesting App-O-Rama thread! Azurik has a credit (and financial) profile VASTLY DIFFERENT from any person who has posted an App-O-Rama thread in this forum.

His existing personal cards and limits look a lot like those of a "typical" 24 year old, but he has an extensive business credit history.

As to the concerns over his job/credit usage etc., I presume his employer is already aware Azurik has used credit heavily in the past for his businesses, and unless he has completely stopped his independent business pursuits since taking this job (and/or if ceasing side business was a requirement of his current position) his employer is likely well aware of his "side business" and credit usage. Of course he should be mindful of this issue , but its not like they didnt check him out prior to hire, and they know all about his use of credit , funds transfers, foreign travel, etc. If there is a security clearance procedure , there is no requirement to immediately runup all the cards. Some cards would stay at 0 balance, just used for reallocation opportunities. And some cards (like Citi) are especially well suited to delayed use of the 0% feature - he can get the cards now and wait 12 months before doing the first BT with most of their offers.

Updated my FICO score. It was 740 last time I checked, it is now 761 checking the score today.

I just read that article, Pham reminds me of that dude who is rich dad poor dad, braging about what he has. ie. 2006 Acura TSX, does it have navi?? I think its a cultural thing, I don't get it. That article is written the same way, its like "oh man, he got a big screen in the dorms" He is the man! I smell something fishy.

Dreamtoday said:I just read that article, Pham reminds me of that dude who is rich dad poor dad, braging about what he has. ie. 2006 Acura TSX, does it have navi?? I think its a cultural thing, I don't get it. That article is written the same way, its like "oh man, he got a big screen in the dorms" He is the man! I smell something fishy.

You caught me, I wrote the article a couple of years ago.

But seriously, I don't think I ever bragged about what I purchased. The big screen reference was to Brian Hammond, the other subject in that article.

What is fishy about it?

I would second the clearance thing. Be careful. As you mentioned, it is already going to take some time for them to sort out your foreign travel. While a DOD-S is not a high level clearance, the standard is still "trustworthy" and they will run a NACLC (now that NACI has been downgraded to the PIV level). I would suggest that what they do with the NACLC is a black box. It is not a credit score, so don't assume that what we know about credit scores applies. They are looking for strange things. AOR is a strange thing. At the very least, it may add time to an already time consuming process. Do you really need to do this right now? Once you have the S or the TS, you've got seven years or more in which you don't need to worry about looking "strange."

OP,
I just noticed you do not have any MasterCard, just AmE><, Discover and Visa.
Is this just a coincidence or there is something interesting lurking behind?