I've been monitoring mortgage interest rates daily. And boy, have they been dropping like rocks lately! Based on today's wholesale rate, I estimate if I could successfully refinance my interest only ARM (with 8 years fixed rate remaining) into a 30 year fixed loan, I could get the same interest rate with no closing costs. I probably wouldn't bother as I would lose the interest-only payment option, however with further rate drop, it might become worth my while. (The 4.5% target rate number leaked in the media from a fed source would be pretty compelling.)
One concern about my ability to refinance however, is that since my neighborhood house values have dropped some 13% since purchasing the house in 3/2007 (based on Zillow data), that would make my 80% LTV mortgage balance grow to ~90% of my "new" expected home's appraised value (and that's assuming they don't low-ball the appraisal!) This may be a roadblock to refinancing and I should investigate what options I might have with my local bank, where I have my current mortgage.
-12/15 update-I checked with the bank (Wa Mu) I have my mortgage with and indeed, 80-10-10's are now be a thing of the past, as they are not doing 2nd lein mortgages above 70% CLTV (combined loan to value ratio.) Other tidbits learned: FICO (now 740) and back-end DTI (now 45%) increased for qualification to the best mortgage rates. They have some really attractive closing cost incentives going on for the current customers to refinance.
It was also little depressing to determine that Zillow indicates my neighborhood average price has dropped to 87% of what it was when I purchased in 3/2007. I figure I've improved the property about 3% so real value drop is perhaps ~10%.
But combining those two pieces of bad news together, it means that to refinance my primary mortgage, I'd need to bring a big wad of cash to the table to refinance into a conforming 80% LTV no PMI mortgage. I'm not doing that without a substantial rate savings, but I'll continue to mull it as I monitor wholesale rates daily for further declines.
Citi Existing Account BT offer I was surprised to find citi is being so generous as to give me a capped fee, 0% offer on an account I am carrying 63% utilization on ($31k balance with a $49k credit limit). Citi sent me a BT check with my latest statement and are now offering two BT options: 1. 0% for 6 months, w/$75 BT fee cap 2. 2.99% for 15 months, w/$75 BT fee cap
Of course I will probably follow through on my previous plan of consolidating this account's credit limits into my Citi associated bank card, and trigger that card's introductory 0% 12-mo no BT fee offer before it expires (in Feb '09) instead. However I was surprised citi extended a fairly appealing BT offer on an account I am carrying such heavy BT utilization on.
Perhaps citi has been appreciating how I have been always making prompt 2x minimum payments, and also my heavy purchase activity for the last several months on another Citi (Platinum Am Ex) card.
-12/16 update- Chase Freedom Existing Account BT offer Chase is offering a 0% for ~8.5 month BT ("0% until the billing cycle that includes 9/1/2009") on my Chase Freedom card with a $99 BT fee cap. I was surprised Chase was this when I'm carrying 67% utilization (with a 33.5k CL) on another one of their cards.
-update- I checked with my mortgage lender (Wa Mu) today. It turns out that this morning their 30-year fixed rate was 4.875% with no closing costs for current customers! However it did rise to 5%+ in the afternoon. They also said that due to the backlog of mortgage applicants, starting tomorrow they are going to require a longer, 60 day lock period instead of just a 45 day lock for refis. That will raise their closing costs by .125 point (or about $500 more cost in my case.)
I also got some firm quotes on PMI. Basically the PMI would cost ~$200/mo (.67% of loan amount per year) at the 90% LTV level. Other PMI options they provided on the PMI Table (other fatwalleters may be interested in) were annual cost of .38% of loan amount at 85% LTV, and .94% at 95% LTV (I did not verify with them that they were even still doing 95% LTV.) So, that darned PMI for LTV > 80% sure adds a significant recurring cost!
Also I looked more into PMI cancallation rules, and found that cancelling PMI quickly (say, in a year or so after aggressive prepayments) may be challenging. It seems that it will require a new appraisal and no drop in property value. So if I took on PMI payments, it might be a loooong time until I'd be done with them.
djspray said: I got those exact Citi existing account offers in my statement this month, except mine have no Fee cap. Boo. Got 0% APR for 12 months with 3% uncapped fee offer from CITI as well ... The offer say that BT can be initiated anytime through 09/15/2009 ... the hyperinflation is not starting till after then, is it?
Is it true that *all* am3x accounts are reported with the "opened on" date of an individual's earliest opened am3x account? I recall reading about this behavior in the past on fatwallet [update: here, thanks to kenmoreland for finding it] and I was able to find a reference to it on myF|CO here.
If this is true, I figure I could take am3x up on their 50k MR point bonus for opening a new RPG account while doing minimal impact on my credit profile. (As it would add one additional 10+ month old account - matching the age of my other Am Ex accounts, and likely one additional EX inquiry.)
WOR planning update The Am3x 50k MR point bonus RPG offer for DW expires tomorrow, so I think she will be making the move here shortly to take advantage of that. Unfortunately the other juicy Am3x pre-approved offers (specifically the Blue/Bluecash 0% BT 12-mo w/$99 fee cap offers she has received) have expired. If DW applies for Am3x in the next 24 hrs, since Am Ex is so lazy not reporting new accounts for 1-2 months, it will still leave plenty of time for further apps without being rushed.
Her credit profile right now is looking really, really really good. (It would be interesting to get a FICO score on her, actually, I'm betting right now she's in the > 800 club.) We've basically cleaned up all three reports to now show things exactly as we want them to.
The BoA pre-approved offer check is now coming up with 11.5k credit limit offers for DW. That's a good sign, because for the last 2-3 weeks or so it was coming up with "none available". She currently has no BoA card so I'm mulling having her open one up since they are such easy BT profit. (At the same time, with the reports of very severa A/A to family-o-rama activities, I'm a bit hesitant and perhaps a better strategy would be to just continue milking them individually.)
Another card I'd like for her to apply for is the Citi Platinum Am Ex. This will provide the following benefits: 1. I could consolidate my 11k CL Citi Platinum Am Ex into another Citi account I plan on soon triggering a capped fee 0% BT on shortly. Additional profit = perhaps $165 on (assuming 50% utilization of the additional CL and 3% ROI in liquid account) This would also up my largest reporting credit limit into the $60k area, which could bring profit from other issuers (BoA?) who might match the new largest line. 2. With me becoming AU on wife's Citi account, and us putting all our daily spending on it, this heavy spending activity would prime DW in 6-12 months for getting large credit limits with citi suitable for BT arbitrage profit. (Such as they did for me on my first citi card from ~4.5k -> 40k CLI I requested at the 6 month point) 3. By closing my Citi Platium Am Ex before it's annual fee hits in Feb '09, I'll avoid paying the ~$99 annual fee. 4. Citi will grant DW ~15k bonus thank you points for opening the new account (worth $150+) 5. This will increase the time we have remaining to earn 3x/5x points (which expire 24 months after account opening) by an additional ~10 months.
DW mailed paperwork to update her official name with Chase (they had her Maiden name on that account we recently revived it was so old, lol!). Hopefully she will soon be primed for some Chase action. (Specifics TBD, but perhaps initially would entail a substantial CLI.)
-12/22 update- DW applied for the pre-approved Am3x reward plus gold (w/ 50k MR point bonus) -> approved Am3x pulled EX, as expected.
Strategy Update: * My general strategy is to maintain tip-top credit for the near future to allow for the possibility of jumping on profitable mortgage re-fi. I happen to have enough 0% BT offers that I can continue borrowing for the next 6-12 months from most issuers where I have large CLs with, without any new apps.
* I'm holding a substiantial amount of stock in one company (which I got through incentive stock option exercise), which if it gains (or maybe just holds) compared to where it is now, could get me my money to bring to the table and complete the refinance at 80% LTV of whatever it appraises for. However I will *likely* want to hold this stock for 10-11 more months to get a "bonus" (to the tune of some 10%) on more favorable long term capital gains.
Tactical Update: * DW's credit is showing all accounts paid off. I am recommending to her she ask for some CLIs with her current issuers, and apply to perhaps 1-2 additional accounts (Citi plat am ex.) She already has a new account pending with Am Ex (50k MR point bonus), so might as well get at least a couple more. The goal is to remain conservative which is important to her, while taking some easy signup bonuses, and build relationships and credit limits up. Maybe a little BT arbitrage but probably nothing too big here.
* Meanwhile, as "primary wage earner" who needs to demonstrate the 740+ FICO to get us to refiancne with best rates, in the near future I'm going to maintain no new accounts, so I can quickly optimize my FICO should some really lucrative mortgage refi opportunity come around. I've currently got all my reporting BT balances paid off and showing at $0, except for Citi (6x% utilized), which I plan to pay off and should report $0 balance in approx 1 week.
* I plan on soon (perhaps after the one remaining Citi balance is PIF) pulling the trigger on CLIs with BoA (no hard pull) and Chase (will incur hard pull but I think I can get substantially more), maybe Citi (although they have given me the largest lines out of anyone.) Probably will not pursure additional credit with Am Ex, due to them tightening so much and there being a currently lack of ability to profit from it anyway.
* I will also apply to the AMEX RPG pre-approved 50k MR point bonus offer before it expires, which will be my one new account application at this time, because I know will report as a "seasoned account" due to Am Ex reporting method peculiarities. I can rake in those 50k MR point bonus without having any new "unseasoned" accounts burdening my credit.
* Hopefully DW will have a Citi Plat Am Ex approved and on it's way to her soon. I will then cease using my Citi Plat Am Ex, have it's $11k CL, along with my $49 CL home rebate consolidated (after paying it off in ~1 week) to my Citi Associated Bank card with no fee 12-mo 0% BT (offer expires in ~5 weeks.)
* I will ask Chase for CLI on my Freedom card, then "dance" my Free Cash Reward's 33kCL over to it and pull a trigger on a decent BT offer Chase extended me on the Freedom (0% ~8 months, $99 BT fee).
* I will continue to "roll 0% BTs" with BoA ($50kCL) and CapOne ($30kCL.)
I think its a big risk to be hitting people up for CLIs right now. You're just as likely to get cut off completely as get any extra limit. Best to not draw attention to yourself.
I agree there could be some risk asking for CLIs especially if the credit limits built are out of whack for income, however for me it is calculated and in my judgement for my case, worth pursuit for some issuers. Especially if it gives me an opportunity (for example with Chase) to submit income documentation.
$0 BT Balances Reporting I just finished paying off my final BT balance (Citi) and it has now reported to the three CRAs. Here are today's credit scores:
TU: (4 inquiries / 2 in last year) 768 FAKO (identitymonitor) 782 FAKO (CreditKarma)
EX: (11 inquiries / 5 in last year) 742 FAKO (indentitymonitor)
New Chase BT Offer Right after I paid off my BT balance on other card with Chase it seems, they are now offering *another* 0% BT offer on my Freedom Card, this time with sweetened the offer to no BT fee. (with an ~8.5 month term, and expiring at the end of Feb.) Sweet!
WOR update: CLI requests submitted DW called the following issuers for CLI requests: * Kapital One: she tried calling their "front of the wallet campaign / upgrades" number for a CLI. They said "her account was not eligible for a customer initiated increase, or any other upgrades at this time". She has been "stuck" at $10k with them ever since opening this account, but I knew they would be the wild card, so had her try them first. * Chase: requested increase from $500 to $25k, for a very old card, not used in years, and her only one with Chase. $133k HHI. The CSR only was able to increase by $500, to $1k CL, even after a hard pull (turns out was on EQ.) DW did a good job trying to negotiate this higher, but the CSR apparently wasn't able to override the "system." I wonder if offering to submit income documentation would have been more helpful. * Discover: csr gave her an "instant" increase from $9.5k -> $10.5k, and also put in a request (will have to check back later for status) for a credit specialist to review her account for an increase to $20k (hard pull expected.)
I stayed positive, and gave DW plenty of encouragement. Making these requests was towards the edge of her comfort zone, but she handled them well (and did all the talking.)
Kapital One CLI rejection letter: don't like our interest-only mortgage DW actually received a rejection letter from Kapital One. (apparently they did take her CLI request seriously after all). I was surprised to find their reason for denying the CLI was: "proportion of mortgage account balance to high balance or credit limit too high" (paraphrasing.) Basically, we've got an interest only mortgage and even though already had it open 2 years, it is true that it's balance has never decreased. I thought previously that wouldn't be viewed negatively by other lenders, but apparently the rules are changed now and credit card issuers are paying closer attention to mortgage accounts. (For the record, her report also shows a ~2 year old HELOC, open with $0 balance and ~$45k CL.)
WOR planning update I thought of another credit card to add for DW's list, in addition to the planned Citi Platinum Am Ex: Pen Fed rewards. Rationale: probably the easiest/best way to boost her highest reporting credit limits (as up to $50k CL may be available from PenFed on request, even for a new account.) Which may then in the future allow other lenders to follow suit. Additionally: penfed's "automatic" cash 5% gas / 2% grocery / 1.25% elsewhere rewards are decent and usable.
The idea of diversifying our household accounts into new issuers is also attractive, in order to reduce the ability of any single issuer (especially BoA / Chase / Citi) to cause damage by closing down all household accounts (reported by others on fatwallet in other rare, but extreme cases.)
Question regarding using PenFed in a WOR: Anyone have success with a nonworking spouse getting approved for a credit card? DW when through the pen fed credit union membership application (including EQ hard pull), but got to the credit card application screen, and got stuck because it seemed to only ask for "individual gross" and "individual other" income - not household income. She didn't go forward but she could pick it back up if we decide it's worth it. Any WOR (stay-at-home) datapoints for Pen Fed?
DW applied for Citi Platinum Am Ex -> instant approval, 20k CL! (selected "Homemaker", left employer field, left years at employer = 0, $133k HHI)
markkundinger
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jan. 23, 2009 @ 9:50a
jakeru said: "proportion of mortgage account balance to high balance or credit limit too high" (paraphrasing.) Very interesting. First time I've seen that. Although I guess it makes sense from a prudent lending standpoint. So I'm not sure why CapOne is doing it.
It is an interesting explanation from KapOne. In DW's case her unsecured revolving accounts all showed low balances, decent age, no recent hard inquiries, so I think they just couldn't come up with any better explanation than the "high mortgage utilization" one.
Citi consolidation success I successfully consolidated (surprisingly, on my first try!) my Citi Platinum Am Ex (11kCL) and my Citi Home Rebate (49k CL) into a ~$60k CL Associated Bank card (and yes, this has an untapped 0% for 12 months / no fee BT offer on it!) Changes were visible immediately online.
updates: 1. pre-approved Am3x reward plus gold (w/ 50k MR point bonus) -> instant approved I grabbed this offer on the its last day, put down conservative, easily verifiable (2008 W2 + 1099-INT) income. It took an inquiry on EX, but I'm expecting the account to eventually show up as "seasoned" (~1 year old, dated back to my first Am Ex account). As soon as I get this card and join it's MR account with my old MR account, I'm going to close down my other, 11 month old AMEX RPG account before its annual fee hits.
2. I also disputed the $500 credit limit currently reported (with EX and EQ) for my Citi / Associated Bank card. Citi apparently does not report updated account info after CL movements until the next regular statement cycle, so I am hoping these disputes trigger my new largest $60.5k CL to grace my credit reports more quickly than that. If they do update quickly enough, it will give me the opportunity to hit up BoA with a "can you match this"? CLI request before I pull the trigger on my outstanding BT offers.
Improper Citi Credit Limit Disputes Resolved The EX and EQ "improper credit limit" disputes updated (with a favorable outcome) quite quickly - perhaps 3 days after submitting them. So with my whopper $60.5k CL reporting, I was prepared for a go at a BoA CLI...
BoA CLI request (crack CLI button) -> deferred (likely rejected) Response will be delivered in 5 days in US Mail. I left the amount of credit limit desired blank. I'm waiting to see what they send in the letter before deciding on if additional follow-up is warranted.
Citi BT triggered I went ahead and pulled the trigger on my Citi Associated Bank no fee 0% BT offer (about 3 weeks left until offer expiration.) Requested a $60k Direct Deposit to a checking payment account. I am anxiously awaiting for the status to progress beyond "pending". Before the next statement cycle (when I believe Citi will report the balance) I plan on paying it down to a reasonable utilization... ~$30k / 49% utilization. Going too a high utilization for ~3 weeks or so will give me a bit more (~$60) interest income, and may also spike my reported "High Balance" (not sure though... it's Citi.)
Chase Activity I signed one of Chases spam mails for payment protector I saved, offering a more generous than usual $50 gas card for signing up (no fee unless carrying a balance.) Its for a card I just PIF a BT on, and have no additional plans to do another BT again anytime soon with (as I'll either reallocate or consolidate its CL to my other Chase card with a 0% BT offer.)
At the beginning of the new month (like clockwork... for the third time!), Chase sent out another round of 0% BT offers on my Freedom card. Both new offers have the same 8-9 month term (depending when triggered) expiring at end of the next month (March), the difference between the two new offers are one has a BT fee, the other doesn't. I plan on taking them up on it, as soon as I can get my CLI and reallocation activity with them sorted out.
jakeru said: Both new offers have the same 8-9 month term (depending when triggered) expiring at end of the next month (March), the difference between the two new offers are one has a BT fee, the other doesn't.
Would you mind sharing whether the BT with a fee is capped? I've seen some capped at $99, some at $199. I haven't been fortunate enough to get 0% with no fee.
Here are the four current BT offers on my Chase Freedom card (listed after clicking "Transfer Balances"):
* 0% Fixed APR until the first day of your billing cycle that includes 11/1/09 and no fee (Respond by: 3/31/09) * 0% Fixed APR until the first day of your billing cycle that includes 10/1/09 (Respond by: 2/28/09) * 0% Fixed APR until the first day of your billing cycle that includes 10/1/09 and no fee (Respond by: 2/28/09) * 0% Fixed APR until the first day of your billing cycle that includes 11/1/09 (Respond by: 3/31/09)
The two offers that don't explicitely state what the BT fee is, use the "standard" BT fee for the account's terms and conditions (which for this particular account is 3% max $99.) If you go through with the offer a little ways (canceling it out later in the process) they demystify the actual BT fee.
Since it's a Visa Signature the credit limit won't show up on the credit report. Which is why when I execute the BT, if possible I will take out ~99% utilization initially, and pay it down before the statement cycle (when they report the balance.) I know from previous experience with this Chase NPSL card, that they will then report the momentarily spiked "High Balance".)
Reallocating credit limits from a CL-reporting card to a NPSL card may also be a good way to build overall credit limits higher than what some issuers think you should have, based on your HHI (and avoid resulting A/A and/or new credit denials.)
Activated New (& Cancelled Old) Am3x RPG I activated my new Am3x RPG card and the next day, cancelled my old one (a few days before $125 annual fee was scheduled to hit.) I was surprised that Am3x made a strong attempt to "retain" my older account, and the rep who wasted a lot of his breath and perhaps ~10 minutes had no knowledge of my other, newer identical account! He took a lot of time asking me what I didn't like about this account, and offered me 1.5k and then dangled a "maybe I can do" 3k MR points to keep the account open, but paying the $125 annual fee just wasn't worth it for me. To get the 50k MR point bonus on the new RPG card, I placed a $500 Dollar coin order with the US Mint.
i have similar offers on my Chase Cash rewards card...the interesting thing is that the CSRs have no knowledge of the no-fee offers...i suspect (and this is just suspecting) that if you get a big CL with another Chase card (through a new app or another account) you can reallocate to this account and take advantage of the offer(s)...they usually block that CLR for 0%/no-fee accounts, without any knowledge...
BoA - denied increasing beyond current $50kCL due to "sufficient credit for income". HHI reported was $143k HHI. OK I guess I knew beforehand that the $50k barrier would be very hard for them to break, but was worth a try and no hard pull.
Discover - increased $12.5kCL -> $16kCL ($3.5k CLI) no hard pull. I actually used a seemingly new, completely automated phone system to put the request in. I asked for an increase to $25k (keyed in dollar increase and HHI numbers with keypad) but accepted a lower increase for no hard pull.
Chase #1 / Freedom - increased $1kCL -> $2kCL ($1k CLI) Hard pull on EQ. Requested increase to $20k. I wonder if Chase CLIs are limited to 100% of previous account CL, as that is also what they did ($500 -> $1k) with DW's CLI request.
Chase #2 / Free Cash Rewards - increased $33.5kCL -> $45kCL ($11.5k CLI) initially deferred I called Chase back put and put in a second CLI request on a different card, shortly after the first. Requested 33.5k CL -> $45kCL, and the decision was deferred for a credit analyst with the response to be delivered via US Mail in 7-10 days.
Although Chase CLI #2 might have been a bit risky (particularly, for possibly incurring a second hard pull, and also for causing human credit analyst (/ninja?) review), I decided to try it out, thinking it would at least be a useful experiment. So far, I am not seeing any additional hard pull from Chase CLI request #2 (on EQ or EX), but we'll see.
It's built into the main interactive voice response system, at: 1-800-347-2683 (1-800-DISCOVER). Also I believe Discover recently increased the time you have to wait from the last CLI from 3 months to 6 months to be eligible for another one.
Citi BT Update I am now seeing on citi online: "Account Alert: A review of this account has shown recent high- risk activity. Please contact our Customer Service Unit at 1-800-219-7941".
BT status is still "pending", credit limit is still available, balance is still zero.
Chase CLI #2 Approved! ($33.5k -> $45k) I got a call this morning from Chase (caller ID unknown.) The rep said she was calling regarding my recent CLI request and just wanted to verify the information she had was correct. (income, employer, and curiously some other tradelines she saw on my credit report.) She specifically asked whether the "49k BoA" and the "45k Citi" (I think), were credit cards. After I confirmed, and waited on hold a short bit, she came back and informed me my increase to $45k had been approved! Wo-hoo! The $45k credit limit was visible immediately online. To add icing to the cake, I'm still not seeing any new inquiry either.
Citi BT Update I called the number in the online Alert (which was the main service number on the back of the card), and after entering the account number got routed directly to a rep identified herself as with Citi's Fraud Early Warning department. She just wanted to verify I had my card in my possession, and was the one who really requested my BT. After verifying she informed me she had released the funds for the BT transaction and it was quite quick. The following workday, I saw the online BT status updated to "approved", and available credit reduced by the BT amount. I am anticipating the funds are on their way via ACH, maybe will arrive tomorrow.
Chase BT Update I spoke to a very helpful Chase rep about the BT process. He was able to perform a painless instant reallocation, creating a $46k CL in my Freedom account with the juicy BT offers.
There appear to be some important differences between requesting Chase BTs via the phone versus online:
Phone/CSR Chase BT: * could not access the "no BT fee" offer. Could only access the "$99 fee" 0% offer. * informed me of a "$25k per BT" limit. (Multiple request can be submitted but each incurs separate fee.) * had more options for where to send the money: direct deposit (to eligible payment account), or send BT check in the mail, or transfer to another credit card.
Online Chase BT: * could access more/better ("no fee") BT offers. * can request "large" (>$25k) BTs. * can easily BT to another credit card, but options appear limited besides that. (No direct deposit, or "mail me a BT check" options.)
I decided I will go with the online BT, to eliminate the fees, and also will use a credit card target (first will create a balance on a BoA card using Billpay Choice.)
Rate Chasing Update Liquid deposit account APYs have been dropping like flies lately. My CNB bank direct is at 3.40% APY, and that's supposedly competitive! My local credit union's rewards checking dropped down to 3.50% APY and announced that soon a low APY will apply to balances exceeding $25k per account (down from $40k.)
I found a local-only opportunity that might fit in well with my upcoming BT investment needs and also increase abritrage profits from my HELOC (=3.25%) funds. Anchor Bank 3.83% APY money market with rate guarantee until September 2009. Branch visit required to open, branches in south-western WA only. They seem to have a great offer, but it would take some driving for me to reach the nearest branch.
Edit: I'm up and running with the Anchor Bank 3.83% APY money market now. Only two surprises were: $25 early account closure fee (if account closed in < 12 months), and their branches are built into WalMarts. I love the rate guarantee; won't need to worry about rates dropping for a while now.
jakeru said: I went ahead and pulled the trigger on my Citi Associated Bank no fee 0% BT offer (about 3 weeks left until offer expiration.) Requested a $60k Direct Deposit to a checking payment account. I am anxiously awaiting for the status to progress beyond "pending". Before the next statement cycle (when I believe Citi will report the balance) I plan on paying it down to a reasonable utilization... ~$30k / 49% utilization. Going too a high utilization for ~3 weeks or so will give me a bit more (~$60) interest income, and may also spike my reported "High Balance" (not sure though... it's Citi.)
FYI: For me Citi stared to report multiple times per statement cycle. The reporting seems to show up within two-three days from large changes in balanace ( up or down ). I'm tempted to run a binary search on the amount that triggers reporting but I have only 3 more months left so I have a limited number of probes.... Anyone has any suggestions for the starting point?
Thanks for the heads-up, Evil. I'll be monitoring my credit report like a hawk once that Citi BT posts.
To answer your request for suggestions, maybe split the difference (between lowest amount that triggered balance reporting and highest amount that didn't trigger balance reporting) each time, "in the name of science." (And of course, share your findings with us! )
Here is my Citi BT balance reporting data point (from early '08): 2/20 - requested a 99% utilization BT (which posted a couple days later) 3/4 - reallocated some CL from another Citi card to the BT account (dropping utilization down to 85%), but even that hadn't triggered a balance reporting. 3/13 - a 81% balance (paid down prior to statement close) was finally reported. The statement cycle triggered the reporting.
PS - doing the reallocation after the BT allowed me to circumvent Citi's "no reallocation to account with no fee 0% BT offer" rule in effect at the time.
-2/24 update- I've been tracking my credit report through another Citi BT I recently completed, and found Citi again waited until the statement close after the BT to report the balance.
wadeshaqwalker
Senior Member
posted: Feb. 11, 2009 @ 4:04p
jakeru said: Citi BT Update I am now seeing on citi online: "Account Alert: A review of this account has shown recent high- risk activity. Please contact our Customer Service Unit at 1-800-219-7941".
BT status is still "pending", credit limit is still available, balance is still zero.
They just want to make sure everything is okay. This appeared on my account after having them send a replacement card to a temporary address. No big deal, they just want to verify some charges, make sure you are the actual holder (which bank do you have a checking account with (or, what's the bank your citi bill with)
Edit: sorry, I just read your reply a couple posts up
I recently got dinged by Chase with a couple of their famous Bait-and-switch's... but am still managing to move ahead profitably with my BT plan.
Chase bait-and-switch #1: Chase "respond by" date in BT offer Meaningless I initiated my Chase 0% BT @ $45k, but not until after Chase pulled a fast one on me with an unexpected $99 BT fee. I had earlier documented "no fee" BT offers from Chase on this account, with a "respond by" date as late as 3/31/09. Chase yanked all no fee BT offers however unexpectedly, leaving only the $99 capped BT fee offers available. My recent CL reallocation, from $1k CL to $46k CL may have lead to them doing this, but I am not sure. However I do recall seeing the no fee offer later in the same day after I had the recallocation performed.
I would recommend to other fatwalleters they take Chase's juicy BT offers as quickly as possible. Do not wait until even the next day after reallocating to trigger a juicy Chase BT offer. Chase's "respond by" dates in their BT offers mean nothing.
Chase bait-and-switch #2: Payment Protector Gas Rebate comes with unexpected strings attached After I signed up for Chase payment protector to get their $50 gas rebate offer, they sent me additional terms and conditions for the gas rebate. I must make gas purchases between now and 1.5 weeks (an unreasonably short deadline for most people, IMO.) Then I must submit the receipts with a rebate application and hope it gets approved. I feel chase should have disclosed these terms in the offer solicitation, not *after* the customer already "accepts the offer" by signing up for their payment protector service.
This service is also very expensive for most people who use their cards, by the way. It's cost of $.75 per $100 of ending monthly balance is equivalant to 19% APR, without grace period for people who pay their statements balances in full each month. To avoid paying these fees while being signed up for the service, I will pay the balance off in full *before* the statement cycles.
1 year Post-AOR Credit Report Update 1 year from my most recent Micro-AOR, with a fairly clean credit profile reporting (45k HELOC balance, but no large credit card balances, one new recent inquiry on TU & EX, two closed Citi accts reporting) my FAKOs are now at:
CreditKarma FAKO: TU: 782
Citi IdentityMonitor FAKOs: TU: 773 EQ: 782 EX: 771
Citi BT Balance Reported With Statement Close (with higher utilization than earlier planned!) Citi ended up waiting until the statement cycle to report my BT balance.
I only managed getting the utilization paid down from 99% -> ~84% before the statement close. I was originally planning on paying it down to ~69%, but Citi caught me a bit off guard with a payment rule barring "new/pending payment/bank accounts" to be used for making payments exceeding the previous statement balance (which in my case, was $0.) The only way I was able to get a payment in was if it came from the one "already established" bank payment account I had, and on short notice, that account had limited funds.
Oh well, I think I will roll with the 84% utilization snafu (~51k balance), and see how well my FICO holds up. If it stays high enough for mortgage refi qualification, and if I can manage to avoid A/A, the extra BT profits over the next 12 months will be nice.
The new 84% balance may be what is responsible for today's modest CK FAKO drop: 782 -> 775 (-7pts).
I'll bet you are right, jackcrawfish. I have done disputes like this successfully before (balance paid in full, incorrect CL, etc) with Chase and Citi, with success. With BoA, I have successfully gotten them to report by using the tactic of asking for a reallocation (which immediately triggers their updating account information with the CRAs.) The disputing tactic has only backfired on me only with Wa Mu (It was a highly utilized HELOC which I had paid off and disputed as "incorrect balance / paid in full", and they not only responded to the dispute erroneously "updating" their out of date information as being correct, but then their "update" superceeded another update they routinely send, making the high utilization stick to the report for ~1 months longer than if I had not disputed in the first place.
That said, I figure the extra 15% Citi BT utilization (about $9k) will yield me an additional $30 / mo in arbitrage profits (at least over the next few months while a 3.83% APY rate guarantee with a local bank lasts), so I'm going to monitor my FICO&FAKO scores and see if I am comfortable leaving it there. If FICO is still high enough for best conforming mortgage rate qualification, I should be in excellent shape. I'll probably be making double minimum payments with Citi to try and keep them thinking warm fuzzy thoughts about me.
I'll probably pay my Chase BT utilization down to ~49% before it reports @ end of this week. (The Chase BT payment is now showing up in the destination account, by the way... sweet!)
Those two balances (Citi BT + Chase BT) would put my total reporting unsecured revolving debt at ~74k, which would be ~52% HHI.
DW received an existing account BT offer for her $10.5k CL Discover card: 0% until ~8/09 (or, about 5-6 usable months) with a $150 BT fee cap. If her credit limit were higher, it could be a juicy offer, but at her CL (and my 3.83% APY money market) there is just nothing to be made after taxes here. Discover also gave her 1.9% APR on purchases for ~6 months as well, (which isn't too much to get exited about either, as would be only be "breaking even" for us in a 2.53% APY taxable savings account. But it's good to know Discover is trying to get her to use their card again, and also that they still have 0% capped BT offers up their sleeves.
DW also received an odd change in terms notification from KapitalOne recently. Her old APR was ~8.9% fixed. They are giving her an "introductory" ~1 year APR at the same 8.9%, but then are rate-jacking her non-introductory APR to something higher; in the double digit %'s. So they are basically saying, "you're getting ratejacked, but it won't go into effect for one year."
On other news, WaMu froze our HELOC. Luckily I had just tapped about the entire CL. I am still not sure if they knew this before or after deciding to freeze it (read link post for details.) I am excited though that they will waive the HELOC's $500 early account closure fee, if we decide to close it within ~3 months.
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