Dougneb’s Save Grandma AOR (1st AOR) - MORE AA

I'm going to leave grandma's credit alone. I would think that she might feel obligated to go through with anything we asked since we took her in. Plus I'm sure my mother-in-law wouldn't go for it and she has power of attorney.

A few more questions...
1. When to start reallocating credit lines from old cards to new cards?
2. I've read that FWFers recommend leaving at least 1K CL on cards. Is this a good number?
3. BOA and Citi (and maybe Chase) asked 'Already a customer - log in to speed up the application process'. I only did it for my BOA AM3X card (unknown status). What is the preferred technique here? Go the current customer or new customer route?
4. Do I call any of the deferred guys or wait for the mail?

Updates since 3/28:

3/30 - Approved for $6K on Chase Sony
3/31 - received Citi Professional and BofA NEA Rewards cards
4/1 - received Citi Associated BT check and deposited. Approved for Juniper I Fly Personal - $5K
4/2 - US Bank Baylor declined via mail - reason was maximum credit already extended ($18.5K on Linux). National City Lifespring Health Everyday Rewards - approved for $10K? received welcome mail with BT check

Only outstanding application is BofA AM3X which was a spender, so I consider this a success. Final stats:

Before CL: $88,250
After CL: $186,350

Almost $75K of BT money available

More Updates:

4/2 - Moved $8.7K from existing BOA Signature to BOA NEA (now $14K) and had $12.5K ACHed to checking account
4/3 - Received Citi Associated and Chase Sony cards; mailed PFCU's authorization form
4/4 - Approved for BofA AM3X spender ($2K)

Other
1. All outstanding apps are completed but still need to do some work to get the Nat City card 'unfrozen'.

2. US Bank Linux BTs done during application haven't been paid yet and I can't check online at US Bank since this is my first card with them. Anyone know how long US Bank takes to do BTs?

3. How do I get my money from cardselection?

4. Need to spend on BofA AM3X and Chase Sony to get bonus (EDIT: Chase Sony has 5000 point bonus)

I'm curious what National City wants from you - just the same ID/income verification stuff? Any chance of doing it over the phone?
I suspect they may have accommodated me because of my added inconvenience with the stopped check and all.

Any idea why they froze your account? I still think I got hit because of multiple addresses on my reports.

cashmonkey said: I'm curious what National City wants from you - just the same ID/income verification stuff? Any chance of doing it over the phone?
I suspect they may have accommodated me because of my added inconvenience with the stopped check and all.

Any idea why they froze your account? I still think I got hit because of multiple addresses on my reports.

Got the letter from Nat City. Same info requested - driver's license, social security card, 3 months of pay stubs and 3 months of utility bills taken to a local branch or a local bank if Nat City isn't nearby. The letter said my account was closed, but the funny thing is I received my pin mailer and my card the same day as this letter.

I know Nat City has First Data emboss their cards and do pin mailers and I'm guessing they figured it was cheaper to freeze the account on their side instead of having First Data pull their card and mailer out of card production. I'm curious to see what would happen if I tried to activate the card, but I'll end up going to the bank and doing as they asked tomorrow, since I forgot my social security card at home today.

I have no idea why they froze the account. I was deferred and all, perhaps multiple inquiries or since I have moved twice in the past year? The night-shift fraud person I spoke to wouldn't answer any questions.

dougneb said: cashmonkey said: I'm curious what National City wants from you - just the same ID/income verification stuff? Any chance of doing it over the phone?
I suspect they may have accommodated me because of my added inconvenience with the stopped check and all.

Any idea why they froze your account? I still think I got hit because of multiple addresses on my reports.

Got the letter from Nat City. Same info requested - driver's license, social security card, 3 months of pay stubs and 3 months of utility bills taken to a local branch or a local bank if Nat City isn't nearby. The letter said my account was closed, but the funny thing is I received my pin mailer and my card the same day as this letter.

I know Nat City has First Data emboss their cards and do pin mailers and I'm guessing they figured it was cheaper to freeze the account on their side instead of having First Data pull their card and mailer out of card production. I'm curious to see what would happen if I tried to activate the card, but I'll end up going to the bank and doing as they asked tomorrow, since I forgot my social security card at home today.

I have no idea why they froze the account. I was deferred and all, perhaps multiple inquiries or since I have moved twice in the past year? The night-shift fraud person I spoke to wouldn't answer any questions.

Don't take it personal, they do this to most accounts. If we all told them to close the accounts they would change their ways. It costs them money to open accounts only to close them. I'm not desperate enough for them to tell me what to do.

I have never shown my ID or anything to BofA, Citi, Chase, AMEX or any other, I'll be damned if I'm going to start with national city.

More updates
1. Grandma has gotten to the point where she needs 24 hour care and she will be going to a nursing home instead. Feeling a little drained about the whole thing but it is probably better that it happened now instead of later.
2. I probably wouldn't have gone through with this A0R but now that I have the money, I'll probably open two accounts with the AAFCU and stash the cash for 11 months. Seems like the best safe savings rate around.
3. US Bank BT's all done
4. Called Citi to reallocate CL from old card to Citi Pro Cash Card. Transferred to 3 different reps in India and one in the US, only to be told that it would take 2 to 3 days. Maybe I called too late? (4:45 PM - 5:30 PM PST). I'm thinking their US call center was already closed and they can't reallocate. Is this going to the CN's?
5. Will call Juniper tonight to reallocate from IFly to National Park card and request ACH. Any opinions on this? Should I do it the other way around and/or should I close one of the cards out?
6. Received a 'pre-qualified' offer from US Bank for 0%, 12mo, 0 BT fees in the mail yesterday. I got the Linux card but was denied on the Baylor for max credit already extended. I've read that some people get approved from the mail offers when they wouldn't get approved otherwise. Any opinion on this?
7. Got a call from Nat City at 8:38 AM PST at work, letting me know they received the fax and I'm okay to use the card now.

Jack-

Grandma was actually living at a retirement home until she hit 90. Then she went to an assisted living facility and has been there for two years. The assisted living place is kicking her out because she is getting bad. It was a good facility and near family. We found a good convalescent home that is nearby. I still feel guilty though.

Thanks for the advice on Juniper. I read a little more about them and have now decided to leave the I Fly CL alone and write a check from the National Park card.

I've also opted out of US Bank's invite. Read about some AA from US Bank and I'm not hurting for more 0% money so I'm not going to push my luck.

Next steps
1. Deposit Juniper National Park check
2. BT Nat City to Citi Assoc and get another check from Citi
3. Get Citi Pro Cash check (waiting on reallocation attempt)
4. Reallocate Chase and deposit check
5. Open AAFCU accounts and deposit money
6. Make small purchase with Juniper I Fly card for $15 statement credit

I signed up for 30-day trials on TU's TrueCredit and Eq's Score Watch. Posted inquiry info for all 3 agencies and scores for TU and Eq in OP. 2 inquiries on TU and EX, 5 on EQ. Is this something I should be trying to bump? Citi must have hit me for the Assoc, Pro Cash, and CLI. Chase for the Sony and the Free Checking account. Looks like PenFed didn't bother pulling one.

Also, I'm considering doing a micro WOR - personal and business, partly because my wife wants a biz cc and also to hedge against the game going away by getting 4 Citi 12 mo/0 BT deals. I was going to get the Citi Pro Cash, Citi Associated, Citi Biz, and another Citi Biz. Is this too much Citi considering they are cracking down now? Perhaps only one Citi Biz?

dougneb said: I was going to get the Citi Pro Cash, Citi Associated, Citi Biz, and another Citi Biz. Is this too much Citi considering they are cracking down now? Perhaps only one Citi Biz?
If I was aoring right now (and I'm not), I'd probably just get one citi card (a biz card), and then reallocate whatever credit I can to it. If I had no citibank cards at all, I might go for two, one biz and one personal.

I'm hoping by the time of my next a0r, things have stabilized a bit.

I'd grab the Juniper. They pull TU in my state. Generous CL, as seen in my and other AORs. AMEX will likely pull EX.

I wouldn't recommend status-checking the Baylor. Credit ninja (heeya)!

On the personal card - did you get the accessorize page & set up an account online login at the end of the app? If so, you can try logging in to determine status. For my Citi Associates Bank I think it said something like my account was not set up "yet," and later in the week I was able to get in well before receiving the card.

dougneb said: I forgot the the Citi Assoc is a separate site from the Citi Personal cards.
Kind of. I can use my other Citi personal logins (including Professional) on the "Citi Associates" site and they take me to the right place. For the cards that have the "dashboard" that lets you monitor multiple accounts, I can also sign cards up there while maintaining their individual logins. It's kind of interesting.

jackcrawfish said: dougneb said: 3. US Bank Baylor - 12 mos, 0%, 0 BT Fees; Deferred - entered balance transfer info for $8K to hopefully get approved for at least that amount. (Update 3/27 - received email stating that more information needed and would arrive by mail in 7 to 10 days) (Update 4/2 - declined via mail)If willing to share... what was their reason for decline? What additional information did they request?

Thanks for bumping my thread! Reason was 'maximum credit already extended'. They didn't ask for any more info.

dougneb said: Wells Fargo closed my Visa because of my A0R activities (excessive inquiries, new accounts, debt ratio, etc). Any chance of getting it reopened?

Only concerned because I had a $20K+ limit. My fault because I never kept it active.While I cannot speak for Wells Fargo accounts closed due to adverse action, I can offer hope in terms of re-opening a closed Wells fargo card here.

Basically, I closed an account in good standing and re-opened it 20+ days after completing my AOR2.0.

edit: Is your utilization now above 49% for personal cards? Perhaps you could pay down a balance if needed to get below 50%.

Juniper is loving the AA. They lowered my iFly from $5k to $1k and my wife's iFly from $15k to $13,150. Letters arrived at the same day.

Juniper closed both of my I Fly and Farm Bureau cards last week after I opened them in October. I guess they didn't like the mini AOR with seven other new cards. I've already got their money in the bank, so no loss really.