topic Re: What to do....what to do??? in Credit Cards

What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:43:02 GMT

Was hoping to get some advice on my current lines. Here's the problem, i was hoping to have all of my current cards reporting at least 5k credit lines or more. Idk y that number, just seemed the # to be ;-)

Anyway, i have the following:
Cap one 5k...just got this increased from 1500. through eo
Nav Plat 5k
NavChk 12k...got this increased from 500.
orchard 520..stuck
merrick 300 stuck

I question is this, what can i do to get the orchard increased? Cap one eo suggested that i contact them but ik it will be 100 if anything. And merrick won't even entertain any conversations that include credit limit :-(. Are these tradelines destine to be duds? My credit is so much better now then when i got these and they both have AFs but they are also my oldest trade lines. At one time i thought i would just close them and that's that but@ i only have the four. Statsa are:
Utilization 0%
no baddies lil over 2 yrs. (but was a biggie..bk7)
scores ranging from 669-672

Any thoughts on getting this 2 up to par? I dnt nd the increases and def dnt want any new cards but am loving the game ;-)

Re: What to do....what to do???

Stephen_Dashman — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:53:58 GMT

I would personally probably close the Merrick unless you like using it for small purchases and probably hold onto the Orchard to maybe get at least a small CLI maybe once in awhile. At least you'd have one of your two oldest tradelines left if you still kept the Orchard, but that's just my advice.

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:02:46 GMT

Thanks for the advice. Ik its prob time to close merrick but, just as i started to call they up and give us a free tu08 fico monthly...go score. I'm always close to limit after like 2 charges then i have to pif again. I sock drawered it and only use it occasionally for activity.

Re: What to do....what to do???

Open123 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:18:10 GMT

Why not just close the Orchard and Merrick?

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:23:58 GMT

I thought about that but they are my 2 oldest accounts. That's gotta hurt in some way right? I thought it either hurts your AAoA or because they are oldest or because i will be down to only 2 cards????

Re: What to do....what to do???

Open123 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:33:13 GMT

shorrttyycm1 wrote:
I thought about that but they are my 2 oldest accounts. That's gotta hurt in some way right? I thought it either hurts your AAoA or because they are oldest or because i will be down to only 2 cards????

How much older are they? Do you pay an annual fee on them?

Even when closed, it'll count towards your AAOA for 10 years. I'd imagine, 10 years from now, the history falling off would be inconsequential to your AAOA.

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:22:10 GMT

They are about 3-4 mnths older. Sometime late this yr i am planning on apping for mortgage and i think they want to see 3-4 open revolving lines

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:22:58 GMT

Yea..both of them have annual fees. 29 orchard and 4.mnth merrick

Re: What to do....what to do???

CruzImperial — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:23:52 GMT

Since those are very tiny limits and your other cards are huge, I'd personally close them down. Anyone approving you in the future would be likely to grant you higher limits if you do imo

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:30:05 GMT

Thanks! I thnk ur right. im not sure if the go score is worth the mnthly fee anyway.

Re: What to do....what to do???

CruzImperial — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:32:56 GMT

Edit: if you are getting a mortgage, try not to close them yet. Old accounts do make a difference sometimes and the bank will be able to see where you started and where you are now:)

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:38:38 GMT

O...will it matter how low the card limit is? Does even having it make some lenders cautious? Ik it sounds silly but i keep thinking that when i app they see merrick and orchard and it some how bias their decision to approve or at what limits :-()

Re: What to do....what to do???

navigatethis12 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:39:24 GMT

CruzImperial wrote:
Since those are very tiny limits and your other cards are huge, I'd personally close them down. Anyone approving you in the future would be likely to grant you higher limits if you do imo

This is not always true. I have US Bank, Chase, and American Express at 1000 and First National Bank of Omaha granted a 10000 limit. Citi gave 5000 and 6500.

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:46:16 GMT

Wow, that's a huge difference. I always thought the rule of thumb was smaller limits gets smaller limits? i guess its one of those ymmv things?

Re: What to do....what to do???

navigatethis12 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:54:24 GMT

shorrttyycm1 wrote:
Wow, that's a huge difference. I always thought the rule of thumb was smaller limits gets smaller limits? i guess its one of those ymmv things?

Well, like you, I have multiple other cards with higher limits. No one, but the lenders, really know what they do to determine a credit limit. If you have a nice long history, with perfect payment history, and no inquiries, you are more likely to get a higher limit. Do not forget that income is also a facotr they take into consideration. I would close them only because of the annual fee. Maybe you can ring and try to get the annual fee waived? I believe someone said they were able to do that with Orchard Bank.

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:58:52 GMT

Great i will give it a try...thnx for advice much appreciated!!

Re: What to do....what to do???

drkaje — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:06:27 GMT

Here's the thing: NavFed is really generous with its limits so they aren't really useful in judging creditworthiness. Please don't take that the wrong way but I've read tons of posts here where they gave people $5-6K limits where normal lenders would only trust them with secured.

Personally, I'd close any AF cards and garden for a year or more. From what we've read here, some lenders dislike re-builder credit card companies like Merrick. The good payment history will remain on record 10 years. Since they were only opened a few months apart the AOAA probably won't be affected too much.

Re: What to do....what to do???

shorrttyycm1 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:45:03 GMT

Not offended...NFCU is generous and I have definitely benefited in that aspect..& cs is OUTSTANDING. but back to the post...
that's pretty much what i thought, like having merrick could actually hurt me on apps? I wish i knew for sure but as someone else posted u just dnt know.

Re: What to do....what to do???

Open123 — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:58:45 GMT

shorrttyycm1 wrote:
Not offended...NFCU is generous and I have definitely benefited in that aspect..& cs is OUTSTANDING. but back to the post...
that's pretty much what i thought, like having merrick could actually hurt me on apps? I wish i knew for sure but as someone else posted u just dnt know.

Two things:

1. AF cards *only* make sense if you value the rewards or need it for a purpose, such as rebuilding.

2. Some issuers--namely Amex--may decline an application if they see certain subprime creditors, such as First Premier.

All things being equal, there is *no* reason I can think to pay a fee for a small limit card once the rebuilding process is underway. The sooner you purge them, the better off you will be in the future.

Re: What to do....what to do???

drkaje — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:19:15 GMT

shorrttyycm1 wrote:
Not offended...NFCU is generous and I have definitely benefited in that aspect..& cs is OUTSTANDING. but back to the post...
that's pretty much what i thought, like having merrick could actually hurt me on apps? I wish i knew for sure but as someone else posted u just dnt know.

I'm glad you understood the intent!

I've seen a few threads where people were really confused about why company X wouldn't match their NFCU limits.