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How much does income affect approval prospects?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

How much does income affect approval prospects?

I'm rebuilding after a 2011 bankruptcy and since my score is finally around average range, I'd like to expand my credit portfolio. Problem is ... I took a year off from my regular work to focus on an independent project. I'd planned well in advance to do this, so I am not struggling financially by any means; however, my income on paper has plummeted to almost half of what it was last year (2013 - $45k+, 2014 - $20k). Does this pretty much nix my odds of getting approved for any new cards in the near future?

 

My credit score is fair/average (684 EXP), no baddies on my credit report aside from 2011 bankruptcy and the old collections associated with it, low INQs (5), I pay balances in full each month, my max util never goes over 30% ... currently I have: Barclay Rewards WMC $5500, Cap1 Quicksilver One $3750, Amazon Store Card $900, Auto Loan $16k, Personal Loan $800.

 

Are there any specific cards I can/should apply for in this situation? Ones I should stay away from?

 

FYI I'm not considering secured cards or super low tiered cards at this time.

Thanks in advance!

Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
taxi818
Super Contributor

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm rebuilding after a 2011 bankruptcy and since my score is finally around average range, I'd like to expand my credit portfolio. Problem is ... I took a year off from my regular work to focus on an independent project. I'd planned well in advance to do this, so I am not struggling financially by any means; however, my income on paper has plummeted to almost half of what it was last year (2013 - $45k+, 2014 - $20k). Does this pretty much nix my odds of getting approved for any new cards in the near future?

 

My credit score is fair/average (684 EXP), no baddies on my credit report aside from 2011 bankruptcy and the old collections associated with it, low INQs (5), I pay balances in full each month, my max util never goes over 30% ... currently I have: Barclay Rewards WMC $5500, Cap1 Quicksilver One $3750, Amazon Store Card $900, Auto Loan $16k, Personal Loan $800.

 

Are there any specific cards I can/should apply for in this situation? Ones I should stay away from?

 

FYI I'm not considering secured cards or super low tiered cards at this time.

Thanks in advance!


The basic role that income plays is can you pay you bills. so yes it plays a role. if you only say earned 8k a year its not enough to live on. so probably because of DTI it will be hard to be approved. If you only earned 20k. its ok. you will still get approved for many cards. remember score only plays a role as well. I would be more concerned with the BK since it is only 3 years old. before i apped anything i would look for BK friendly lenders. regardless of score. good luck so just google bk friendly ccc's. it will give you ideal.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Bankruptcy/Bankruptcy-friendly-credit-cards/td-p/963456/page/58

Message 2 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?

Income helps. My approvals have all been with a reported income of just under $80,000.
Message 3 of 10
CreditCuriosity
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?

How much it helps is debatable.. Obviously you gotta be able to pay your bills, but seen people with low incomes meaning 20k with huge credit lines.  So scores/profile play a bigger role imho.  When you introduce a BK in to the picture, that is where I know nothing.  

Message 4 of 10
gdale6
Moderator Emeritus

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?

If you have not had any negatives post BK, hit up Discover for the It card as long as these cards are not reporting high utilization, if so take care of that first then app.

Message 5 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?

 


@gdale6 wrote:

If you have not had any negatives post BK, hit up Discover for the It card as long as these cards are not reporting high utilization, if so take care of that first then app.


Funny enough, I actually literallly JUST applied for the Discover IT. Denied based on the 2011 bankruptcy, according to the recon agent I spoke to, my discharge date was actually 01/2012 so they're considering it 2 years since, rather than 3 despite being a week away from 01/2015 Smiley Frustrated. They then offered me a secured card, which I declined.

Message 6 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?


@taxi818 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

I'm rebuilding after a 2011 bankruptcy and since my score is finally around average range, I'd like to expand my credit portfolio. Problem is ... I took a year off from my regular work to focus on an independent project. I'd planned well in advance to do this, so I am not struggling financially by any means; however, my income on paper has plummeted to almost half of what it was last year (2013 - $45k+, 2014 - $20k). Does this pretty much nix my odds of getting approved for any new cards in the near future?

 

My credit score is fair/average (684 EXP), no baddies on my credit report aside from 2011 bankruptcy and the old collections associated with it, low INQs (5), I pay balances in full each month, my max util never goes over 30% ... currently I have: Barclay Rewards WMC $5500, Cap1 Quicksilver One $3750, Amazon Store Card $900, Auto Loan $16k, Personal Loan $800.

 

Are there any specific cards I can/should apply for in this situation? Ones I should stay away from?

 

FYI I'm not considering secured cards or super low tiered cards at this time.

Thanks in advance!


The basic role that income plays is can you pay you bills. so yes it plays a role. if you only say earned 8k a year its not enough to live on. so probably because of DTI it will be hard to be approved. If you only earned 20k. its ok. you will still get approved for many cards. remember score only plays a role as well. I would be more concerned with the BK since it is only 3 years old. before i apped anything i would look for BK friendly lenders. regardless of score. good luck so just google bk friendly ccc's. it will give you ideal.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Bankruptcy/Bankruptcy-friendly-credit-cards/td-p/963456/page/58


Thanks for the link! I just tried Discover IT and they actually cited the bankruptcy as the main factor in my denial when I called for recon, apparently the discharge date of my bankruptcy was actually 01/2012. I might recon again once it's January but I don't really think the odds are good if the time since my bankruptcy is the reason. I also applied for Apple Visa and Barclay approved me, but only after I rolled some of my Rewards WMC limit into the new card ... which doesn't help my score and sort of defeats the purpose of applying Smiley Frustrated. The Apple Visa intro offer is only good for 30 days so I'm hoping they miraculously give me a CLI on either card when I ask next month, or else I will just transfer the limit back to my WMC and toss the Apple Visa into a drawer.

Message 7 of 10
dominow
New Contributor

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?

i have 100,000.00 of credit extended to me. 40,000 on a mortgage owed, and 61,000.00 of credit cards limits. my income is only around 24,000.00 i owe about 6,000.00 in credit card debt. i'm a little less than 10% ccredit to debt with my cards. my mortgage has about 80% equity.

Message 8 of 10
chalupaman
Super Contributor

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?


@dominow wrote:

i have 100,000.00 of credit extended to me. 40,000 on a mortgage owed, and 61,000.00 of credit cards limits. my income is only around 24,000.00 i owe about 6,000.00 in credit card debt. i'm a little less than 10% ccredit to debt with my cards. my mortgage has about 80% equity.


Whoa. Good to know that's possible. My income is just a few thousand dollars less than that and I already have about 47,000 dollars of credit total taking account for hidden TLs. My debt right now is just over 2700 dollars (which I'm planning to pay down next year, possibly get that down to 4-5%), so it's about 8% credit to debt for me. 

Tradelines: Macy’s - $18k, Penfed Power Cash Rewards - $10k, Ethan Allen (TD Bank) - $5.7k, Kay Jewelers - $5.5k, Appliances Connection - $5.3k, Jared - $5.25k, Best Buy (Citi) - $5k, Dell Preferred Account - $3.5k, Samsung - $3.2k, Firestone CFNA - $3.2k, Capital One Platinum - $3k, Mercury MC - $2.25k, Williams Sonoma - $2.1k, Wayfair (Fortiva) - $2k, Amazon Store Card - $1.8k, Apple Card - $1.7k, NFCU cashRewards - $1.5k, CareCredit - $1.5k, B&H Photo - $1.5k, Adorama - $1.25k, Ebay MC - $1k, Sam’s Club MC - $1k, American Eagle - $1k, Ollo MC - $600, Mission Lane Visa - $500, NY & Company - $500, Walgreens - $500, Home Depot - $500, Target RED Card - $500, CapOne Secured MC 0 AF - $500, Penfed Overdraft LOC - $500

Current FICOS: Mid 640s-50s on all reports, Ch 7 BK D/C Aug 2019
Starting scores: EX - 534, EQ - 574, TU - 516 | Total TLs: $91k approx | Total Utilization: 17%, getting this back down
Message 9 of 10
CoreyGSHS
New Contributor

Re: How much does income affect approval prospects?

I was approved for an AMEX. Income isn't necessarily a big factor most of the time; it's all about your history and your report...

 

People that do our credit apps submit in $10,000-$15,000 and get approved for $4,000. 

Message 10 of 10
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