Asking for lower APR's - timing?

[dpk12000]

Like a lot of people, I ran up too much credit card debt while I was in school, and I paid for it.  Most of my cards were maxed out or close to it, and I got ratejacked on several of my cards as a result.  I landed a much better-paying job several months ago though, and my first priority has been to pay down that CC debt as quickly as possible.  My overall utilization has gone down from around 85 % in October to 50% now.  As of last month, my FICO scores are 707 for TransUnion, and 665 for Equifax.

The two cards that ratejacked me the worst are Citi (29.99% APR) and Bank of America (27.99% APR).  Obviously, those were the two cards I wanted to pay down first, and thankfully I've paid them both off.  Now that they're at 0 balances, I'd like to call and ask for lower APR's, but I'm kind of scared to draw attention to myself.  It was just 6-8 months ago that those cards were increasing my APR's and lowering my credit limits.  Since I'll be able to continue paying down my debt aggressively over the next several months, should I wait until I'm in a better position to ask?  I don't have any need to carry balances on them or use them for anything other than for small purchases (just to keep them active), but it certainly can't hurt to get those APR's lowered as soon as possible.

[vish1]

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@dpk12000 wrote:

Like a lot of people, I ran up too much credit card debt while I was in school, and I paid for it.  Most of my cards were maxed out or close to it, and I got ratejacked on several of my cards as a result.  I landed a much better-paying job several months ago though, and my first priority has been to pay down that CC debt as quickly as possible.  My overall utilization has gone down from around 85 % in October to 50% now.  As of last month, my FICO scores are 707 for TransUnion, and 665 for Equifax.

The two cards that ratejacked me the worst are Citi (29.99% APR) and Bank of America (27.99% APR).  Obviously, those were the two cards I wanted to pay down first, and thankfully I've paid them both off.  Now that they're at 0 balances, I'd like to call and ask for lower APR's, but I'm kind of scared to draw attention to myself.  It was just 6-8 months ago that those cards were increasing my APR's and lowering my credit limits.  Since I'll be able to continue paying down my debt aggressively over the next several months, should I wait until I'm in a better position to ask?  I don't have any need to carry balances on them or use them for anything other than for small purchases (just to keep them active), but it certainly can't hurt to get those APR's lowered as soon as possible.

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From what you are saying, I am assuming that you did not open any new credit line for atleast an year (or may be more). If my assumption is true, you may be able to take a chase or discover card and do a BT.

Even if it gets declined, you should be able to live with one inquiry for now and apply another card say 3-4 months later.

Make sure that you don't apply with cap one as they hurt you with 3 inquiries.

[dpk12000]

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@vish1 wrote:

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@dpk12000 wrote:

Like a lot of people, I ran up too much credit card debt while I was in school, and I paid for it.  Most of my cards were maxed out or close to it, and I got ratejacked on several of my cards as a result.  I landed a much better-paying job several months ago though, and my first priority has been to pay down that CC debt as quickly as possible.  My overall utilization has gone down from around 85 % in October to 50% now.  As of last month, my FICO scores are 707 for TransUnion, and 665 for Equifax.

The two cards that ratejacked me the worst are Citi (29.99% APR) and Bank of America (27.99% APR).  Obviously, those were the two cards I wanted to pay down first, and thankfully I've paid them both off.  Now that they're at 0 balances, I'd like to call and ask for lower APR's, but I'm kind of scared to draw attention to myself.  It was just 6-8 months ago that those cards were increasing my APR's and lowering my credit limits.  Since I'll be able to continue paying down my debt aggressively over the next several months, should I wait until I'm in a better position to ask?  I don't have any need to carry balances on them or use them for anything other than for small purchases (just to keep them active), but it certainly can't hurt to get those APR's lowered as soon as possible.

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From what you are saying, I am assuming that you did not open any new credit line for atleast an year (or may be more). If my assumption is true, you may be able to take a chase or discover card and do a BT.

Even if it gets declined, you should be able to live with one inquiry for now and apply another card say 3-4 months later.

Make sure that you don't apply with cap one as they hurt you with 3 inquiries.

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No, I haven't opened a new CC in about 4 years.  I had been thinking about applying for another card or two later this year after I get my utilization lower.  For what it's worth, I have balances remaining on two cards:

Barclays US Airways MC: $6,000 - 23.24% APR

Charter One MC: $8,800 - 17.64% APR

Charter One actually declined to renew this card on me last year since I was nearly maxed out on everything.  Fortunately, the credit limit still shows up in my utilization, so it didn't kill my FICO score (that's why this will be the last one I pay off).  That's why I had been considering getting another card or two. 

I've been paying down my balances by about $2,000 every month, and I should be able to continue to do so.  So I guess I had assumed paying it down would be quicker and easier then getting another card now and doing a BT.  I've actually already got two Cap 1 cards (with miniscule CL's), so I definitely wouldn't apply with them again.

[vish1]

As most of your cards have already hit insane rates, you will probably want to add about 2-3 cards over a year.

Taking a basic card at this point will help you save a few hundred dollars on interest. That will also push up your credit scores coz of utils and by the time you pay up in abt 6 months you will be all set to apply for 1-2 good cards (your scores should see major improvement by then)

[MarineVietVet]

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@dpk12000 wrote:

Like a lot of people, I ran up too much credit card debt while I was in school, and I paid for it.  Most of my cards were maxed out or close to it, and I got ratejacked on several of my cards as a result.  I landed a much better-paying job several months ago though, and my first priority has been to pay down that CC debt as quickly as possible.  My overall utilization has gone down from around 85 % in October to 50% now.  As of last month, my FICO scores are 707 for TransUnion, and 665 for Equifax.

The two cards that ratejacked me the worst are Citi (29.99% APR) and Bank of America (27.99% APR).  Obviously, those were the two cards I wanted to pay down first, and thankfully I've paid them both off.  Now that they're at 0 balances, I'd like to call and ask for lower APR's, but I'm kind of scared to draw attention to myself.  It was just 6-8 months ago that those cards were increasing my APR's and lowering my credit limits.  Since I'll be able to continue paying down my debt aggressively over the next several months, should I wait until I'm in a better position to ask?  I don't have any need to carry balances on them or use them for anything other than for small purchases (just to keep them active), but it certainly can't hurt to get those APR's lowered as soon as possible.

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Hello and welcome.

Congratulations on the payoffs. I know how hard that can be. Now that they are paid off APR's don't really matter.

In the future don't charge anything on them you don't already have the money on hand to pay the balance the next day if need be. That way you never have to pay another penny in interest. And you are in a position of strength because these 2 accounts are now paid off.

I was rate jacked by the same companies several years ago but since then I haven't given them any interest and my APR's are about what yours are.

Once you get into the mindset of always paying in full it becomes easier and easier.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[dpk12000]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

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@dpk12000 wrote:

Like a lot of people, I ran up too much credit card debt while I was in school, and I paid for it.  Most of my cards were maxed out or close to it, and I got ratejacked on several of my cards as a result.  I landed a much better-paying job several months ago though, and my first priority has been to pay down that CC debt as quickly as possible.  My overall utilization has gone down from around 85 % in October to 50% now.  As of last month, my FICO scores are 707 for TransUnion, and 665 for Equifax.

The two cards that ratejacked me the worst are Citi (29.99% APR) and Bank of America (27.99% APR).  Obviously, those were the two cards I wanted to pay down first, and thankfully I've paid them both off.  Now that they're at 0 balances, I'd like to call and ask for lower APR's, but I'm kind of scared to draw attention to myself.  It was just 6-8 months ago that those cards were increasing my APR's and lowering my credit limits.  Since I'll be able to continue paying down my debt aggressively over the next several months, should I wait until I'm in a better position to ask?  I don't have any need to carry balances on them or use them for anything other than for small purchases (just to keep them active), but it certainly can't hurt to get those APR's lowered as soon as possible.

---

Hello and welcome.

Congratulations on the payoffs. I know how hard that can be. Now that they are paid off APR's don't really matter.

In the future don't charge anything on them you don't already have the money on hand to pay the balance the next day if need be. That way you never have to pay another penny in interest. And you are in a position of strength because these 2 accounts are now paid off.

I was rate jacked by the same companies several years ago but since then I haven't given them any interest and my APR's are about what yours are.

Once you get into the mindset of always paying in full it becomes easier and easier.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

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Thanks.  This site has been very helpful to me.  The scary thing is that I had $5,000 on that BofA card with a 27.99% APR just a few months ago.  I was being charged over $100 a month in interest alone!  I used my tax refund to pay off the remaining balance tonight.  I have no need to charge anything on those two cards right now (other than small purchases to keep them active), so they definitely won't be getting a cent from me in interest. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@dpk12000 wrote:

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Thanks.  This site has been very helpful to me.  The scary thing is that I had $5,000 on that BofA card with a 27.99% APR just a few months ago.  I was being charged over $100 a month in interest alone!  I used my tax refund to pay off the remaining balance tonight.  I have no need to charge anything on those two cards right now (other than small purchases to keep them active), so they definitely won't be getting a cent from me in interest. 

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That's a very good strategy!!

So don't give those APR's another thought. They don't mean a thing. The APR can be 100% but 100% of a zero balance is still zero.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[dpk12000]

Just as an update, soon after I paid off the Bank of America card I got a promotional offer from them offering a 7.99% APR on balance transfers until Spetember.  Before, I don't think they even allowed balance transfers on my account.  So somebody over there seems to have noticed that I got my act together.  I think I'll probably take advantage of that to save money on interest, and wait a few more months until I apply for another card.

[castlefox]

Just an FYI,

If you end up transfering the ballance to a credit card make sure to NOT put any other charges on the card.   Lets say you transfer 5,000 on to the B of A CC and buy a 100 dollars in food.   When it comes time to make any payment, the payment will ONLY be applied to the transfered ammount  Not the 100 bucks.  I will only switch over after the entire transfered ballance is payed off. That might now sound that bad until you realize that the 100 bucks will have 15% or whatever the APR normally is. 

Also beware of ballance transfer fees.

(my dad got burned by this a couple years ago)

[jason10]

@castlefox

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@castlefox wrote:

Just an FYI,

If you end up transfering the ballance to a credit card make sure to NOT put any other charges on the card.   Lets say you transfer 5,000 on to the B of A CC and buy a 100 dollars in food.   When it comes time to make any payment, the payment will ONLY be applied to the transfered ammount  Not the 100 bucks.  I will only switch over after the entire transfered ballance is payed off. That might now sound that bad until you realize that the 100 bucks will have 15% or whatever the APR normally is. 

Also beware of ballance transfer fees.

(my dad got burned by this a couple years ago)

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The Card Act, which took effect Feb 2011, requires credit card companies to apply your payment to the highest APR balance first.

Also, Chase's "Blueprint" specifically allows you to revolve a balance and still pay no interest on new purchases if you pay the new purchase balance in full, every month. Other cards might offer the same option. You just have to read the fine print.