I have quite a few questions about obtaining a credit limit increase on my credit cards. I am working on improving my credit scores as I'm going to be looking for a new place to live and finiancing furniture in about 2 months, so I want to get my scores as high as possible before then. At the current moment the only way to do that is to decrease my debt:available credit ratio. I recently tried to have the credit limits increased on two of my credit cards (AmEx Blue Sky, $2k limit ->$10k), and Chase/Best Buy, $800 limit -> $5k). Even though my credit history is good, I was only given a $400 increase on my Best Buy card and denied outright on the AmEx. I use the AmEx CreditSecure to monitor all three reports, and I have all acounts in good standing (never once missed any payments, no negative information). The only problems I see are that 1)My Equifax Credit Report doesn't have a job listed (I've been with the same company now for just under 3 years) and 2) My EQ and TU reports dont have my student loan account, which is my oldest account, efectively bringing my average account down to 4 years on those reports. (As an aside, I am 26, but started building credit late because my parents were overly cautious about me getting a card early). My other cards are a USBank Platinum Visa ($4250 limit) and a Credit Union Card ($8k limit). My PLUS Scores as given by CreditSecure are EX:736, EQ:724(699FICO), and TU734. My questions are:
1: What is the likelyhood that my CLI from Chase was denied due to my not having a job listed on EQ (the one they pulled) and if I send in a dispute to have my job added, how long should I wait before asking for another increase? (I also asked the CSR when I called whether the inquiry would be hard or soft, to which she replied soft, but it ended up being hard, which I am going to dispute)
2: My AmEx request was denied on the grounds that my debt ratio was too high (46% debt:54%credit), and because of my "Payment history with AmEx". I had a balance from a balance transfer that I never missed a payment on and paid more than the minimum payment, but never fully paid off the card and peridically used it, increasing the balance. When I got my CU card in January, I transfered the balance, and since have been using the card as my main finance and have been paying in full each month. I also noticed on my credit reports that my payment history with AmEx on my EX report only shows the most recent month, but has no data for previous months, and past reports also only show the most current month, while the other reports have a complete history. Could this be affecting my request and should I see about getting it fixed before requesting another increase, and how long should I wait to ask? I'm fairly certain they used my EX report since it is the one that sponsors their CreditSecure program. I saw another forum on here that had "backdoor numbers" for talking to account specialists, so I was considering that option to explain my situation and try to obtain a CLI.
3: I've received several increases on my USBank card (500->1250->2000->4250) without ever asking for an increase, usually about 8-9 months apart, but during that period, I had always carried a balance. I transfered this balance to my CU card at the same time as the AmEx balance, and since have only used the card a few times for random small purchases. I read somewhere the best thing to do with USBank is call and ask if I'm eligible for a CLI without a hard pull. What I want to know is, should I wait to see if they automatically increase my limit (last increase was about 8 months ago), or call and ask? If they gave me increases because I carried a balance, I don't think they'll do it automatically if I'm not.
4: Should I try to add my student loan account to my EQ and TU reports, and if I succeed, how will it effect my score over time? I think that if I get the account added, it will increase my score quite a bit (older account with a high original principle and perfect payment), but If they aren't already reporting to those bureaus I fear that they will not update the accounts, so the balance will always stay the same and effect my score negatively.
If anybody made it this far through my thesis, I appreciate the time to read and will appreciate any and all help offered.
Thank you,
~T
