Good Credit, Denied Balance Transfer

[superjeep]

Hi, I'm new here.  Just bought Suze Orman's FICO kit.  First thing it tells me about eliminating the debt on my 2 credit cards is that I'm paying too much interest based on my credit score.  So, it tells me to call to ask for a rate decrease (which I was going to do anyway).  The first card compnay I called was only willing to lower my rate by half a percent.  For reference, originally the card's APR was 9% but I received a letter last fall stating that the economy was forcing them to start charging me 27% interest. This has gone down over the months, little by little, to 17.24% but even with the decrease it will still be 8% more than I was told I deserve.  Since this applied to both of my credit cards, after researching the pros and cons, I followed the instructions and for the first time, applied for a new card for the sake of doing a balance transfer.  And I was denied!  I feel like I just made things worse!  I don't get it though.  I've had credit for more than 10 years, it's been 2 years since I've gotten new credit, I've had no inquiries between then and now, my FICO score is above 720, I've never been late on a payment, always pay more than the minimum, and am 3 months away from being able to pay off one of the cards completely.  The only reason they said I was denied was because of the balance on my cards.  What does this mean for me now??  How long should I wait to apply for more credit?  How much is this going to negatively impact my credit and for how long?  I'm so frustrated.  I was pretty confident that this wouldn't be an issue! 

TIA for any advice or wisdom on this subject.

[Anonymous]

it got to be the carrying balance that they don't like. My hubby got denied by Discover More card and he has a 760 scores but is carrying $13K balance.

[Creditaddict]

It would be useful to know what cards you have currently and balance and CL of those accounts and then who you applied for that denied you

[laz98]

i know you said your scores are above 720, i don't know how far above, but unfortunately, 720 isn't as good as it used to be.  people are having a harder time with credit issues than they used to, with scores in that range.

[superjeep]

My average score is 730.  I currently have an AmEx card with a $600 balance on a $2000 credit limit, I have a Mastercard with an $11,000 balance on an $11,500 CL as well as another charge card that is paid off with a $3000 limit.  I was denied a Discover card (can't remember the name, it had a biodegradeable symbol on it).  I realize I have a high balance but I have been consistently paying off my cards (I've been concentrating on the AMEX card because the APR was so high and have just been paying the minimum on the MC).  Like I said, I should have the AmEx card paid off by November at the latest.  Unfortunately, major medical expenses over the last 4 years are the reason I even carry any debt anyway.  But I just finished paying off all my med bills which has freed up a few hundred dollars per month to dedicate to my cards.  A few people recommended doing a transfer and, I figured I was in a good position to make it happen.  Instead, this has just put a mark on my credit.  What's the point of trying to do a balance transfer, which should help you, if you don't know for certain you'll be approved and, in fact, are denied??  It's just frustrating because I'm trying to do all the right things.    

[laz98]

i agree, it's totally frustrating.  i'm like, why can't you see that i want to do a balance transfer BECAUSE i'm carrying balances???  duh!

[Uniqua]

Looks like you're at 70% util.  Lenders shy away from numbers that high.  Thought it may not be the case, to them it appears that you are having trouble paying your bills.  They don't want to be added to that list and risk getting burned by a BK.  You can apply for credit whenever you want to, but you should get your util down before doing so.  For FICO scoring purposes, anything <10% is good.  It would also help to increase your FICO scores by getting your util down. 

[haulingthescoreup]

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@laz98 wrote:

i agree, it's totally frustrating.  i'm like, why can't you see that i want to do a balance transfer BECAUSE i'm carrying balances???  duh!

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Yep, it's the common thing about only getting credit offers when you don't need them.

[superjeep]

I don't plan on applying for more credit for a while.  Especially if I'm going to be denied for balance transfers.  That's the only reason I wanted to apply for credit.  When you say, "you can apply for credit whenever you want to", obviously, I can but how much is it hurting me to get those inquiries every time without being accepted for a card?  That's what I'm most concerned about right now.  I just got my scores and am not going to pay for them again right now to see what this latest inquiry did but I am curious as to how much of a problem this creates for me.  I'm paranoid that I just made my situation worse for applying for credit in the future. 

[Anonymous]

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superjeep wrote:

My average score is 730.  I currently have an AmEx card with a $600 balance on a $2000 credit limit, I have a Mastercard with an $11,000 balance on an $11,500 CL as well as another charge card that is paid off with a $3000 limit.  I was denied a Discover card (can't remember the name, it had a biodegradeable symbol on it).  I realize I have a high balance but I have been consistently paying off my cards (I've been concentrating on the AMEX card because the APR was so high and have just been paying the minimum on the MC).  Like I said, I should have the AmEx card paid off by November at the latest.  Unfortunately, major medical expenses over the last 4 years are the reason I even carry any debt anyway.  But I just finished paying off all my med bills which has freed up a few hundred dollars per month to dedicate to my cards.  A few people recommended doing a transfer and, I figured I was in a good position to make it happen.  Instead, this has just put a mark on my credit.  What's the point of trying to do a balance transfer, which should help you, if you don't know for certain you'll be approved and, in fact, are denied??  It's just frustrating because I'm trying to do all the right things.    

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I am sorry to hear that you have been denied by Discover.  

$600 balance w/17.24% APR on 2k CL    and     $11k balance on 11.5k CL

I assume you are planning to pay around $200/mo to AmEx and pays off by Nov.

On the MC itself, the util is 95.65%  ... yes, this is too high.

I only can advise is to pay as much as you can on MC to bring the balance down by setting the target ... first target is   <10k   then,  <9k  it depends on the $/mo you can pay.    

Every time (every 12 mos before 0% APR expires) I opened a new ccs, I did BT and had a same high balance to begin with.   From A to B, From B to C, From C to D, From D to E and F.  Then I finally paid it off !  Yeeees, it was long journey is sure.  You can do it ... because I could do it.