No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
This morning I called the backdoor number for Chase to do a recon on my CLI request last week...because I'm an existing customer (2 1/2 years), they said they would transfer my call and I ended up with customer service. They were going to put in a request for me the same way they would normally do it, so I declined, knowing that if customer service had just denied me last week, they would deny me again.
Okay, so when I call the backdoor number (1-800-245-0625), what do I need to say to ensure that I speak with a credit analyst, and not customer service??
Nobody responded, but just as an FYI to anyone who's interested, when I called back I made sure to state that I wanted to speak to a credit analyst. When they confirmed that I was a current account-holder, I said yes but repeated that I needed to speak to an analyst for reconsideration. They were very nice in transferring me to one.
Unfortunately, the analyst again denied me for a CLI. The reasons were too high utilization (I'm at 39%) and too many inquiries (about 10 the past 12 months). I asked her if she could reconsider those reasons and allow me to give more information, but she basically just said, "No, I have to go by what's on your credit report."
Given my utilization and number of inquiries, should I accept it, or do you think I should try again? Other than those two reasons, there are no negatives at all on my reports.
I began rebuilding my credit about 3 years ago, but only in the past few months have I come to understand more about good credit, in that it's not just based on a clean history. (Sometimes it feels like I get no love for that whatsoever.) It's still very nerve-wracking for me to actually speak to someone about my credit!
I think you have absolutely nothing to lose by calling again. If you've already taken another INQ for the request, you might as well bug them a bit. Good luck!
Maybe you could tell them that you didn't really understand how credit worked when you first endeavored to establish a solid credit history. Tell them that someone told you to App for everything, and you found out too late that it was a bad plan. Then, tell them that you LOVE your Chase card with a capital "L", and that you'd like to utilize it more. Make sure that you emphasize that you have adequate income. Maybe mention that you want a card that you'll be able to use when you travel.
To be honest, I think it's going to be a problem with the utilization. By today's standards, that might be high enough to make them nervous. Do you have balances reporting on more than one card? If so, be prepared to answer why fairly low balances are not PIF'd.
If they still say no, and a higher credit line is what you're after, look into a credit union. How many of those INQs are on EQ? How many new accounts have you opened in the past year? Alliant CU has great rates, and nifty offers on their credit products.
Thank you both for your responses! I agree that I probably won't get a recon. I'm currently planning to refinance my FHA mortgage, saving about $150 a month, so maybe I'll start using that savings to pay down the cards. I have half of my cards showing balances, so I'm sure you're right that that's hurting me also. I think I can manage to lay off the inquiries for a while until I am certain that my credit is indeed good enough for an increase.
Question about the inquiries - is it true that creditors will only look at the number within the past 12 months? If they stay on for 2 years, how will I know that they are not affecting me anymore?
I guess I'm just frustrated with myself that for the past few years I thought I was doing everything right, with getting new credit and keeping a clean history. Now I know that I've actually been hurting myself by not just letting these accounts age gracefully. It's hard to see posts where people with collections and late payments are being approved for $5000 credit lines - and here I am paying my bills like I'm supposed to and it's not good enough.
wndrwmn78 wrote:
Question about the inquiries - is it true that creditors will only look at the number within the past 12 months? If they stay on for 2 years, how will I know that they are not affecting me anymore?
wndrwmn78 wrote:
I guess I'm just frustrated with myself that for the past few years I thought I was doing everything right, with getting new credit and keeping a clean history. Now I know that I've actually been hurting myself by not just letting these accounts age gracefully. It's hard to see posts where people with collections and late payments are being approved for $5000 credit lines - and here I am paying my bills like I'm supposed to and it's not good enough.
Thank you for your honest answer! It's hard to just wait it out, but hey - at least all I'm doing is waiting for accounts to age and inquiries to fall off - not for collections to fall off! I've already been through that - 10 years ago in college I did the whole credit mess-up as a lot of people do, and it was a long wait for those bad accounts to fall off. They were finally all off a few years ago, and I was smart enough not to get into any more trouble, so from there it's just been rebuilding from scratch. Hence my short history.
One thing I would like to ask if you don't mind, without starting a new post, is your opinion on closing small, insignificant accounts? I know the general consensus is that you should not close accounts with a good history - just don't use them. But say in two years I want to apply for an Amex, and I have no inquiries and a 5 year history now - but they see my little $400 HSBC card that will never get bigger. Do cards like that turn the prime creditors off? Or will the fact that it's 5 years old make it not matter that I have a rebuilding card?
Thank you again! I really wish I had found these forums years ago!