Question about Discover CLI

[Anonymous]

Hi.  I have been rebuilding my credit all year; I find it a fine line between app'ing and gardening.  I just paid my third payment to Discover.  I have been using the card for everything--food, gas, bills.  My first payment was $100, then $300, and now I just PIF (current CL is 1800).  I am thinking/hoping that w/my usage and now PIF that I can do a CLI (if no auto CLI) when my statement cuts next week.  Just wondering if anyone else has PIF in the hopes of a CLI (and, again, this will be my 4th month w/them; my scores are all approx. 720 and my usage overall is about 40%).  Thanks.

[Anonymous]

HI NewbieDerrick,

Glad you're on the forums!

Wen you say your usage overall is about 40%, do you mean your overall utilization is 40%?  (That means the reported balance on all your revolving accounts equals 40%) or do you mean that you use about 40% of your credit limit each month?

What other cards do you have open?  How old are they?

[Anonymous]

Hi....thanks for the reply.  I meant my total usage is at 40% (not just per month).  I actually was declined a Barclay's card last December b/c "too new credit/no revolving credit accounts."  In January, I received a mail offer for 1st Premier Bank (I know how bad the terms were but got a decent opening CL of $700).  I figured I'd use that card for a year and just hope that would build my credit profile up.  However, in May I received a Citi offer (and was excited!); I app'd & was approved for $4000!!! In June, I recieved a Discover offer; again, app'd and approved for $1800. 

[coldnmn]

I just got a Discover last week the CSR told me to wait six months before asking for a CLI.

[Scuba]

They tell everyone to wait 6 month's but if I had to do it again, when they offered $3K when I opend the account, I would have said $8K and we would have started the negotiation!

Like so many, I was happy after 20 years trying to finally get a Discover that I said, what the hell, ok I will take $3K.  Big mistake.

I tried to get a CLI after 6 month's and pushing about $5,800 (0 owed to Discover and 1% outstanding everywhere else) so I thought it would be a good time to try.

They held by past baddies against me and said no dice.  Good thing they only used a soft inquiry but the most important thing was in the denial letter, they told me the date of the soft inquiry and it was a soft to my TU 3 week before I asked for the CLI so they used old data.

Next time . . . .

[Anonymous]

CSR also told me to wait 6 months. I should have waited for a higher CL before accepting a discover card. I'm betting I wolnt get CLI at 6 months. If I don't, the discover is going in the sock drawer.

[LTomBerry]

I got my Discover More in May 2010 with s $2000 CL. I did a CLI this April which resulted in a hard pull and all I got out of it was a measly extra $500.

[OneStepFurther]

I was AU on a card that I used/paid myself.  DH never used it even though it was his. He has excellent credit. They started him at $1500 (which made him mad and therefore he refused to use it).  Anyway, I didn't use it heavily, but it did get usage.  I also didn't PIF every month, I would leave a hundred or so balance reporting, but would always pay big amounts (i.e. 400 or 500 at a time, depending on what I had on there).  That card would get an auto increase of $400 like clockwork every three months, starting on the third month.   IIRC, about a week or so after the third statement cuts, there would be an email telling us of the increase.  In a year, it went from 1500 to 3100.

Then the stupid CSR messed it up for me!    DH finally got ticked off with the CSR and closed it after a year. 

Good thing is that because of that, I cleaned up my credit and just recently got approved for a More card and was started at $1000, so I'm wondering if it will be the same for mine. 

Does anyone know if, when you're approved but you have something negative still showing, if that will put you into a type of category that doesn't get CLIs automatically or as easily as someone who has a clean record?  Or is it just the luck of the draw for people?

[tray]

Discover pulls TU cr for cli's if you have any derogs at all very HARD to get a cli.  You will not get a cli with a soft pull, and if you do it will be a hard pull, this is what happened to me, the rep even told me until the derog that I have falls off my cr it will always be a hard pull and I feel a struggle as well for a cli.