cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What is the best place to get LOC

tag
Red1Blue
Super Contributor

Re: What is the best place to get LOC


@Creditaddict wrote:

CU is the only place you could probably get that big of an unsecured line.

I had a 15k line of credit that was open for 1 year of borrowing, then it locked and went into a 5 year repayment. now if you hadn't used it or you had a small balance, they would probably approve for it be opened again or something.


I think I'll wait for 6 months and try for Citi / BOA and see what happens. Probably Penfed is also a good place. Since I got their card just few days ago, I thought I would wait for 6 months and ask them for LOC. From what I hear once you get into Penfed they would send pre approvals. I also have membership with Affinity Federal Credit union and financed 2 cars with them and have Biz card with 1k cl. I might try them also some time around Feb / Mar when my EX inq's drop down to 14 from 36.

Message 11 of 22
wmarat
Valued Contributor

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

I have LOC's

 

Local CU 5k

Fort Knox FCU 5k

PenFed 25k

IN VINO VERITAS.
Message 12 of 22
Red1Blue
Super Contributor

Re: What is the best place to get LOC


@wmarat wrote:

I have LOC's

 

Local CU 5k

Fort Knox FCU 5k

PenFed 25k


How long did it take you to get the loc with Penfed? What kind of scores and paperwork did you have to provide to them?

Message 13 of 22
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

I have a $25K LOC from PenFed as well. It just popped up on my preapprovals. I've never used it. If they had offered a CLI, I would have taken that instead.

 

(making way for wmarat's reply)

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 14 of 22
wmarat
Valued Contributor

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

Preapproval, no hard pull, no paperwork.

IN VINO VERITAS.
Message 15 of 22
score_building
Senior Contributor

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

Sure you would've thought of this one if qualified but just in case the PSECU PSLV is pretty nice and would be virtually guaranteed 20k if approved.

DCU EQ 5.0, Citi EQ 08 Bankcard, PenFed EX NG2
EX 08: AFCU, Amex, Chase, PSECU EX 98(?)
TU 08: Barclays, Discover
Message 16 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

 


@haulingthescoreup wrote:

I have a $25K LOC from PenFed as well. It just popped up on my preapprovals. I've never used it. If they had offered a CLI, I would have taken that instead.

 

(making way for wmarat's reply)


 

Hey hauling,

 

I have been trying to get an answer to this but no cigar, anyway, I have had the visa with penfed for a year now, pre-approvals have been showing on my online banking from penfed for everything (loc, thrift credit, auto loan, boat loan etc) however, no pre-approval for CLI for my CC. If I apply for a CLI with Penfed, do you know if it will be a hard pull or a soft?

 

Thanks

Message 17 of 22
chasmith
Valued Contributor

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

Using large LOC as emergency cash instead of building a true cash reserve is what put me into BK.  The old saying about the time you can borrow from a bank is when you don't need the money is very true - BOA balance chased me on the LOC which lowered my scores and cut me off when I needed access.

 

Just be careful.

BK7 Filed 8/11/2009 Discharged 11/23/2009. Purchased new home 4/11/2012
Starting Score:11/16/2009 EQ 566 11/16/2009 TU 538
Interim Score: 12/27/2012 EQ 683 09/17/2012 EX (lender) 670 1/01/2013 TU 701
Current Score: 11/06/2013 EQ 708 11/06/2013 EX 702 11/16/2013 702 11/06/2013 TU 729
Goal Score: EQ 740 EX 740 TU 740
Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 18 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

If you're going to use the LOC as an emergency fund, if the bank asked you for the reason you are getting this LOC---would you tell the bank that?   I didn't think so.

 

 

LOCs are for financing purchases into an installment where you can't get an installment for it or the terms someone is offering for an installment is not favorable.   It's also a place to go instead of a cash advance on a CC, because cash advances have onerous borrowing costs while a LOC doesn't. 

 

Say you're moving into a house, but it needs ALL new appliances and a new boiler and a plumber to fix the radiators.    An LOC is a much better choice to finance this than credit cards.   Putting $9K-12K on credit cards introduces the risk that you will get rate jacked by the CCC.

 

Or if you've already been rate-jacked, you can use the LOC as a way to BT off the rate-jack and move the balance over to a cheaper loan.

 

LOC's are also good to protect your emergency savings account.   If you got $25K in cash sitting around but just got hit with an $8K expense, it's safer if you put the 8K on a LOC.   You spent a lot of time building up that 25K, so if you value your balance more that you mind paying some finance charges, then keep the 25K and just pay down the 8K over time.   Revolving LOCs help your FICO anyway, so just pay it down to 0.

 

Another OK use for a LOC is to advance yourself a windfall payment that you know is coming up.   But again, you're taking a risk on this.    For example, if you're getting a performance bonus and you've gotten confirmation when it's coming but you need the money straight away, then you can use the LOC as a bridge while you wait to get the check.  This is called a "bridge loan".

 

If you're a small biz owner, a LOC is useful if you need a bridge loan for inventory, supplies and payroll.

 

 

 

There are lots of good uses for a LOC but there is NO good use for a LOC as an "Emergency Fund".     If you get into a big emergency and you have nothing saved, where are you going to get the money to pay the installments if you plop it all on your LOC?        If you don't have the money, you're probably going to be paying the minimum payment and will pay maximum finance charges.    An LOC is identical to a credit card.   Most everyone here knows a CC is not an emergency fund.   An LOC is not one, either.

 

Message 19 of 22
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: What is the best place to get LOC

 


@Anonymous wrote:

@haulingthescoreup wrote:

I have a $25K LOC from PenFed as well. It just popped up on my preapprovals. I've never used it. If they had offered a CLI, I would have taken that instead.

 

(making way for wmarat's reply)


Hey hauling,

 

I have been trying to get an answer to this but no cigar, anyway, I have had the visa with penfed for a year now, pre-approvals have been showing on my online banking from penfed for everything (loc, thrift credit, auto loan, boat loan etc) however, no pre-approval for CLI for my CC. If I apply for a CLI with Penfed, do you know if it will be a hard pull or a soft?

 

Thanks


 

I haven't had the nerve to call and ask them, because I've changed jobs recently, and I don't want to go through the income restatement bit. Smiley Tongue

 

I've read that if they offer you a second card, you can call and ask that your current CL be increased by that amount instead. But that's not happening to you yet, and it didn't happen to me the first time around.

 

Since they have offered you an LOC, which is revolving rather than installment, it might be worth calling to ask if that approved amount can be applied to your current CC CL instead. Maybe it would work; maybe not.

 

I had always thought that this was the only way to get a CLI, but some people seem to say that they've called to ask for one instead. How successful that is, and whether it results in a hard, I dunno. Sorry, I'm not very useful on this one, I'm afraid. With PenFed, I just wait for the scraps to fall from the table and gobble them up.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 20 of 22
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.