Rebuilding Credit - Not sure where to go from here.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, here's where I'm currently at:

VS: $650 CL (no balance)

Express: $350 CL (no balance)

Overstock: $1050 CL (no balance)

Barclay: $500 CL (~$200 balance, paid in full monthly)

Quicksilver One: $3500 CL (~$900 balance, paid in full monthly)

Cap1 Platinum: $3000 CL (no balance)

@Anonymous credit scores have been going up pretty consistently for the past year, with Credit Karma showing my TU @ 694 & EQ @ 635. Both of my Cap1 cards received large CLI's in November of last year. I requested a CLI on my Barclay about a year ago and was denied. The hard pulls that show on my credit are from March, April, & May of last year. Today, I clicked the luv button on my VS and it went up from $350 to the $650 above.

Now, a couple of questions:

1. Since I request a CLI on my VS today, should I space out CLI requests on my Express & Overstock cards (all through Comenity Bank)? Not necessary. Go ahead and give them a shot.

2. Is it worth requesting a CLI on my Barclay since I've had it for 2.5 years and never got a CLI? Is it worth the HP? I'm not a Barclays customer so I'll leave this one alone.

3. I'm hoping to get approved for a 0% apr (intro) card in a few months as there is a 2k purchase I'd like to make and pay no interest on. Should I go for another Cap1 card? Or is it a good idea to go with someone else? You should PD your Platinum Cap1 card now. Call or chat with the CS and ask what offers are available for you.  This card is way too old to still be a Platinum. That is a sub-prime card and with that CL you should have long been in a QS or Venture. They may say they have some better 0% cards too.

4. I just started a new job on 2/14 and will be receiving my first paycheck on 3/4 (bi-weekly pay). How long should someone wait after new employment to apply for new lines of credit? Most people don't have their job info on their reports for many reasons. Changing jobs has no bearing on new accts. More pay will have a positive effect since they always ask your annual income on app's.

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[Anonymous]

Express is now $650 (luv button) and Overstock is "wait 7-10 days" yada yada (luv button). I've heard that you can request CLI's from Comenity cards every 31 days, but I've also read that every once in a while it's a HP. Definitely not worth a HP on those cards. In fact, I've never charged a single thing on express, Overstock, or VS.

Also, regarding #3, what is PD? Both Cap1 cards are less than a year old (April for platinum and May for QS1), so what do you mean they're old? They started at 1k & 500 (respectively) and got huge auto CLI's at 6 months old.

BTW, thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I greatly appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Express is now $650 (luv button) and Overstock is "wait 7-10 days" yada yada (luv button). I've heard that you can request CLI's from Comenity cards every 31 days, but I've also read that every once in a while it's a HP. Definitely not worth a HP on those cards. In fact, I've never charged a single thing on express, Overstock, or VS.

Also, regarding #3, what is PD? Both Cap1 cards are less than a year old (April for platinum and May for QS1), so what do you mean they're old? They started at 1k & 500 (respectively) and got huge auto CLI's at 6 months old.

BTW, thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I greatly appreciate it!

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You're welcome, I saw you started this thread a long time ago and wwere updating so I jumped in to help.

I bang on the LUV button every 2-3 days with Overstock. I got 1 small CLI within the first couple of weeks with them but I did make a purchase. Since then I keep hitting it and they keep sending me letters (I'm signed up for electronic docs) with teh "our records indicate your credit limit was recently incresade" yada yada.

As for the Cap1 cards. PC is the term and yours are way too old to still be in a sub-prime status. Cap1 will not automatically upgrade these cards so you need to initiate it. Jump on live chat or give them a call and ask what offers are available for you. I am 100% sure that you can PC the Platinum to a regular QuickSilver card wtih $0 AF and 1.5% cash back (Do this first). After a few days go back and ask if you can combine the QS1 into the QS (There is also a button on your acct pages that says something like "Combine Accounts". You could use it too at this point). You will end up with 1 card that has the total of the 2 CL's combined, no AF and cash back on every dollar of spend on it. 

What you are looking for is to get those sub-prime cards upgraded to a prime status. I'm told that the CLI's on prime accts are higher too. Once you combine the 2 you will not be able to request another CLI for 6mths since combining counts as a CLI.

[Anonymous]

Even though i would be trying to upgrade the platinum card, should I wait until I pay off the current statement balance on my QS1 before contacting Cap1 customer service? I've never had my balance at 900 for a month before (usually in the 4-500 range), so I don't want to make it look like I'm doing it because I have a good sized balance on one of my cards.

And what does PC stand for?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Even though i would be trying to upgrade the platinum card, should I wait until I pay off the current statement balance on my QS1 before contacting Cap1 customer service? I've never had my balance at 900 for a month before (usually in the 4-500 range), so I don't want to make it look like I'm doing it because I have a good sized balance on one of my cards.

And what does PC stand for?

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PC = Product Change.

Don't worry about the balance. Its barely 30% of the limit.  Once you get the card upgraded, you should be eligible for CLI's in a few more months (its every six months) request one more set of CLI's on both cards, then combine them and roll the QS1 card into the upgraded Platinum card. wait a day or so, then app for another platinum card, get it upgraded in two months and start requesting a CLI til you get it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, here's where I'm currently at:

VS: $650 CL (no balance)

Express: $350 CL (no balance)

Overstock: $1050 CL (no balance)

Barclay: $500 CL (~$200 balance, paid in full monthly)

Quicksilver One: $3500 CL (~$900 balance, paid in full monthly)

Cap1 Platinum: $3000 CL (no balance)

@Anonymous credit scores have been going up pretty consistently for the past year, with Credit Karma showing my TU @ 694 & EQ @ 635. Both of my Cap1 cards received large CLI's in November of last year. I requested a CLI on my Barclay about a year ago and was denied. The hard pulls that show on my credit are from March, April, & May of last year. Today, I clicked the luv button on my VS and it went up from $350 to the $650 above.

Now, a couple of questions:

1. Since I request a CLI on my VS today, should I space out CLI requests on my Express & Overstock cards (all through Comenity Bank)?

2. Is it worth requesting a CLI on my Barclay since I've had it for 2.5 years and never got a CLI? Is it worth the HP?

3. I'm hoping to get approved for a 0% apr (intro) card in a few months as there is a 2k purchase I'd like to make and pay no interest on. Should I go for another Cap1 card? Or is it a good idea to go with someone else?

4. I just started a new job on 2/14 and will be receiving my first paycheck on 3/4 (bi-weekly pay). How long should someone wait after new employment to apply for new lines of credit?

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Barclays is kind of chintzy on CLI's unless your scores are moving up a lot. Mine went from $1K to $1400 at 6 months. The best way to do it is to look up their backdoor number, call in and ask if you might be eligible for a lower interest rate - when they check, then ask if you're eligible for a CLI with the soft pull. I'll be trying thisa in a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Even though i would be trying to upgrade the platinum card, should I wait until I pay off the current statement balance on my QS1 before contacting Cap1 customer service? I've never had my balance at 900 for a month before (usually in the 4-500 range), so I don't want to make it look like I'm doing it because I have a good sized balance on one of my cards.

And what does PC stand for?

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Did you do this? What was the result? Need more info or help???

[Anonymous]

I will let you guys know as soon as I have a chance to contact them. Work has got me on some long hours right now (which I'm not minding at all). But this is at the top of my to-do list along with hopefully snagging a few more soft pull cards off the shopping cart trick.

& as always, thank you NormanFH!

[Anonymous]

Just got off the Online Chat with Cap1 and they are upgrading my Platinum to the QS card (no annual fee) immediately and sending my replacement.  So, once I get the new card, I'll get ahold of them and see if they'll combine the CL's for both so I can lose the annual fee on the QS1 and have a larger limit on a single card.  Is that usually a simple request as well?  They did say that accepting the offer would mean I am not eligible for any other offers on that particular account for 6 months, does that include comining the CL's?

I also got a $300 CL on a Buckle (soft pull) & $1,000 on Motorola (soft pull) last night. 

[Anonymous]

Contacting Barclay is my next move. Hopefully it won't be a hassle to increase the limit or PC the card or something. I'm not gonna let them go with a HP though. And if I don't get anywhere with live chat, I'll gladly send a nice long email or letter detailing my history with them. I've seen a few posts that have had success that way as a last resort.