topic Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM in Credit Card Approvals

NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Fri, 12 May 2017 23:28:05 GMT

My husband and I joined NFCU recently.

(That said, we wish we had known about the May Military Appreciation Month bonus for being referred by an existing member and getting a bonus $50 for your savings account. Leaving this note here for someone else to find. Totally would have waited for May for the extra $. That promotion (at least in 2017) seems to be good for military and government contractors and their depedants, for future reference.)

We're preparing for a mortgage application in 3 years and wanted to make sure we each had 3 TLs in our files.

He had a thin credit file but high 700/low 800 FICO 8 scores. I have similar scores, but a much thicker file.

He applied for a CashRewards card online and was not instantly approved. He got the request for more information, turns out he's filled out the monthly income with his annual income amoutn. After that was cleared up he received a text message stating he was approved for a $24K starting CL and 10.4% APR.

Next, he applied (over the phone this time) for the often recommended Checking LOC for the 15K max and we added my name to application. It was instantly approved.

Since we were on a roll, and I'd read how generous NFCU was, I decided to apply for a Cash Rewards card as well.

I already have 2 TLs with decent credit lines, between 15-19K each. But this was the first time I was applying as a SAHM.

I applied over the phone. The agent didn't think I could use household income - but I'd read up on the law and had him put the application through anyway.

I was not instantly approved.

Two days later I received a secure message stating I was approved, but the offer was a paltry $500 credit line but with a 10.4% APR .

After we stopped laughing at the offer, I started to get offended (given my other credit card limits, my credit score and my excellent credit history) then I remembered what I'd read here about recons and decided to give it a go - the same day I received the offer.

I didn't see anyone talking about recon-ing a starting credit line, which is why I'm leaving this post.

I used secure messaging to leave a polite letter indicating that I was pleased with the approval but disappointed with the SCL. I explained why I applied for the card and how I intended to use it (recurring bill payments). I stressed that I had more than reasonable acces to our household income as I deal with our bills. I expressed that I would have a very difficult time meeting the initial spending bonus requirements with such a low credit line. I also threw out there that I have Signature VISA from USAA. I did NOT ask for a specific credit line, and instead said I wanted enough to make use of the benefits of the card and the initial bonus. I was super polite. I also stated that I was not authorizing yet another hard pull for the reconsideration because they'd alreay done it 4 times since we joined.

I sent that off just before midnight the same day I received the offer. I didn't expect to hear back from them for several days. Much to my surprise I got a not back the very next day asking for some more specifics - what my husbands income was, how do I have access to it and how much was available to pay bills with. I replied, again not expecting to hear back for a few days and this time had a response in less than 30 minutes.

My $500 CL was reconned to $20k, effective immediately.

So yes, hard pull happy NFCU got me 4x (with TU to join plus EQ [I believe for the CLOC] & TU again [twice before I even submitted the recon] for the CC applications)

But I've added a 15K LOC and a 20K Visa to my profile bringing me to 3 or 4 TLs total - not sure if the LOC reports as revolving. I know the hard pulls will drop off a year before it's time to apply for a mortgage, so I'm not that worried about them. In addition, since we might consider NFCU as a lender for our VA Loan we thought it would be good to establish a history with them ahead of time.

Thank you to all the people who have posted about NFCU in the past, I wouldn't have had the balls to do my first recon without the missives that have been left here by those who came before me. xx

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Fri, 12 May 2017 23:46:02 GMT

Hi keaira welcome to myfico & congratulations to you & DH on your amazing Navy Federal approvals! Way to be persistent as that is one sweet recon with an amazing SL! 😊

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Fri, 12 May 2017 23:49:16 GMT

Welcome and congratulations on your NFCU approvals and successful recon....

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Fri, 12 May 2017 23:58:25 GMT

Welcome to MF! It might be your first post but you already know about Navy and reconning. Also loved reading how this is in preparation for a mortgate in a few years. That long term planning will get you far. I went with Navy for my mortgate actually. Didn't have any problems. The only bad side to Navy so far for me is that they are HP happy. But with the credit lines they grant, I am OK with that. Congrats again on your success!

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 00:31:03 GMT

Welcome to the forums. Great post! Good job. Navy is great.

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 00:33:59 GMT

Welcome! Congrats on the recon and great limit!

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

CreditInspired — Sat, 13 May 2017 01:18:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Two days later I received a secure message stating I was approved, but the offer was a paltry $500 credit line but with a 10.4% APR .
After we stopped laughing at the offer, I started to get offended (given my other credit card limits, my credit score and my excellent credit history) then I remembered what I'd read here about recons and decided to give it a go - the same day I received the offer.

I used secure messaging to leave a polite letter indicating that I was pleased with the approval but disappointed with the SCL. I explained why I applied for the card and how I intended to use it (recurring bill payments). I stressed that I had more than reasonable acces to our household income as I deal with our bills. I expressed that I would have a very difficult time meeting the initial spending bonus requirements with such a low credit line. I also threw out there that I have Signature VISA from USAA. I did NOT ask for a specific credit line, and instead said I wanted enough to make use of the benefits of the card and the initial bonus. I was super polite. I also stated that I was not authorizing yet another hard pull for the reconsideration because they'd alreay done it 4 times since we joined.

I sent that off just before midnight the same day I received the offer. I didn't expect to hear back from them for several days. Much to my surprise I got a not back the very next day asking for some more specifics - what my husbands income was, how do I have access to it and how much was available to pay bills with. I replied, again not expecting to hear back for a few days and this time had a response in less than 30 minutes.

My $500 CL was reconned to $20k, effective immediately.

So yes, hard pull happy NFCU got me 4x (with TU to join plus EQ [I believe for the CLOC] & TU again [twice before I even submitted the recon] for the CC applications)
But I've added a 15K LOC and a 20K Visa to my profile bringing me to 3 or 4 TLs total - not sure if the LOC reports as revolving. I know the hard pulls will drop off a year before it's time to apply for a mortgage, so I'm not that worried about them. In addition, since we might consider NFCU as a lender for our VA Loan we thought it would be good to establish a history with them ahead of time.

Thank you to all the people who have posted about NFCU in the past, I wouldn't have had the balls to do my first recon without the missives that have been left here by those who came before me. xx

BAM! and that's the way you do it. All I can say is go on with your bad self. Congratulations on a recon well done.

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 02:19:35 GMT

Thank you everyone. I figured it was time to give back since I've been lurking heavily for the past few weeks. I hope my story helps some other SAHM get off the fence about applying and reconning, if necessary.

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 03:51:48 GMT

That's an insane recon. I was given a $1.3k SL and was so happy I was approved I didn't even think to recon. Awesome work!

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 05:23:14 GMT

It is more in line with my other two cards, but it is now my highest credit line. I think my highest prior was 19k.

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 13 May 2017 12:02:26 GMT

Lol, for the love of acrynyms, i cant figure out what a SAHM is? Guess thats my 20k question of the day

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 12:49:41 GMT

Congratulations, keaira, and to your hubby on the awesome approvals from Navyfed! Years ago, a SAHM had a tough time qualifying for credit cards, and in most cases, ended up wtihout them. Best she could do was to be added as an authorized user. Thank goodness the laws changed, and these moms (and dads) can establish credit, and build beautiful credit scores. You knew your rights, exercised them, and Navyfed responded accordingly. Good for you!

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 12:51:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Welcome to MF! It might be your first post but you already know about Navy and reconning. Also loved reading how this is in preparation for a mortgate in a few years. That long term planning will get you far. I went with Navy for my mortgate actually. Didn't have any problems. The only bad side to Navy so far for me is that they are HP happy. But with the credit lines they grant, I am OK with that. Congrats again on your success!

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 12:55:01 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Lol, for the love of acrynyms, i cant figure out what a SAHM is? Guess thats my 20k question of the day

Hi, AJC! SAHM means "Stay At Home Mom".

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 15:10:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Lol, for the love of acrynyms, i cant figure out what a SAHM is? Guess thats my 20k question of the day
Hi, AJC! SAHM means "Stay At Home Mom".

+1 weedeb! Hi AJC you're posts never fail to make me lol! 😁

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 16:00:01 GMT

Yes, stay at home mom. I hit the pause button on my career to have a family before it was too late. I assumed I would never get another credit card, but was happy to read that those laws had changed. I can say that I'm very surprised at the 20k line. USAA only gave me 10k (pre-CLIs) back when I was single and had just left the freelance world to a steady 100k job. But as I've learned, NFCU seems to be the most generous.

Hubs got his 24k with a single trade line in his name plus two AUs from me, making less than I used make per year. I call that very generous. He was approved for a Discover card recently too, and they only gave him 6k. We expected that with the thin file but felt we could get it raised through CLIs for the next year before going into the garden two years before the mortgage application. Figure several months of pif balances will help that.

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 13 May 2017 16:49:00 GMT

Well then HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU SAHM AND WAFH MOMS

just be glad your acrynym doesnt come off as SAMs ( Surface to Air Missles, Yikes, this being the Navy and all

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Anonymous — Sat, 13 May 2017 17:14:11 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Well then HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU SAHM AND WAFH MOMS

just be glad your acrynym doesnt come off as SAMs ( Surface to Air Missles, Yikes, this being the Navy and all

You crack me up, Joe! You need to make some money with your sense of humor and witticism!! Seriously!!

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

Aduke1122 — Sat, 13 May 2017 18:47:18 GMT

Hey there Op congrats on the amazing approval and RECON ESPECIALLY, this is the biggest problem I have had with Navy Fed , I am a SAHM too and when I apped last July I was denied but did recon a SL approval of 500 , at the time my scores were much lower than yours as I was just starting out my rebuild and still had some negative info left on my reports and not much experience at all with revolving lines , since then I have cleaned my reports up and established positive credit lines and payment history, very low Utilization , so now my scores are 60 to 70 pts higher sitting in the upper 600s and yet I am still stuck at my 500 SL , I have asked several times for a CLI and am denied everytime . I have started to lose faith in them and have not asked for a long time and plan to wait until my year mark to ask one last time . Your post gives me a little hope . When I was first approved they did ask if I had access to household income and I said yes we shared several bank accounts and I am in charge of all our financial stuff and they asked if I could send proof and I said certainly but then they said they didn't need it . I don't know where to go from here , I'm just waiting for a year mark . If they deny me again I'll send another recon maybe similar to yours in some aspects . But if they still won't budge I plan to just move on and be done with it

Re: NFCU starting credit line Recon for SAHM

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 13 May 2017 19:07:15 GMT

I feel for you Aduke, you have reasonable access to family income and in many families even though one earns the money sometimes its the other who takes charge. I really hope they give it to you.

Ill definetely know more or less where i stand with Navy in August when i go for it again. I did actually try a little early recently but thankfully i dont think i got any hps, still having issues with Eq aghh!. But the letters i got was for account too new so i have to wait to see next time.

Funny thing us my Dads credit is rebuilding from a bk7 as well , almost same time i did mine and his credit is pretty good considering. He pays all the bills for him and his wife and he has her credit like perfect.

Lets hope Navy comes to their senses

Weedeb, i wish my humor could make me money, id get approved for Credit One Ultimate Visa real quick