topic No love from Citi. Frustrating! in Credit Card Applications

No love from Citi. Frustrating!

slither43 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:05:17 GMT

So, let me set the story. I got the Citi DC back in the fall of '18. It was my second card (Disco $4300 CL) on my rebuild. I didn't get any cards until I was well on my way though. Scores at the time were mid 700's across the board and zero negatives on my report at all. I did go on a bit of an app spree at the time, getting a Chase FU ($5600CL) PP Credit ($6kCL) and the BB&T trifecta ($15k/ea) oh, and an REI USBank card ($3k). Citi gave me a modest $3k limit which was bumped to $4k within the first year. I always kept my usage below 30% or so, paying most cards off before they posted. Early last year I put some heavier usage on my cards for a couple months and was sitting at just above 50% usage. While no one else freaked out, Citi was chasing my CL down after every payment until it settled at the odd limit of $1020. lol Usage is down near 30% and has been virtually all year and while I have received a few autos from others Citi declines every attempt to up my limit. Again, scores are back at about the same level as when I got the card and zero negatives anywhere. Oddly when I get the message for why I can't get it back to where it once was, this is the reasoning I get....

• There's insufficent information regarding the credit limit of your Home Equity Line
of Credit.
• Your credit report shows that you have low credit limits on installment loans.

I will first point out that I have NO home equity line of credit and am currently renting!! Second, the one installment loan I have is my motorcycle which is at about $4k left on a $15 loan. Every week I get multiple mailers trying to get me to apply to their other cards as well as constant emails to do the same. Figured I'd try something different this month and took out the "Flex loan" for my entire credit line and paid it in full a couple weeks later. Only cost me a few bucks to play around. So....thoughts? Worth a call to recon?? I don't want a HP because of it as I'm clean since that spree. Ok, I've rambled enough. Help! haha

Re: No love from Citi. Frustrating!

ChargedUp — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:12:04 GMT

Denial reasons from FI's are typically vague and usually bogus, but it is odd that they're citing HELOC related issues when you don't have one.

Have you checked the lesser known CRA's (EWS, Sagestream, Lexis Nexus, etc.) to make sure there's nothing screwy going on there?

I don't recall seeing many instances of Citi being overly sensitive to a couple months of semi-high utilization around here so I'm thinking something else someplace set them off.

Re: No love from Citi. Frustrating!

slither43 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:18:13 GMT

@ChargedUp wrote:
Denial reasons from FI's are typically vague and usually bogus, but it is odd that they're citing HELOC related issues when you don't have one.

Have you checked the lesser known CRA's (EWS, Sagestream, Lexis Nexus, etc.) to make sure there's nothing screwy going on there?

I don't recall seeing many instances of Citi being overly sensitive to a couple months of semi-high utilization around here so I'm thinking something else someplace set them off.

Yeah, I don't get it. I have not checked any of the other CRA's and although I have owned a home, I never had a HOL on it at any point. I just don't get it. I think I'm going to give them a shout this week as see what they have to say

Re: No love from Citi. Frustrating!

FinStar — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:20:21 GMT

Unfortunately, a call to reconsider the decision will likely not yield much as they'll have to HP. Given that your account experienced AA and was balance-chased, it appears it's internally flagged somehow, which is why any CLI attempts are declined. Although, the HELOC reason is an odd one. Have you ever had a HELOC under your name or jointly with anyone?

My recommendation is to keep your overall utilization below 10% for a while (this would include individual revolving tradelines as well). Keep using the card to build your internal behavioral score and maybe at some point your account could be eligible for a SP CLI.

Re: No love from Citi. Frustrating!

slither43 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:28:41 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
Unfortunately, a call to reconsider the decision will likely not yield much as they'll have to HP. Given that your account experienced AA and was balance-chased, it appears it's internally flagged somehow, which is why any CLI attempts are declined. Although, the HELOC reason is an odd one. Have you ever had a HELOC under your name or jointly with anyone?

My recommendation is to keep your overall utilization below 10% for a while (this would include individual revolving tradelines as well). Keep using the card to build your internal behavioral score and maybe at some point your account could be eligible for a SP CLI.

That was my fear of calling. I don't want that HP. And no, never had a HELOC. I was a bit surprised to see that as a reason. And of the 8 cards I have only 3 are carrying a balance and that will be one by years end. I'm running the Citi card to it's limit every month now and paying in full before it closes to try and rattle the cage a little. Not sure what else to do?

Re: No love from Citi. Frustrating!

FinStar — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:31:24 GMT

@slither43 wrote:
@FinStar wrote:
Unfortunately, a call to reconsider the decision will likely not yield much as they'll have to HP. Given that your account experienced AA and was balance-chased, it appears it's internally flagged somehow, which is why any CLI attempts are declined. Although, the HELOC reason is an odd one. Have you ever had a HELOC under your name or jointly with anyone?

My recommendation is to keep your overall utilization below 10% for a while (this would include individual revolving tradelines as well). Keep using the card to build your internal behavioral score and maybe at some point your account could be eligible for a SP CLI.
That was my fear of calling. I don't want that HP. And no, never had a HELOC. I was a bit surprised to see that as a reason. And of the 8 cards I have only 3 are carrying a balance and that will be one by years end. I'm running the Citi card to it's limit every month now and paying in full before it closes to try and rattle the cage a little. Not sure what else to do?

Let time do its thing. Also, try to mix things up, let a small balance report from time to time and then PIF.