topic Re: AMEX income question?! Please help! in Credit Cards

AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 23:02:46 GMT

I recently applied and was approved for 2 Amex cards (Gold & BCE)

On the app I put down ALL available income, I still live at home so I put down mine and my parents NET income (after taxes and living expenses, technically under reported). I added both my parents as AUs on my Gold card account.

A friend of mine who has AMEX cards swore that I misrepresented my income as Amex only wants YOUR personal income.

Well to avoid any future issues with FR, I called Amex directly and I explained the exact situation above to the CSR. And asked him what steps I should take to ensure there will not be any issues in the future. The only thing he said to do was, make my payments on time and ASSURED me that it was perfectly acceptable to list my HOUSEHOLD/ including parents income. I asked him to verify again which he did and also told me it was not necessary to update Amex with only my individual income. He said "Sir you have nothing to worry about as we always do our homework here at American Express".

So my question is: I opened up a few new other CC accounts this month (to build on available credit), utilization is less than 1% across all my accounts, usally always PIF. However I am now nervous because FR could occur... And given what the CSR told me and what I've read on the threads here, both are VERY conflicting...

I need some advice, should I update my Amex profile with only MY INDIVIDUAL income (according to tax statements) now before any FR occurs or leave as is, like the CSR told me to? Accounts are less than 30 days old, balances PIF/0. I love my Amex cards and do not want to jeopardize my relationship with them.

Please help!!!

Re: Amex income question?! Please help!

icyhot — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 22:56:21 GMT

What does FR mean?

Re: Amex income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 22:56:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I recently applied and was approved for 2 Amex cards (Gold & BCE)

On the app I put down ALL available income, I still live at home so I put down mine and my parents NET income (after taxes and living expenses, technically under reported). I added both my parents as AUs on my Gold card account.

A friend of mine who has AMEX cards swore that I misrepresented my income as Amex only wants YOUR personal income.

Well to avoid any future issues with FR, I called Amex directly and I explained the exact situation above to the CSR. And asked him what steps I should take to ensure there will not be any issues in the future. The only thing he said to do was, make my payments on time and ASSURED me that it was perfectly acceptable to list my HOUSEHOLD/ including parents income. I asked his to verify again which he did and also told me it was not necessary to update Amex with only my individual income. He said "Sir you have nothing to worry about as we always do our homework here at American Express".

So my question is: I opened up a few news other CC accounts this month (to build on available credit), utilization is less than 1% all my accounts, usally always PIF. However I am now nervous because FR could occur... And given what the CSR told me and what I've read on the threads here, both are VERY conflicting...

I need some advice, should I update Amex with only MY INDIVIDUAL income (according to tax statements) now before any FR occurs or leave as is, like the CSR told me to? Accounts are less than 30 days old, balances PIF/0. I love my Amex cards and do not want to jeopardize my relationship with them.

Please help!!!

I would update that to your own personal verifiable by tax document income.

AMEX is about the only lender I personally follow that hard rule with. All others get mine and half the wife's income reported.

Re: Amex income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 22:58:47 GMT

Financial Review from Amex

Re: Amex income question?! Please help!

taxi818 — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 23:40:31 GMT

Agreed. the way amex words it. its all income availble to you. not just your personal income. so like in my case. Self employed. sure. my take home is a different ball game. but the total income available is much higher than i go home with. and that is also on my tax documents. so i tell them the total.

i will give example. this past year. i earned about 90k.

however i have about 70k in expenses. self employed again. so my take home was only 20k. according to tax forms.

But on the tax form it also shows the entire 90k that i had available. so. at that rate. i put about 25k on credit cards and paid off. how if my take home was only 20k. because so much more was available to me than i took home. so that is what i tell them.

Any other lenders. i just tell them my take home pay from the previous year.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 23:46:29 GMT

Leave it as it is until Amex comes calling... I know you want to do the right thing but i'd wait until they want to verify and not jump the gun.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

redbeard — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 23:46:05 GMT

The way Amex asks the question is very confusing. They want to know about all of your income, or so they say.

Truth is though, it is doubtful they used that in the calculation of your credit line, unless you have a very high line.

I believe the question is more about what income do YOU have available to pay the bill when it comes due? If you can spend your parents income, then you can count it. If they prefer you to leave their money alone, then don't count it.

In the meantime, don't sweat it.

Dan

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 23:52:57 GMT

Your friend is wrong and you are causing yourself unnecessary worry. I just app'd with AMEX the other day and it clearly says for you to put all income available to you, not just your own. I figure it is set up like that for people that don't work but have someone that takes care of them financially. You filled out the AMEX application according to what they wanted. AMEX asked for all available income and not just yours, you gave them the numbers that they wanted, end of story. I would not advise that you keep tampering with this because if you do you will likely cause yourself problems. I like the motto "if there isn't a problem, don't try to fix it".

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 00:02:41 GMT

Why would you want to open a can of worms?????

just pay your bill on time. And NEVER ask for a cli that will cause your credit limit to exceed 25k.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Kirmie2010 — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 00:08:03 GMT

All available income, thats fine to include your parents as long as you know they will give you all of their income to help with your bills and give you their tax documents/pay stub information. (if you included their full income) If not, its not available income because its not available to you.

I dont have an AMEX so dont know how closely they monitor that but yeah if they review, they will can your card probably. Its mis represented info on an application.

Dont change your income to lower than when you got the card, thats no bueno!

Like most others say, id leave it as is. If you didnt report a large income like 80k plus you should be fine.

Its all my opinion of course I dont have any degrees or certificates in this stuff.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 00:57:47 GMT

First remember FRs are very rare, so there are many other things more worth worrying about (is that just a cough, or a sign of something more onimious, for example).

IF it comes to an FR, they will almost certainly want your tax transcript and if there is a big difference between that and what you said, you will be asked questions. At that point (remembering again this is very rare) you might be asked to get your parents to give approval for their tax forms, or Amex may just decide to reduce limits/cancel the card.

As for CLIs, if they ask for a tax transcript as proof of income you are free not to provide and just won't get the CLI, not a big deal.

But bottom line is, as many others have said, don't bother changing stuff now. It can create attention when none is needed.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 01:04:51 GMT

Just be able to provide proof such as your parents' W-2s to prove the income is available and you shouldn't have to worry.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Existentialist — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 01:25:32 GMT

All sage advice herein but if you're still antsy about the whole thing then do this... Establish some form of written communication with them re: your concerns and if the answer is consistent with what you've already been told then file the communications somewhere in the (unlikely) event there is an issue @ some point down the line. You now have written documentation of your previous concerns putting the onus on them to explain any discrepancies.

That said I echo the sentiments of others that it shouldnt be of overwhelming concern but I do get that we can all see a prism thru different perspectives and theres certainly nothing mrong with a little reassurance. Hope this helps.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

CreditDunce — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 01:27:20 GMT

I wouldn't worry about it. The chances of you getting FR'd are just about zero unless you are doing fishy stuff. If you are just using the card for normal every day expenses, nothing to worry about.

Next time Amex asks for your income, only include your income as reported on your taxes (gross, not net). If your parents are paying your credit card bills, maybe the answer would be different. But if they are just giving you free rent, I wouldn't include their income.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 05:10:11 GMT

I'm only making normal everyday purchases on the cards, keep balances low and PIF... Main reason I got them was to just take advantage of the rewards with the money that I was already spending.

I reported available NET household income at 95K (gross is 275K+) and my personal tax statement was half (45k) of that last year. So I don't want that to be an issue!

Also, I am worried when Amex sees a total of 6 new revolving accounts hit my reports in April, they will immediately FR me...

I'm not worried about the FR IF Amex actually acknowledges my HOUSEHOLD income, which is very strong... Thoughts?

Thank you all who provided insight!

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 05:46:33 GMT

I think you have nothing to worry about and FR is overblown around here. I had a discussion the other day with my Mother about credit cards and brought up financial review and she asked me if it had something to do with school. Most people outside of Myfico don't even know what FR is.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

cashnocredit — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 05:54:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm only making normal everyday purchases on the cards, keep balances low and PIF... Main reason I got them was to just take advantage of the rewards with the money that I was already spending.

I reported available NET household income at 95K (gross is 275K+) and my personal tax statement was half (45k) of that last year. So I don't want that to be an issue!

Also, I am worried when Amex sees a total of 6 new revolving accounts hit my reports in April, they will immediately FR me...

I'm not worried about the FR IF Amex actually acknowledges my HOUSEHOLD income, which is very strong... Thoughts?

Thank you all who provided insight!

Never use the phrase "Household Income" as abuse of that is one of the things that led to the CARD Act. Originally the Act was interpreted to say "income" always meant individual income however the CFPB was given the authority to interpret the law and they have ruled that "income" includes all income a person can reasonably expect to have access to. Even so the CFPB eschews the term "Household Income" as it is wide open to abuse. For instance by 5 roomates in a house pooling their income for credit purposes. The current definition of income is still pretty broad. For instance some of the proceeds of student loans can be included in "income."

So stick with the CFPB's current guidline, you are entitled to state your income as that which you have a reasonable expectation of access to.

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

wmweeza — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 05:56:15 GMT

No worries, it's household income, but when you move out you have to declare ONLY the income you have available to you http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304906704579113762195102626

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

compassion101 — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 06:27:14 GMT

Please do nothing. Find something else to worry about

Re: AMEX income question?! Please help!

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 06:44:10 GMT

I'm currently a housewife & use my husband's income plus our small business income. I pay all the bills, etc. He probably doesn't have a clue how all things work with the bills. I have my own cards & use all of his income & business income. Don't see why I can't since it is in our bank account. I think you'll be fine while you're at home. I wouldn't worry about it. It's when you have your own place that you will need to change it.