topic Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions in Credit Cards

Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:49:11 GMT

Hello all!

I am new to the forums and finding my way around everything here.

It is such a wealth of information and everyone has been so helpful!

I have a few questions specific to Bank of America.

I currently have a credit card with them - a Visa card.

Recently went through graduate school and had to put some of my last classes on card due to seperation with husband.

As a result of personal circumstances, I fell behind on my payments, and it is currently a negative on my credit report.

My current balance on this card $11,500 - credit limit is $12,000

In the last 44 months it shows 9 times <30 days late; 1 time > 60 days late

I am trying to refinance my home, since I am going through a divorce (I get the house but no spousal support) and am down to 1 income.

Can anyone give me info on BofA and how to best deal with them to get my account back into good standing?

I am trying to make the minimum payments plus $50-$100 but the former lates are getting me.

Any advice, tips, help anyone can offer?

I am new to this and overwhelmed, so I really appreciate any and all help

Thank you all so much!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:00:03 GMT

I have no advice on dealing with them. But I do wish you the best and I hope they don't decide to CLD you putting you over the limit they assigned thus collecting an overlimit fee from you too!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:05:27 GMT

OK I had to look up what CLD meant LOL

I sure hope they don't do that...at one point I was over due to finance charges.

I hate to pay them more than I have to, which is why I was hoping to just roll it all into my mortgage re-fi. But since I have these negatives, that isn't happening as fast as I had hoped...sigh...

Well thank you for your kind words - I am definitely reading all I can here - so much information to digest!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Scuba — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:11:20 GMT

I do not think it is possible dealing with BOA I have been trying for about 12 months but they will not budge. Good luck I am sure many will be watching for your success.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:39:04 GMT

Hmmmm...that is not good news....I was planning on calling them but not sure what to say so that I could at least get somewhere.

I really don't even know what it is that I want - I was late on the payments, I can't dispute that, but I was hoping to somehow get them to remove a few lates.

Still reading and searching trying to find someone who has had success with BofA in this type of situation...

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:55:19 GMT

Ooops! I should have put this in the Credit Card forum - is there any way to have it moved?

Sorry!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

RobertEG — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:12:07 GMT

Hiya!

I dont want to sound negative, but what exactly do you intend asking BOA to do? They are looking to see what you will do..... and to recoup your debt.

You are at over 95% util on the card, which is high risk in their eyes.

The former lates are there. 9 lates means that you are probably already a major derog of 90+ late.

Be sure to make at least the minimum monthly payment to forstall any further 120+ lates posting, or maybe even a CO or CA being pursued by them.

Making the minimum payments on a debt of this level is probably leading to an increase in your total debt.

Assuming your CC fee is 15%, then 15% of the debt is adding around $150 or more just in interest each month,. which does not go to the principal on the debt. So your hole may be getting even deeper, with only minimum payments.

I would talk to my divorce lawyer, and attempt to get some, if not all, of this debt included in your final divorce decree, and thus improve your standing on this debt.

If portions of the debt were incurred after your marriage, it becomes mutual debt under most commumity property laws, and should be a major part of your divorce settleement, regardless of whether he asserts that it was for your personal educatuion.

I hope that you have a good divorce lawyer to resolve this!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

marty56 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:36:02 GMT

BofA is scum. The best way to deal with them is not to by PIF'ing as soon as you can. I would find a good LO and work with them to see if you could qualify based on your current credit report. I would also post in the mortgage foreum here and see what help you could get there on how to qualify for a mortgage.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:58:12 GMT

LOL Marty @ "BofA is scum"! That seems to be the general consensus I am gathering...

That was my original plan to roll the CC debt into my mortgage and be done with BofA altogether.

I guess starting with my mortgage is the best thing to do.

Thanks for responding!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:39:00 GMT

Thank you RobertEG for responding!

Yes, I really wasn't sure what they could do, if anything...I was hoping someone would have some sort of insight into this particular company.

Unfortunately I can't deal with it through divorce - we agreed to take our seperate debts and leave it at that. I actually think I came out better because he had several cc's with high balances.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

marty56 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:43:58 GMT

Usually I am not a fan of rolling CC debt into a mortgage but to be free of BofA, I might be tempted to do it. if you do so use the card once every few months or better yet if you are doing monthly credit monitoring, use it to pay for it each month and PIF each time you use it.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:14:57 GMT

Hello Circe221:

Perhaps my advice will seem radical but I think in the long run you may find it beneficial.

If you live in an area where BOA has Branches, I would go into the nearest one and ask to speak to the Branch Manager. I would explain the situation to them exactly as it is and I think you will find they have the ability to help you far more then someone at the end of a phone line.

There seems to be a growing trend, that it is best to NOT HAVE human contact and perish forbid if any business makes a decision contrary to what a customer wants.

I noticed you mentioned that you are beginning to think that BOA is scum. Bear in mind, the same people calling them that were falling all over them to get their credit products at one time.

I've had a BOA Credit Card since the mid 1970's and I have never had an issue with them. Something tells me I am not the only person who can make that statement.

CONGRATULATIONS on finishing your schooling. !!! I certainly wish that all works out for you. Never forget the personal touch, especially in this time and age of instant gratification.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

GregB — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:29:55 GMT

Without complete info such as income and amount required to refinance this is a bit general, but:

1. In order to refinance you will need to prove that the new payment is a certain percentage of income. Let's say they will require that your payment be no more than 30% of your income after taxes. If you are struggling to make the house payment and minimums on the BofA CC, that seems very unlikely.

2. They will want history on that income. If you have been in graduate school, it is unlikely that you will have a job that has been stable for the required length of time. Even if they only want your current job to be stable for 12 months, do you have that history.

3. You will need FICO scores that meet their requirements. With that utilization on the one CC and the lates, I think that is unlikely, probably almost impossible.

4. I think you will find they require NO lates in the last year.

Normal in a divorce, where one person keeps the house, is for the loan to stay as-is. Both people stay on the loan, but the person keeping it makes the payments. This does vary by state and court order.

It is probably best if you plan on making the payments on the house with your income and doing your best with BofA. That may mean payment arrangements, BK, destroying your credit to keep the house, etc. Best solution is a short term loan from someone or sell something to get caught up. You should think about how important it is to keep the house as it is likely to be difficult.

I've been there and understand it is not easy. I decided to keep the house because it is the only home my young son has known and I wasn't going to let his irresponsible mother destroy everything in his life. The damage was huge.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

marty56 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:50:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I noticed you mentioned that you are beginning to think that BOA is scum. Bear in mind, the same people calling them that were falling all over them to get their credit products at one time.

Perhaps but in my case they went out of there way to trash my credit.

I was a a DMP program and made the mistake of applying for a Sams card. They droped me from the program and raised my minimum payment without contacting me or the DMP company. Finally after about 10 months they sent a letter to me but by then the account was 120 days late for several months.

Once they contacted me the DMP company got them to but me back in the program and I continued to pay them on time until the balance was PIF.

Yeah, it was my fault and I have to live with it for another 3 years. They did it on purpose though.

I will think about your idea and go into a BofA branch and speak with someone about some GW.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:26:37 GMT

All I can say is I have a bank account with them as well and they just took there payment out of my checking account. When I disputed it they gave me my money back but then charged me NSF (non sufficient funds) because I paid other bills thinking I had money in my account.

I had to write a letter to the Attorney General's office. I got all my money back and now I am leaving and going to a new bank.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:37:28 GMT

I think it's very risky to talk to BofA right now. The personal touch is not what you want when you aren't polished and shiny - they seem very willing to come up with some lovely AA's for anything less than optimum. For those with accounts in pristine condition - the personal touch may (or may not) work right now. They're like a mother cub - a bit on the ferocious side - keep your distance.

There's other solutions. Find a way to pay BofA. Get your mortgage straightened out. Don't ask B of A for favors right now - they're likely to chew something off.

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:12:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello Circe221:

Perhaps my advice will seem radical but I think in the long run you may find it beneficial.

If you live in an area where BOA has Branches, I would go into the nearest one and ask to speak to the Branch Manager. I would explain the situation to them exactly as it is and I think you will find they have the ability to help you far more then someone at the end of a phone line.

There seems to be a growing trend, that it is best to NOT HAVE human contact and perish forbid if any business makes a decision contrary to what a customer wants.

I noticed you mentioned that you are beginning to think that BOA is scum. Bear in mind, the same people calling them that were falling all over them to get their credit products at one time.

I've had a BOA Credit Card since the mid 1970's and I have never had an issue with them. Something tells me I am not the only person who can make that statement.

CONGRATULATIONS on finishing your schooling. !!! I certainly wish that all works out for you. Never forget the personal touch, especially in this time and age of instant gratification.

Thank you so much DickC!

Yes, getting my Masters was a long hard road, but it is well worth it. I am now working in the field that I want to be in, doing a job that I love!

It is good to hear good things about BOA. What upset me was that they lowered my Credit Limit when I was having trouble, then hit me with over the credit limit fees, which made it worse.

I guess I felt like they were hitting me when I was down, which of course, is partially my fault since I got myself into this mess in the first place.

But I am hoping by the end of this month to be current on the BOA card, and to be able to start making minimum payments + on time starting next month.

Maybe I will wait until I have a few months history of paying on time and then take your suggestion and actually go to a branch.

Thank you again for the response!

Re: Bank of America - How to Deal/Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:17:57 GMT

THANK YOU GregB for your response! To answer your questions:

GregB wrote:
Without complete info such as income and amount required to refinance this is a bit general, but:

1. In order to refinance you will need to prove that the new payment is a certain percentage of income. Let's say they will require that your payment be no more than 30% of your income after taxes. If you are struggling to make the house payment and minimums on the BofA CC, that seems very unlikely.
My mortgage payment is roughly 40%, give or take 5%, of my take home pay.

2. They will want history on that income. If you have been in graduate school, it is unlikely that you will have a job that has been stable for the required length of time. Even if they only want your current job to be stable for 12 months, do you have that history.
I have been at my current job for 10 years - I went to graduate school at night part time, which is why it took me 5 years to get my masters lol, but I do have that history of income, so that is a +

3. You will need FICO scores that meet their requirements. With that utilization on the one CC and the lates, I think that is unlikely, probably almost impossible.
My current TU FICO is 593, which is not good. I need to try to get this up as soon as possible...

4. I think you will find they require NO lates in the last year.
Yeah....this is a problem because I have had several from BofA. I am going to be current this month, and will hopefully be so from now on. I am looking into getting a part time job and putting all of that $$$ towards the BofA card to try and expedite paying that down.

Normal in a divorce, where one person keeps the house, is for the loan to stay as-is. Both people stay on the loan, but the person keeping it makes the payments. This does vary by state and court order.

It is probably best if you plan on making the payments on the house with your income and doing your best with BofA. That may mean payment arrangements, BK, destroying your credit to keep the house, etc. Best solution is a short term loan from someone or sell something to get caught up. You should think about how important it is to keep the house as it is likely to be difficult.

I've been there and understand it is not easy. I decided to keep the house because it is the only home my young son has known and I wasn't going to let his irresponsible mother destroy everything in his life. The damage was huge.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond. You have given me a lot to think about and consider, and hopefully I will be able to get myself in a better place 6 months - 1 year from now where the refi will be more of a possibility.