topic Re: Opened lots of new accounts 15 months ago... what to do now. in Credit Cards

Opened lots of new accounts 15 months ago... what to do now.

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 03:56:16 GMT

My FICO score years ago when I checked was in the 720 range. About 3 years ago, I got upset at all the CCCs I had, pif and closed all the accounts out of spite.

The only negatives I have were 4 late payments from 3-4+ years ago (2 to Chase, 1 BOA, 1 HSBC-Bestbuy), which I was reading about possibly sending them a goodfaith letter to see if they would be willing to delete these from my credit history? (Any suggestions on this?)

The only account I kept open until recently was the Bestbuy-HSBC store card, which I requested a credit increase middle of last year and was given from $1500 to $3500.

I have had about 10 installment loans ranging from 600-2500 that have been paid off, 2 auto loans, 1 paid off @ $17.5k I still owe $6.7k on my current car. I have recently found out that my oldest account is a Shell/Citi account from 1986 that I am apparently an authorized user on from my parents. Not sure if that account helps at all, since I was born in 1983.

As of 2 weeks ago the only accounts that showed to my name as open were:

HSBC - Bestbuy $3,500 (which has about 96% util due to there 18 Months 0% promos, $1k of which is due in the next 60 days to avoid $500 deferred interest)

I went out and applied for reasonably every card I could find, at first It was just 1-2, but then like an addicted gambler applied for everything I could find that was worth a shot, and 1 that was a long shot.

Active:

HSBC - BestBuy $3500, $3300 used (24.24%) ($1k due in 60 days from 0% for 18 months offers)

Longshot:

AMEX Delta Reserve, Declined (Too low credit score, too low # revolving acct, too many inquiries, too many neg statuses)

Applied:

Paypal Extra's Platinum, Approved $1500 (23.99%)

Discover More, Approved $1000 (0% 9 months, 19.99% after)

Chase Slate Blueprint, Approved $2300 (0% 12 month, 11.99% after)

Citi Dividen Platinum, Approved $4000 (0% 15 month, 16.99% after)

Target Red Card, Approved $600 (29.99%)

BankAmericard, Approved $2000 (19.99%)

Barclaycard (Apple), Approved $1300 (Then they closed it when I actived the card stating too many inquiries/recent account history)

Walmart Discover, Approve $1000 (22.90%)

Merrick Bank, Approved $1500 (~20+%)

Macy's, Approved ~(Waiting for mail)

Sams Club, Approved $1000 (Waiting for mail)

Home Depot Personal, Approved $500 (25.99%)

Dell Preferred, $1000 (29.99%)

Accounts Denied

Spirit Mastercard (BOA)

Capital One (Don't recall which card)

HSBC (Don't recall which card)

Orchard Bank

First National Bank

Sears

I effectively went from using $3,300 of my $4,400 credit available to now utilizing $6500 of $20,800 (not including macy's) which is 31.24% overall which is slightly higher than I'd like, but I have about $1200 of payments posting this cycle to bring me below 30% total util.

EF: 694, EX: 687, TU: 697

Am I on the right track? I really want to build as high of a score as I can. I'm gonna want to be settling down with my fiance soon, I have a Doctorate program I will be starting within a year and a half. Any other suggestions of what I should or shouldn't do, any accounts that I should open later on?

With the majority of the denial lettes stating the reason for too many recent inquiries, I think I am required to hold off on app for atleast 6months?

EDITED Subject to keep people on track.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Walt_K — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:16:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My FICO score years ago when I checked was in the 720 range. About 3 years ago, I got upset at all the CCCs I had, pif and closed all the accounts out of spite.

The only negatives I have were 4 late payments from 3-4+ years ago (2 to Chase, 1 BOA, 1 HSBC-Bestbuy), which I was reading about possibly sending them a goodfaith letter to see if they would be willing to delete these from my credit history? (Any suggestions on this?)
...

Am I on the right track? I really want to build as high of a score as I can. I'm gonna want to be settling down with my fiance soon, I have a Doctorate program I will be starting within a year and a half. Any other suggestions of what I should or shouldn't do, any accounts that I should open later on?

With the majority of the denial lettes stating the reason for too many recent inquiries, I think I am required to hold off on app for atleast 6months?

You should try to GW those lates. Don't use a template letter. Just explain what happened, and explain why it won't happen again. And try to note any continued positive relationship that you can. Don't count on them deleting the negatives on your first go round. It likely will take time and persistence.

As to whether you should open anything else, you definitely need to stop for at least 6 months, probably a year. Your score takes a hit for each inquiry but also for each new account. Your Average Age of Accounts has now been lowered alot by all of these new accounts showing up (or it will be once they report). You can't fix this by closing the cards, the damage is done. Don't compound it by closing anything.

That said, it is also quite possible that a couple of your CCs that you were approved for could close your account or slash your CL once they see all of the other new accounts that you opened. It may not happen, but that is a lot of credit to open in two weeks and you might spook a creditor once your reports update.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

shane82388 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:42:05 GMT

you got 13 new credit cards plus however many you tried to get but were denied for in a matter of weeks? lol

Id say it would be as good a time as any to just stop applying for a good 6-12 months at least....i mean what other card is out there to even get anymore at this point? JK...but really, i dont see the point in apping for more right now...those inquiries will take 2 years to fall of your report...but at least in 1 year they wont be dragging down your credit score anymore.

I'd not be surprised if someone else besides Barclays threw up a red flag and had a problem with you getting over 20 thousand dollars in new credit in such a short period of time...

Side Note: How are you going to fit all those cards in your wallet?!

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:48:22 GMT

That's impressive. For now, you might need to freeze all CBs to at least stop yourself from further apps plus some creditors might pull hard on you again after seeing loads of inqs and new accounts popping up to see what actually happens. I would expect some AAs and if they're going to CLD or close account, you might not need extra unexpected hard pull to make matter even worse.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

PNut08 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:52:17 GMT

I took a somewhat similar approach as you. I had 2 CCs with no new accounts for a while. Over the past week, I've applied for 6 new accounts...5 were approved and I'm waiting on a decision from AmEx though I doubt I'll be approved for that one. My CL on the 2 CCs I have had for a while are low so in about 6 months I'm hoping my score goes back up. I decided to take the short term hit on inquiries and AAoA in exchange for a much lower utilization % when it's all said and done. If Best Buy back dates, which I'm not sure about, then my AAoA won't even take that much of a hit.

My only moment of stupidity in those 6 apps was barclay through apple. I really have no need for that card so I am hoping that they cancel it on their own. Anyway, sit tight for the next year, if not two, and your score will rebound nicely so long as you are very responsible with those new cards.

Also, general question for others: I've looked at my EX and TU CRs and the inquiries are mostly concentrated on EX. What's the general view of a CCC if they pull EX and see a lot of inq but then pull EQ/TU and see very few inq?

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:12:56 GMT

@shane82388 wrote:
you got 13 new credit cards plus however many you tried to get but were denied for in a matter of weeks? lol

Id say it would be as good a time as any to just stop applying for a good 6-12 months at least....i mean what other card is out there to even get anymore at this point? JK...but really, i dont see the point in apping for more right now...those inquiries will take 2 years to fall of your report...but at least in 1 year they wont be dragging down your credit score anymore.

I'd not be surprised if someone else besides Barclays threw up a red flag and had a problem with you getting over 20 thousand dollars in new credit in such a short period of time...

Side Note: How are you going to fit all those cards in your wallet?!

I did have a phone call from Discover and BOA before they finally approved the account, and I was questioned by both as too so many inquiries. My response was simple, that I am not rebuilding my credit but making a well planned initiative to strengthen it, because no one is just gonna do it for me. They both manually approved the apps, the other request were instant approvals in most instances, with the exception of Merrick Bank. Merrick had actually sent me a pre-approved noticed and once I completed it online they had to do a further review and still approved the app.

Do I take an additional hit if any of the other accounts decide to bail on me like Barclay?

Re: Side Note: How are you going to fit all those cards in your wallet?!

My wallet is pretty awesome, but I don't plan on carrying them all with me, the main idea of getting all of the accounts like I did was to drop my util %.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:11:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That's impressive. For now, you might need to freeze all CBs to at least stop yourself from further apps plus some creditors might pull hard on you again after seeing loads of inqs and new accounts popping up to see what actually happens. I would expect some AAs and if they're going to CLD or close account, you might not need extra unexpected hard pull to make matter even worse.

Thank you!

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Walt_K — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:02:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I did have a phone call from Discover and BOA before they finally approved the account, and I was questioned by both as too so many inquiries. My response was simple, that I am not rebuilding my credit but making a well planned initiative to strengthen it, because no one is just gonna do it for me. They both manually approved the apps, the other request were instant approvals in most instances, with the exception of Merrick Bank. Merrick had actually sent me a pre-approved noticed and once I completed it online they had to do a further review and still approved the app.

Do I take an additional hit if any of the other accounts decide to bail on me like Barclay?

Re: Side Note: How are you going to fit all those cards in your wallet?!
My wallet is pretty awesome, but I don't plan on carrying them all with me, the main idea of getting all of the accounts like I did was to drop my util %.

There's no FICO score hit if Barclay closes your account except to the extent that it affects your utilization. The account will remain on your report for the next 10 years and count for your average age of accounts.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:12:21 GMT

@Walt_K wrote:
There's no FICO score hit if Barclay closes your account except to the extent that it affects your utilization. The account will remain on your report for the next 10 years and count for your average age of accounts.

Awesome, that really isn't a worry. I wasn't expecting the Merrick to be approved. So I lost the $1300 with Barclay, but gained $1500 w/ Merrick. Thanks for the feedback!

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

barbaralee — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:30:54 GMT

Wow, kind of don't blame Barclays on that one. 19 applications, 13 new accounts and one cc showing that has over 90% utilization. plus now you have the potential of going into debt over $17,000 on top of the already $3000 you have. Personally I find what you did irresponsible, but I'm probably in the minority. Either which way, good luck.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Walt_K — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:42:46 GMT

@barbaralee wrote:
Wow, kind of don't blame Barclays on that one. 19 applications, 13 new accounts and one cc showing that has over 90% utilization. plus now you have the potential of going into debt over $17,000 on top of the already $3000 you have. Personally I find what you did irresponsible, but I'm probably in the minority. Either which way, good luck.

I don't see the point in beating up the OP about this. It's not like OP said they would have some complaint with Barclay if they shut down the account. It would have been great if OP had found this site and asked the question before applying, but that isn't what happened. It can be quite easy to app for too many cards if you don't understand the consequences. I wouldn't call it irresponsible. Now OP is better informed.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

PNut08 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:51:36 GMT

The only reason he's at 90% util is b/c he has 1 BB card and is doing a finance deal.

I have a couple of questions along the same line as OP....

When I looked at my CR through this site (TU- FICO 700), the simulator told me one thing I could do to up my score is to apply for new credit. I figured 5-6 total accounts would be good and I only had 2. So, I applied for 6 new cards assuming I would get denied for a couple. Was this a bad idea? Does anyone know if Best Buy-HSBC back dates?

I'm 5/6 so far with those apps for being approved. I'm waiting to hear back from AmEx which I know back dates (I use to have one of their Blue cards...cancelled it when I was still in college..I know, stupid. What can I say, I was young). If I get approved for Amex and Best Buy will back date then my AAoA won't even be affected since the would both back date 10 years. I know I take a hit for the inq, but I'm planning on sitting tight for the next 2 years and app'ing for nothing and gardening with these cards before applying for a mortgage. Any thoughts?

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

llecs — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:02:22 GMT

OP, congrats on the cards. I did the same, though I would have done it differently if I had a redo. Your score will drop but should recover to where it is now by this time next year or so, depends on the hit to your AAoA and overall credit.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

llecs — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:04:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That's impressive. For now, you might need to freeze all CBs to at least stop yourself from further apps plus some creditors might pull hard on you again after seeing loads of inqs and new accounts popping up to see what actually happens. I would expect some AAs and if they're going to CLD or close account, you might not need extra unexpected hard pull to make matter even worse.

They won't arbitarily pull any more hard inquiries than where OP is at now so a freeze is unnecessary, but soft pulls and AA is a stong possibility.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:10:09 GMT

@barbaralee wrote:
Wow, kind of don't blame Barclays on that one. 19 applications, 13 new accounts and one cc showing that has over 90% utilization. plus now you have the potential of going into debt over $17,000 on top of the already $3000 you have. Personally I find what you did irresponsible, but I'm probably in the minority. Either which way, good luck.

I feel that it's more of a loss for Barclay than for myself. Before I cancelled all my accounts previously 3 years ago, I had a $6000 BOA Plat, 2 from Chase (One was Wachovia take over) $4500, 2500, and a Capital one that was $1500. I had $14,500 of available credit back when I only made about $25k a year and had my first car loan for $15k. Now with where I am at, I'm at $85k for this year, and set to clear $125k next year. I had to do something to build my credit higher than high 6s low 7s. As for the 97%, same as I told the creditors why give them all my money when I can invest my money for 18 months and make more than just saving on the interest?

I do however understand the concern of having the $17,000 available, but its only 20% of my annual income..

What would you have recommend that I had done different in a perfect world?

Thanks!

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:21:11 GMT

How long will the negative take to really show?

@llecs wrote:
OP, congrats on the cards. I did the same, though I would have done it differently if I had a redo. Your score will drop but should recover to where it is now by this time next year or so, depends on the hit to your AAoA and overall credit.

So, for AAoA does it look at all the accounts on the report for 10 years even if they are closed?

My oldest account is the Shell/Citi which is 25 years old as an authrized user, does this account matter? Would having similar accounts in my name as an autorized user benefit me in the regard of AAoA at this point?

My oldest account that I actually opened is the HSBC - BB which is 5 years old..

The other accounts were old when I cancelled them, but I just went off and cancelled them all. Cap 1 was 7+ years, BoA was 5+ years, the 2 from Chase were 3+/3+.

Since I did reopen an account with BoA and Chase again do they back date or should I inquire about such with them?

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

llecs — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:37:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
How long will the negative take to really show?
@llecs wrote:
OP, congrats on the cards. I did the same, though I would have done it differently if I had a redo. Your score will drop but should recover to where it is now by this time next year or so, depends on the hit to your AAoA and overall credit.
So, for AAoA does it look at all the accounts on the report for 10 years even if they are closed?

My oldest account is the Shell/Citi which is 25 years old as an authrized user, does this account matter? Would having similar accounts in my name as an autorized user benefit me in the regard of AAoA at this point?

My oldest account that I actually opened is the HSBC - BB which is 5 years old..

The other accounts were old when I cancelled them, but I just went off and cancelled them all. Cap 1 was 7+ years, BoA was 5+ years, the 2 from Chase were 3+/3+.

Since I did reopen an account with BoA and Chase again do they back date or should I inquire about such with them?

AAoA is the average age of accounts and includes all OC accounts (good or bad, opened or closed). Once closed, they still factor into AAoA for the next 10 yrs, or until they drop. Adding accounts will most usually drop your scores (depends on a number of items like mix of credit, util as they report, your overall credit, and so on). But another component is the change in AAoA. Aside from the new account ding (mine was always 20-25 pts on avg...not for each thankfully but overall), you can also see more of a ding if that AAoA changes. As you add new accounts your AAoA will drop because the average changes. Eyeballing here, and assuming these are it, you have a 25 yr, a 7, yr, a 5 yr, another 5 yr, and 3 & 3, or 48 years combined (you could have more OC TLs reporting I know). That's an average of 6 years each (FICO only reads AAoA as a whole number, rounded down). So, if you added 13 new TLs and each report on the first day as one month old, then that's 576 months of the old TLs (6) and 13 one-month old TLs, then that's 590 months combined or a new AAoA of 2 years. Going from 6 year AAoA to 2 yr AAoA could result in an additional hit. It depends on your overall credit. And I know there are some installment paid accounts that weren't factored in since we don't know the age.

The only one we know that backdates is Amex.

An AU could help assuming the age was older than your AAoA, but AAoA isn't all that and a ball of wax. I personally wouldn't sweat it. And util will change too which could offset it.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

barbaralee — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:46:49 GMT

I am not beating him up, merely expressing my opinion on his post. I'm also not going to cheer him on with his successful THIRTEEN out of NINTEEN new credit accounts. I'm sorry, but in my occupation I have spoken with people who make $300+ and can't even get approved for a measly $1000 credit line increase because they are so maxed out. Look at it from Barclays POV: He is at 90% utilization with his one account, he suddenly goes on a mass spree (where he himself said it was like an addiction) of applying... that is not responsible. If one can't contain themselves in applying how could they restrict themselves when using? Not saying that the the OP will suddenly max out his credit but I could understand where the bank is coming from. There are many other smarter strategies with applying for credit. I know this forum tends to encourage this kind of mass applying spree, but I kindly disagree.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Walt_K — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:17:24 GMT

@barbaralee wrote:
I am not beating him up, merely expressing my opinion on his post. I'm also not going to cheer him on with his successful THIRTEEN out of NINTEEN new credit accounts. I'm sorry, but in my occupation I have spoken with people who make $300+ and can't even get approved for a measly $1000 credit line increase because they are so maxed out. Look at it from Barclays POV: He is at 90% utilization with his one account, he suddenly goes on a mass spree (where he himself said it was like an addiction) of applying... that is not responsible. If one can't contain themselves in applying how could they restrict themselves when using? Not saying that the the OP will suddenly max out his credit but I could understand where the bank is coming from. There are many other smarter strategies with applying for credit. I know this forum tends to encourage this kind of mass applying spree, but I kindly disagree.

I disagree that the forum encourages these kinds of mass app sprees. You see many people do it and then ask questions later. The advice is pretty consistent that it's a bad idea. If anything, I think the forum makes too big of a deal out of inquiries at times. What is good advice for a rebuilder or someone who is getting ready to app for a mortgage or car loan, doesn't really matter to someone with good credit who has no big purchases in front of them. Hence, all the card churners that chace rewards bonuses. In any event, I think everyone in this post agreed that it was too many applications in a short period of time.

You said you found it irresponsible. Well that implies a certain level of understanding for the risks involved and doing it anyway. All of the advice had pretty much already been that he should stop applying and let his accounts age. I don't know what your post served.

Finally, you keep saying that we should look at it from Barclay's POV. But no one is claiming that Barclay or any of his other creditors would be unreasonable if they took AA. He was specifically warned that might happen. I think your post would be more helpful if you focused on informing him of the risks involved and the smarter strategies to be employed instead of labeling the behavior as irresponsible and defending Barclay when no one was attacking them. For example, you could say that since he was trying to decrease utilization, you'd recommend that in the future, he apply for a smaller number of cards that might be more generous with initial CLs and subsequent CLIs. Say, credit unions for example.

Re: Opening Lots of New accounts..

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:25:08 GMT

@llecs wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That's impressive. For now, you might need to freeze all CBs to at least stop yourself from further apps plus some creditors might pull hard on you again after seeing loads of inqs and new accounts popping up to see what actually happens. I would expect some AAs and if they're going to CLD or close account, you might not need extra unexpected hard pull to make matter even worse.
They won't arbitarily pull any more hard inquiries than where OP is at now so a freeze is unnecessary, but soft pulls and AA is a stong possibility.

From what I read in another forum where huge app spree(25+) is a norm, freeze is highly recommended after that because some creditors will actually pull hard again after they soft and see seriously high number of INQs. Creditors usually don't do this if the spree isn't really subtantial(15+). If I remember correctly in those cases from another forum, barclay,chase are those who HP again before AA. YMMV. Better prevent than feel sorry later. Barclay already AA him and chase might follow.