topic Re: Low CLs in General Credit Topics

Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:39:14 GMT

I have 4 credit card accounts open. 1 with a high CL (over $6K), 1 AMEX Gold, and 2 other cards that have credit limits of well under $500. One of them has a credit line of $200 which is pointless to me, since 3 tanks of gas and it's maxed out. I've tried numerous times for them to increase the CL, but they refuse time and time again, while I've had no problems with my credit. As of right now, the card has just sit with a $0 balance for the past few months. Should I just leave it open? Close it? Just wait for a CLI?

Thanks.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:42:03 GMT

i would just leave the $200 with a very small activity per month. Buy yourself lunch once a month on this card and pay it off. Hope you are not paying annual fee on this though.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:47:14 GMT

No annual fee... The only one I pay for is my AMEX, but since I charge a couple thousand a month on it, the rewards greatly outweigh the annual fee.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:49:29 GMT

okay. i mean..$200 limit isnt really doing much to your credit score but it is all about the history of how good have you been on the payment...If your history on this account is excellent and older...then i would just leave it open.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:53:01 GMT

UnderEstimated wrote:
No annual fee... The only one I pay for is my AMEX, but since I charge a couple thousand a month on it, the rewards greatly outweigh the annual fee.

How much is the AmEx AF? Thanks.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:56:34 GMT

The fee last year was $90, but now it's $110. It may seem like a lot, but I get so many points that it easily pays more than the cost. Not to mention, their customer service is much better than my other cards.

As for the $200 CL account, that account is a little over 2 years old... I guess I'll just keep it open, but I've always heard it looks bad when lenders see that a credit card company only "trusts" you with $200.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 20:10:40 GMT

UnderEstimated wrote:
The fee last year was $90, but now it's $110. It may seem like a lot, but I get so many points that it easily pays more than the cost. Not to mention, their customer service is much better than my other cards.

Thanks, I guess someone thought I asked a dumb question because they rated it a "one". Glad you're happy with the card.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:30:48 GMT

That little 200 cl card wouldn't be from my best friends at Orchard Bank, now would it? Is it a secured card? if so, you will NEVER seen an increase in your CL.

The people on here who jump to OC's defense are talking about the unsecured card. The secured card sux. Dump it now if you can't get them to wavie the annual fee.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:49:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 4 credit card accounts open. 1 with a high CL (over $6K), 1 AMEX Gold, and 2 other cards that have credit limits of well under $500. One of them has a credit line of $200 which is pointless to me, since 3 tanks of gas and it's maxed out. I've tried numerous times for them to increase the CL, but they refuse time and time again, while I've had no problems with my credit. As of right now, the card has just sit with a $0 balance for the past few months. Should I just leave it open? Close it? Just wait for a CLI?
Thanks.

What are your FICOs? If you're still down in the 500s, getting CLIs will likely be problematic. Not impossible, but you will have to build up a longer positive history with each credit card company before they will trust you with a CLI or an unsecured card.

Any baddies on your account, like charge-offs, collections, or 90 days or more past due, during 2005 or later? Recent baddies can make a credit card company think twice about increasing your CL or graduating you from secured to unsecured.

You probably never will get a high limit on nichy charge cards like gas station cards. Unless you're a long-haul trucker, you're simply not going to go through $1000 in gas and munchies.

If you do have a secured card, what you're looking for isn't a higher CL, but rather graduation (changing the card from secured to unsecured). Graduation usually comes with a CLI...I got the BofA "99/500" card, and it is being graduated this month with a $1000 CL.

My experience and that of others on these boards has been that the best way to achieve graduation of a secured card, or a credit line increase on an unsecured card is to:

1) avoid all baddies...don't be late or default with any other creditor.

2) Keep a balance on your card that is greater than zero (in other words, don't sockdrawer the card like you did with your $200 gas card), but less than 10% of your credit line. You can do this even with a low-limit card. My balances on my Orchard and CapOne cards when they are next reported will be $9 and $2, respectively, which is around 3% of utilization on both.

3) Make all payments on time.

4) Bug the card companies for graduation/CLI once every six months or so.

So take that $200 card out of the sock drawer. Don't buy gas with it though...buy a Coke or a bag of Doritos. That way you will have a balance, but stay well under 10%. That puts activity on the card. Remember that it is the wise management, not the avoidance, of credit that builds your FICO score.

Message Edited by TheNewWorldMan on 05-16-2007 02:49 PM

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:56:12 GMT

Here's the case, I'm 20 years old so all of my accounts have under 3 years of credit history. My history contains those credit cards, all of them are unsecured, 1 car loan of $15,900 paid as agreed & in full, and 1 car loan of $28,000 that is currently still open and paid as agreed.

My FICO scores with as of this month are in the 650s with TransUnion & Experian but 626 with Equifax.

No baddies on my report, utilization is around 18% right now (working towards 9%), and still working on improving those scores. When I get denied credit, or denied for a lower interest rate, the primary reason I hear is insufficent credit history.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:59:30 GMT

UnderEstimated wrote:
Here's the case, I'm 20 years old so all of my accounts have under 3 years of credit history. My history contains those credit cards, all of them are unsecured, 1 car loan of $15,900 paid as agreed & in full, and 1 car loan of $28,000 that is currently still open and paid as agreed.

My FICO scores with as of this month are in the 650s with TransUnion & Experian but 626 with Equifax.

No baddies on my report, utilization is around 18% right now (working towards 9%), and still working on improving those scores. When I get denied credit, or denied for a lower interest rate, the primary reason I hear is insufficent credit history.

Do you have a parent or relative with stellar credit? They may be willing to add you as an AU. That could instantly give you more years of history. [oh no, I've started the dreaded AU discussion again ...]

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:12:00 GMT

No immediate family member has great credit, but that AU sounded like a good idea. My parents went through a BK in 1995 when they both lost their jobs. We were living well, since my parents made a combined income of over $200K a year. Well, long story short, they lost their jobs, lost the house, cars, then had to file for BK. 12 years later, they're still managing to rebuild their credit. I feel terrible for anyone who goes through a BK because even though it disappears off your credit in 10 years, you're still left to rebuild.

So it's been my motivation to manage myself and build good credit from the start.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:18:03 GMT

UnderEstimated wrote:
No immediate family member has great credit, but that AU sounded like a good idea. My parents went through a BK in 1995 when they both lost their jobs. We were living well, since my parents made a combined income of over $200K a year. Well, long story short, they lost their jobs, lost the house, cars, then had to file for BK. 12 years later, they're still managing to rebuild their credit. I feel terrible for anyone who goes through a BK because even though it disappears off your credit in 10 years, you're still left to rebuild.

So it's been my motivation to manage myself and build good credit from the start.

Sounds like you've done a great job!

You can be an AU on anyone's account; it doesn't have to be an immediate family member. It just should be someone with a perfect history on that account whom you trust will continue that history.

ETA: Just make sure to have the cardholder ask the credit card issuer if they will report you also. It doesn't always happen if the AU isn't family.

Message Edited by masdeocho on 05-16-2007 06:18 PM

Re: Low CLs

smallfry — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:23:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Here's the case, I'm 20 years old so all of my accounts have under 3 years of credit history. My history contains those credit cards, all of them are unsecured, 1 car loan of $15,900 paid as agreed & in full, and 1 car loan of $28,000 that is currently still open and paid as agreed.
My FICO scores with as of this month are in the 650s with TransUnion & Experian but 626 with Equifax.
No baddies on my report, utilization is around 18% right now (working towards 9%), and still working on improving those scores. When I get denied credit, or denied for a lower interest rate, the primary reason I hear is insufficent credit history.

Do you have a parent or relative with stellar credit? They may be willing to add you as an AU. That could instantly give you more years of history. [oh no, I've started the dreaded AU discussion again ...]

I can't blame someone for taking advantage of the system if it is their best interests.I think I'm the only one here who thinks this is a slap in the face of people who are trying to build credit through their own hard work. Something stinks about it.

Re: Low CLs

Anonymous — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:26:52 GMT

smallfry wrote:

I can't blame someone for taking advantage of the system if it is their best interests.I think I'm the only one here who thinks this is a slap in the face of people who are trying to build credit through their own hard work. Something stinks about it.

No, I happen to agree w/you.

Re: Low CLs

smallfry — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:42:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@smallfry wrote:

I can't blame someone for taking advantage of the system if it is their best interests.I think I'm the only one here who thinks this is a slap in the face of people who are trying to build credit through their own hard work. Something stinks about it.
No, I happen to agree w/you.

Disputing as not mine. Now that's a different story. LOL.