topic Re: Maxed out cards in Rebuilding Your Credit

Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:42:08 GMT

I have never missed a payment on anything, but I have 7 maxed out cards (total around $55,000). This has brought my score down to 687, I was in the 800's before.

I have tried getting multiple consolidation loans through various companies: Nerdwallet, SoFi, Avant, even my credit union. They have all shot me down.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to consolidate these?

Thanks in advance!

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:45:37 GMT

Have you tried Payoff?

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:47:51 GMT

Not yet I will give them a go, thanks!

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:50:04 GMT

NP - fingers crossed you can get some help with the balances.

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:55:38 GMT

I was approved for $25,000, 36 months 12% APR, 48 months 14% and 60 months 18%.

I think I will take the lower rate at 36 months, even though the rate is high, I think this is a great start for me, I should be able to pay off 3 large card balances!

Once my balances reflect $0 in a month or two, would it be wise to try for another $30,000 loan elsewhere to payoff the rest?

Thanks for the info once again!

Re: Maxed out cards

rmduhon — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:58:45 GMT

Depending on the cards you pay off, you may be able to get a BT offer on them. If so you might think about transferring a card (or 2 depending on the limits) to that card. It'll help with interest and might give you some breathing room.

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:05:09 GMT

@xiownthisplacex wrote:
I was approved for $25,000, 36 months 12% APR, 48 months 14% and 60 months 18%.

I think I will take the lower rate at 36 months, even though the rate is high, I think this is a great start for me, I should be able to pay off 3 large card balances!

Once my balances reflect $0 in a month or two, would it be wise to try for another $30,000 loan elsewhere to payoff the rest?

Thanks for the info once again!

What a relief! I only know about them because a friend of mine used to work there and he loved them. He's a super high-ethics individual, so I know they are worthy of trust and truly care about the little guy.

12% isn't bad imo for an unsecured loan to payoff large credit card balances.

I am so glad you can find some relief. He also told me that additional funds applied to monthly payments are automatically applied to the principle as well.

I'm not sure if you'll be able to get another 30k loan elsewhere. How many other cards are there? Can you provide some metrics on what your minimums are at now?

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:42:53 GMT

$9,000 15.49%
$9,500 15.74%
4,500 13.74%
14,750 8.9%
4,800 13.49%
3,000 14.74%
7,800 18.24%
3,000 17.74%

Those are my rough balances, it's actually 8 cards not 7 like I mentioned in the first post.

I have just submitted all the docs (DL and paystubs) to Payoff for final approval.

The $14,750 is my lowest APR card of only 8.9%. I should payoff the higher APR cards first with this loan right?

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 00:28:03 GMT

@xiownthisplacex wrote:
$9,000 15.49%
$9,500 15.74%
4,500 13.74%
14,750 8.9%
4,800 13.49%
3,000 14.74%
7,800 18.24%
3,000 17.74%
Those are my rough balances, it's actually 8 cards not 7 like I mentioned in the first post.
I have just submitted all the docs (DL and paystubs) to Payoff for final approval.

The $14,750 is my lowest APR card of only 8.9%. I should payoff the higher APR cards first with this loan right?

What are the minimum payments for each card....and what are you looking at paying monthly for the Payoff loan? If it were me, I would pay off #4, #7, and #8 (although you'll need to add an extra $550). Although #4 has the lowest APR, it also has the highest balance. The next 3 to work on would be #1, #2, and #5. I hope that you plan to sock drawer the ones you pay off and don't use them or you will end up in this situation again.

Re: Maxed out cards

medicgrrl — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 00:45:57 GMT

@xiownthisplacex wrote:
$9,000 15.49%
$9,500 15.74%
4,500 13.74%
14,750 8.9%
4,800 13.49%
3,000 14.74%
7,800 18.24%
3,000 17.74%
Those are my rough balances, it's actually 8 cards not 7 like I mentioned in the first post.
I have just submitted all the docs (DL and paystubs) to Payoff for final approval.

The $14,750 is my lowest APR card of only 8.9%. I should payoff the higher APR cards first with this loan right?

Yes, do highest interest rate cards first. Pay off 1, 2, 7 & 8 and then start working towards 6,3, 5 & 4 in that order. That will save you the most money. There's no point in paying off a card at 8.9% with a new loan that will be a higher interest rate.

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 02:46:41 GMT

@xiownthisplacex wrote:
$9,000 15.49%
$9,500 15.74%
4,500 13.74%
14,750 8.9%
4,800 13.49%
3,000 14.74%
7,800 18.24%
3,000 17.74%
Those are my rough balances, it's actually 8 cards not 7 like I mentioned in the first post.
I have just submitted all the docs (DL and paystubs) to Payoff for final approval.

The $14,750 is my lowest APR card of only 8.9%. I should payoff the higher APR cards first with this loan right?

How much money do you have to put toward each of these cards per month? How much is your payoff loan payment estimated to be?

My estimation of your minimum payments is this:

1. $210

2. $225

3. $90

4. $250

5. $100

6. $65

7. $200

8. $75

______

$1215/mo

In 3 months, without adding any other spend to the cards, each would cost about this in interest:

1. $375

2. $380

3. $150

4. $330

5. $165

6. $140

7. $365

8. $210

So as you can see, even though #4 has the lowest interest rate, it is going to cost you nearly as much as some of the smaller ones to make the minimum payment on.

So depending on how much money you have to pay each month towards these, the strategy would be different, because keeping yourself afloat now is the main priority.

And realistically, combined APRs and also APR vs balance, is a factor here, too, so there's a myriad of different ways this could be split to benefit you now, your score impact, or your long-term savings on these APRs.

If I were you, I'd pay off 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 completely. This brings your monthly payment down $530/mo to about $685/mo and saves you about $1030 in interest over the next three months versus $2115, based off my rough calculations. This also brings you down to less than half your cards reporting a balance, so it's going to be the best bump to your current credit score.

This leaves you with $1900 to add to whatever you already had dedicated to paying the cards to spread out among the remaining 3 cards. Ultimately, you want to get all three of those cards out of "maxed" out range so it is possible for you to see if you can get a second consolidation loan. Also, you'll be paying more than the minimum on all three which will ultimately save you the most on interest across the board. Like I said, even though your highest limit is your lowest APR, right now it's costing you nearly as much as 1 & 2 because of its higher balance. It's just less per dollar borrowed.

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 13:27:11 GMT

$9,000 15.49% $193
$9,500 15.74% $209
$4,500 13.74% $100
$14,750 8.9% $255
$4,800 13.49% $96
$3,000 14.74% $89
$7,800 18.24% $190
$3,000 17.74% $71

You are pretty much on the money with the min payments there.

The Payoff loan is pending at $805.39 for the 36 months. Still hasn't been finalized, they are calling me today to wrap it up.

I see what you're saying to payoff a large number of cards first in order to see a score increase, should better the odds of getting another loan for them.

Yes they are all already sock drawered, not going to be using them any time soon Unfortunately I am learning the hard way, but hey I'm learning at least lol.

A lot of great feedback from everyone and I appreciate all of the input and suggestions provided!

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 16:23:06 GMT

I always did excel in math ^_^

Ok, so your min payments around about $1203, do you have more than that to devote to the paydown?

If you go the route I suggested, you'll drop $546 in payments in trade for $1900 up front and around $400 leftover from your original budget with the cc payoff payment.

When is the first payment going to be due and will payout happen before your due dates? This could help you bump those payments a bit more.

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 21:36:00 GMT

They have denied my application because I am 100% commission based income

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 21:51:44 GMT

@xiownthisplacex wrote:
They have denied my application because I am 100% commission based income

They pre approved you, then denied you when it came to Income verification. Is that correct?

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 21:58:35 GMT

Yes I sent my 2 most recent paystubs, didn't lie on income, and they said because there's no base guarantee that they were unable to verify income in the email they sent.

So I called them today and the representitive said the same thing without any clarification. Clearly my paystubs show everything from Year to Date, taxes, 401k, etc, so I was a little confused as to why they said they were unable to verify income, but he guessed it's just because it 's 100% commission (which I mentioned in the phone interview). He didn't offer any other explanation and I asked to speak to someone else and he said it wasn't possible and even if someone could clarify better the decision wouldn't be reversed.

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 22:04:25 GMT

Sorry to see your plan didn't work out @xiownthisplacex.

Now what? Can you afford to keep paying and slowly whittle down those balances? Maybe get a PT job to help bring them down so the interest doesn't destroy you? I'm sure others here will have ideas too if you don't mind sharing more details.

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 22:27:01 GMT

I am slowly paying them down, but I would've liked to pay them off faster!

No can do on the part time job, I already work 60-70 hours a week lol.

What about another route? I was reading up on Lightstream. They allow a co-applicant, I can possibly ask my mom/dad to help out with the co-applicant. Do you guys think with me being maxed on this cards, with a great co (they are 800 scores), I would have a shot with them? I have no derogs, no late payments, no collections, nothing bad except maxed cards. Payoff pulled a 691 score.

Re: Maxed out cards

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 22:32:28 GMT

Oh good! I was just concerned that you might be sinking financially. Glad to see you can make it.

A co-signer might very well do the trick. I'm not familiar with that particular lender but if they won't accept the co-signer then I would think a credit union would while also having decent interest rates.

Re: Maxed out cards

xiownthisplacex — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 17:41:22 GMT

Penfed has approved me for the $25,000 (no co applicant) and they already made the funds available. They didn't even ask for any paystubs