CLI DENIAL BOFA

[Mike1014805]

I've had my BofA Cash Rewards card for 9 years now. Opened it in 2013 right after I got out of college. Got approved for 500 dollars and increased it to 2000 within 6 months of opening it. However, 9 years later and I'm still stuck at 2,000. 

Since then I've opened the following cards (w/limits included)

- Amex Blue Cash: $15,000

- Capital One Venture: $7,500

- Costco Anywhere Visa: $5,600

- JetBlue: $5,000

- Chase Amazon: $3,500

- Discover 5%: $3,000

- Kohls: $2,500

- Chase Freedom: $2,000

- Dell Financial: (oldest credit): $1,500

- Target: $1,200

- Discover It: $1,000

I'm sick of bank of america and their fees to begin with. And 6 of those cards I've gotten approved for in the last 12 months.

I've been asking for credit line increases every 6 months, and the reason is always the same: "there is a delinquency on your report that is either too new or unkown." And I've called a few times to talk to someone. They say that they don't control what the credit agencies report. However, bank of america is the only one who sites this as being a reason. 

Anyway:

1. Is it worth closing the account? I know it'll drop my available credit, but not by much...

2. Has anyone else experienced this with them saying something similar about their credit reports?

3. Is there a work around for this with bofa, because I don't want to bank with a company that doesn't trust me. 

[coldfusion]

Is there a delinquency on your report?

If you aren't happy with them don't be shy about closing the account.  Too many decent cards out there to feel beholden to an issuer you believe doesn't value you.

[Mike1014805]

---

@coldfusion wrote:

Is there a delinquency on your report?

If you aren't happy with them don't be shy about closing the account.  Too many decent cards out there to feel beholden to an issuer you believe doesn't value you.

---

Not that I know of. The fact that I got approved for 8 new cards in only 12 months proves the opposite of what BofA is saying. I'm just worried about how closing a 9 year old card might affect my credit length history. 

[arifjk]

If you don't want to keep BofA, you can close it. The age will not matter for the next 10 years. Once you close it, wait until the number of inquiries and new accounts reporting to the CRA go down and age first. Then apply BofA again, with low number of inquiries and better AAoA, they will give you a better SL. That's what happened to me.

[OmarGB9]

---

@Mike1014805 wrote:

---

@coldfusion wrote:

Is there a delinquency on your report?

If you aren't happy with them don't be shy about closing the account.  Too many decent cards out there to feel beholden to an issuer you believe doesn't value you.

---

Not that I know of. The fact that I got approved for 8 new cards in only 12 months proves the opposite of what BofA is saying. I'm just worried about how closing a 9 year old card might affect my credit length history. 

---

Don't worry about age. It'll continue to report for up to 10 years, so feel free to close. The only thing that may affect you is the loss of $2k in available credit, but that's only if you have high utilization on other cards. If that's not the case, then you'll be fine.

[AndySoCal]

@Mike1014805  I would ask B of A for a copy of the credit report that they used for the CLI or which credit bureau was used.  If they wont supply the credit report get it from Annualcreditreport.com.  See if you can find what the derogatory account is.  Also, if you close you banking relationship with B of A I would research what bank or credit union would better serve your banking needs before closing the account. I suggest a credit union or an internet bank because they tend to be are less fee happy.

[coldfusion]

---

@AndySoCal wrote:

@Mike1014805  I would ask B of A for a copy of the credit report that they used for the CLI or which credit bureau was used.  If they wont supply the credit report get it from Annualcreditreport.com.  See if you can find what the derogatory account is.  Also, if you close you banking relationship with B of A I would research what bank or credit union would better serve your banking needs before closing the account. I suggest a credit union or an internet bank because they tend to be are less fee happy.

---

The issuer doesn't provide copies of the credit report, they only tell you which CRA they pulled the report from that was used to make the credit decision.   You'd be entitled to get a free copy of your consumer report directly from the CRA due to the adverse action (i.e. the denial of credit based on information in the credit report).

[GatorGuy]

You say nothing about whether that there is actually a deliquency on your report.

How much do you use the card?

Whenever a lender denies you for credit they are required to give you *a* reason for denial and it may not be the only reason. I have no personal experience with BOA but if you aren't using the card much then they may not want to extend further credit. 

Also, all those new accounts can make it look like you are a credit risk seeking out so much new credit. Sometimes that hurts rather than helps.

[Mike1014805]

---

@GatorGuy wrote:

You say nothing about whether that there is actually a deliquency on your report.

How much do you use the card?

Whenever a lender denies you for credit they are required to give you *a* reason for denial and it may not be the only reason. I have no personal experience with BOA but if you aren't using the card much then they may not want to extend further credit. 

Also, all those new accounts can make it look like you are a credit risk seeking out so much new credit. Sometimes that hurts rather than helps.

---

I have no delinquencies on my report. I've been approved for 8 new accounts within the last 12 months alone. Some with pretty decent limits, seeing as I went from having no credit available, to a decent amount. I've had no issues getting CLIs on my new accounts either. For example, I got a $1,500 limit increase on my Costco Visa Card after having it for only 2 months. Same with Amex, they increased my limit from $5,000 to $15,000 after 90 days. Both accounts I opened in April of this year (2022). 

As for BofA, I've tried everything: carrying a balance and paying it off, paying it off in full, using it heavily, using it sparingly, not using for a few months and then using it. I've called BofA and asked what this delinquency is and they can't answer me, it just says that's the main reason for a denial. I've been getting the same reason for denial by the way, since about 2016. I've already decided to cancel the card because $2,000 in loss of credit won't do anything really. 

[lowspender]

---

@Mike1014805 wrote:

I've been asking for credit line increases every 6 months, and the reason is always the same: "there is a delinquency on your report that is either too new or unkown."

 Definitely seems to be confusion on BoA's end with your reports- they increased my limit after a year with them- was it always 6 months in-between, never 3? Some people have to wait longer, not many dp's on why, exactly. Not sure myself whether your denial restarts your cli clock, or if must only complete. E.g- apply for cli and be denied, try again in 3 months, then again in 3 months- if you had to wait 6 months to be approved, does this satisfy that, or have you reset your counter twice? Is that not something you experimented with, the last 9 yrs? I agree, very long time to not have a limit increase, healthy to move on and try again with them later.