@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the response. My util with them is high right now because I'm paying off other cards. 2 months ago my overall utilization was really high but now its down to 50% and by the end of the month, it'll be 30%. Capital One has the highest balance, so I'm paying them last but they could see that in my credit score over the last 6 months if they wanted to figure it out. So, no recon?
No recon.
Don't apply for new cards or CLIs when you report high utilization especially with a bank -- typically the bank sees you as a risk if you don't have a nice long history of paying down high balances already.
In addition, you say you had lates as recently as 4 years ago? What are the dates of those lates, and are they on your credit reports? If so, how late were they reported (30D, 60D, etc)? I would suggest working on goodwill adjustments on those versus apping for new cards. Depending on how late they are, you may be considered a much higher risk for new accounts with delinquencies and chargeoffs rising to high levels nationally again.
I'll have to write an article to throw into my signature link on what "too many inquiries" means. Federal law mandates that lenders give you a reason when they deny you. It doesn't mandate they give you the real reason.
Lenders buy FICO scores because FICO provides generic "reason codes" why a score is lower than it can be. Those reason codes abide federal mandates on giving people reasons for denial. So lender looks at your credit report AND your internal history, doesn't like what they see, then they pay FICO to spew out a reason for denying you. The most common one is "too many inquiries" but that's not reality. It's just legal.
In the "Credit News" forum I just posted a link that shows that Capital One had a chargeoff/deliquency rate in November of 5% of accounts. 1 in 20 Capital One accounts are delinquent. This is a huge number. They're tightening their belts. In the upcoming credit crunch I envision happening, carrying high utilization (even for 0% interest) is going to be a red flag, so I'd highly suggest working on that ASAP and then trying again after your statements report and show low utilization. You'll have better luck.
Lastly...I'm not a fan of people quoting "overall utilization" because it's a bullspit number compared to actual accounts with HIGH utilization. Do you have any cards reporting over 68.9% individually, and if so, what is the utilization on those high util cards (individually)? This matters just as much because some folks play games with overall utilization by getting store cards and sock drawer cards to try to "hide" some rough utilization on a card or two. FICO does look at individual utilization, and it can hurt you in how lenders rate you internally for an app or CLI request! They may approve you on FICO score, but then see some card or cards at 90% and say "nope, no way, this guy is maxed out" and deny you and tell you "too many inquiries" lol.
