Citi CC denied - whoops

[hyn380]

EDIT: I have now received the actual written letter. Reason ACTUALLY given was I have too much available credit relative to income. Unlike the incompetent guy on the phone, at least the letter gave me the actual reason! 

Hello, just wanted to see if anyone could give me any advice on how to proceed from here. I've had my eyes on Citi's custom cash card for a while and finally decided to apply. And of course ... expect letter 7-10 days from now (instant regret hits). I haven't been denied before so I was confused. I called the recon/app status line for more info. The person stated that the reason (only 1) for decline was "debt burden". Which didn't make much sense - I only carry about $300 across all accounts - until I realized I'm on multiple AU accounts from my parents. Which total to over $16k! I'm a student; I live at home, with no student loans, nothing. I could always ask them to remove me, as they really only added me so I run errands easily. But I already applied, so I'm afraid it's already too late. So now I'm stumped. I really wanted to avoid another pointless inquiry. I got plenty of time to waste on the phone (as long as it's a person, not a robot). How should I proceed? 

Data as follows:

My accts -

5/2021 Target store card $1500 CL, ($0 bal)

6/2021 Discover it student $2750 CL ($115 bal)

8/2021 Barclays gap visa $1800 CL ($0 bal)

6/2022 PayPal Mastercard $14,750 CL ($200 bal)

AU accts (where it gets bad) -

Amex BCE - 51%

$7,714 out of $15,000

BARCLAYS - 40%

$5,397 out of $13,400

PNC BANK - 15%

$2,688 out of $18,000

Amex Hilton - 1%

$439 out of $30,000

TD Bank - 1%

$0 out of $12,500

Total util 15%, $16k

Inquiries:

3 Ex

2 TU

2 Eq

I never missed a payment, no derog remarks, etc. Nothing negative in that sense. 

My income is only $15k, that I can easily prove. Beyond that is difficult... since I have multiple sources of income to different bank accounts.

Scores:

723 Eq

723 TU

755 Ex

759 Discover scorecard (not sure which)

Discover scorecard only reports my accts (4 accts, 2 inq, 1% util). The rest show all my authorized user accts.

[Lou-natic]

Well, I think it's time you have yourself removed as AU on your parents cards. It's going to take a month or two for them to stop reporting so it won't matter much for this application. On the other hand, wait 6 months and reapply and all should be good. As for running errands or whatever...meh. I let my dad use cards with my name on them all the time. He is the one that actually carries the Citi DC card around and has been for years without issue. Unless your parents are super paranoid about that kind of thing, I don't think it matters at all.

I will say this, the Citi CC is a card worth getting so don't give up on it.

[805orbust]

Agree with @Lou-natic. That Amex and Barclay's are killing you. Have them remove you, couple months? Your scores will be in the 770/780's across the board. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@hyn380 wrote:

Hello, just wanted to see if anyone could give me any advice on how to proceed from here. I've had my eyes on Citi's custom cash card for a while and finally decided to apply. And of course ... expect letter 7-10 days from now (instant regret hits). I haven't been denied before so I was confused. I called the recon/app status line for more info. The person stated that the reason (only 1) for decline was "debt burden". Which didn't make much sense - I only carry about $300 across all accounts - until I realized I'm on multiple AU accounts from my parents. Which total to over $16k! I'm a student; I live at home, with no student loans, nothing. I could always ask them to remove me, as they really only added me so I run errands easily. But I already applied, so I'm afraid it's already too late. So now I'm stumped. I really wanted to avoid another pointless inquiry. I got plenty of time to waste on the phone (as long as it's a person, not a robot). How should I proceed? 

Data as follows:

My accts -

5/2021 Target store card $1500 CL

6/2021 Discover it student $2750 CL

8/2021 Barclays gap visa $1800 CL

6/2022 PayPal MC $14,750 CL

AU accts (where it gets bad) -

Amex BCE - 51%

$7,714 out of $15,000

BARCLAYS - 40%

$5,397 out of $13,400

PNC BANK - 15%

$2,688 out of $18,000

Amex Hilton - 1%

$439 out of $30,000

TD Bank - 1%

$0 out of $12,500

Total util 15%, $16k

Inquiries:

3 Ex

2 TU

2 Eq

I never missed a payment, no derog remarks, etc. Nothing negative in that sense. 

My income is only $15k, that I can prove. Beyond that is difficult (and complicated) d/t the fact I have "side hustles" as an IC, dividends, scholarship/tuition refunds, and regular student job. 

Scores:

723 Eq

723 TU

755 Ex

759 Discover scorecard (not sure which falls under)

Discover scorecard only reports my accts (4 accts, 2 inq, 1% util). The rest show all my authorized user accts.

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I agree with @805orbust and @Lou-natic Drop the AU cards and after your new profile has reported apply again for the Custom Cash.

[OmarGB9]

Agree with the consensus.

[Hoben02]

I would call the recon on line and explain the situation. It's not going to be another inquiry on your credit report.

[hyn380]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I had a little talk with my family after this, with no hard feelings thankfully. I'm being removed from everything, now that I know it could cause denials like this... 

I'm planning on calling tomorrow most likely, hopefully a different agent than the one I spoke to already. I'll keep this post updated if anything changes. 

On the bright side, thankfully Citi only pulled from TransUnion so it looks like this won't be too hard of a hit. Worst case, I'll wait another 6mo after the AU accounts disappear and try again. I don't wanna give up on this card! 

[AndySoCal]

@hyn380  An authorized user account you are not financially responible for.  The lender knows that so that most likely is not the reason for "debt burden" denial.  Make sure that on the credit report those authorized user accounts are reporting as such. If you want remove the two accounts as others have suggested to help your credit utilization go ahead.

[SouthJamaica]

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@hyn380 wrote:

Thanks everyone for the advice. I had a little talk with my family after this, with no hard feelings thankfully. I'm being removed from everything, now that I know it could cause denials like this... 

I'm planning on calling tomorrow most likely, hopefully a different agent than the one I spoke to already. I'll keep this post updated if anything changes. 

On the bright side, thankfully Citi only pulled from TransUnion so it looks like this won't be too hard of a hit. Worst case, I'll wait another 6mo after the AU accounts disappear and try again. I don't wanna give up on this card! 

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Don't call tomorrow, that's too soon.  Wait until your profile has readjusted in the credit reports.

[xenon3030]

Calling too soon possibly would not go anywhere, because nothing has changed in your profile (anyway, you may try). I suggest to wait and let your credit profile gets updated, after removing yourself from AU. It should take up to 1-2 months. After cleaning your credit profile from derog and having a reasonable Fico8 score, submit a new application.