To apply Chase or not?

[Anonymous]

I am still trying to understand what we should and shouldn’t do in the credit world. This question is actually for my husband who doesn’t have as much credit as I do.

We received a letter from Chase about a month ago the Slate opened 2003 CL 400 will be product changed to Freedom Unlimited with an intro APR of 4.99%. The card currently has $0 balance.

What’s interesting is that when I went to pull his score from Chase (Vantage 3.0) his score is 747. Experian Fico 8 score is 721. Equifax is 698 pulled directly from Equifax.

Chase has 3 offered listed for him. Freedom, Freedom Unlimited & Sapphire Preferred.

We are a bit worried about applying since he burned Chase before. We have a first mortgage is under my name only with Wellsfargo and Heloc $35K under his name only with Chase. The Heloc was opened in 2003 and was due in 2015 which we couldn’t pay so it was charged off.

Credit Cards:
Chase CL 400 Bal 0
Amex CL 3000 Bal 0
Home Depot CL 17,000 Bal 0
Target CL 2700 Bal 1550

Authorized User:
Best Buy CL 2000 Bal 0
Old Navy CL 4000 Bal 1200
Amex CL 1000 Bal 0
Discover CL 3000 Bal 0

Installment loan:
Car Note CL 17,000 Bal 12898 APR 1.99% from Jan 2018.

He only has about 3-4 inquiries from the car loan from Jan 2018 and 1 from Home Depot when I requested the credit limit increase in May 2019.

I took screen shots of the offered which have solid APR but I don’t know how to post them to this group.

Please let me know if you think we should go for it. Our combined income is about $120K annually.

[simplynoir]

Are the offers being pulled from the prequalification page or from his online account with the green checkmarks? I ask because the checkmarks while not a guaranteed approval they are as close as a sure thing as there is with Chase.

[Anonymous]

The only things I would be careful with are:

The Heloc was opened in 2003 and was due in 2015 which we couldn’t pay so it was charged off.

Target CL 2700 Bal 1550

-- this one is really concerning not only for the balance / interest at 2X%

I would get the balance paid off on Target to get the most points out of his scores before applying.  Even with the pre-approvals it's worthwhile to just app outright w/o using the links. I manage to save 2-5% off the APR in the pre-approvals typically w/ a fresh HP w/o taking into the consideration what they're trying to sell me.  

Taking into consideration his account from 2003 that survived the C/O is a good indicator of a potential approval. He's obviously got some credit if he's able to get HD to 17K and 1.99% financing.  

In addition to Chase I would take a spin over to Amex and request a CLI and look for some potential matches for the bonuses being offered on the BCE/BCP and ED/EDP.

[Anonymous]

No, I don’t see any green check marks.
I use the Chase app and only saw the offers when I checked his credit score through the Chase app. It had 3 offers and when I clicked on the offers, I see the CF, FU and CSP offers.

[Anonymous]

HELOC:
That’s what I am worried too. The HELOC is my biggest concern since it’s still being reported as charged off.

The did offer us some great settlements offers but we were dumb and refused because the account would show as settled and not paid off. Also refused because I didn’t want to restart the clock since it should be falling off in 2022.

Target:
My plan is to pay off Target and Old Navy by end of June. Target payment is due 6/28 and won’t be reported until early July.

Since the Slate is being changed by June 15, I didn’t want to miss on the SUB and wanted to app before it is changed.

AMEX:
His credit on the BCE was $1000 since 2017 and never received an increase. I submitted a request online last week and it was instant approved to $3000.
There is an offer to upgrade his BCE to Blue Cash Preferred but I haven’t accepted it as has an AF of $95.

He doesn’t really know or care much about credit. I didn’t either until March 2019 when all our cards listed above were maxed out and I started diligently paying them off. I mostly used the snowball method and as an added bonus removed him as AU on my Cap 1 accounts which are maxed out.

[CreditInspired]

@Anonymous wrote: 

We are a bit worried about applying since he burned Chase before. We have a first mortgage is under my name only with Wellsfargo and Heloc $35K under his name only with Chase. The Heloc was opened in 2003 and was due in 2015 which we couldn’t pay so it was charged off.

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This is a biggy. IMHO, I wouldn't apply. I think it would be declined due to previous unsatisfactory banking relationship. The offers could be marketing only.

[coldfusion]

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@CreditInspired wrote:

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This is a biggy. IMHO, I wouldn't apply. I think it would be declined due to previous unsatisfactory banking relationship. The offers could be marketing only.

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^^^ This.  Chase has a long memory and it's only been 4 years since the CO.  

Even though you've been extended offers, there have been enough data points from others in similar circumstances to indicate that having the CO will take precedence and you'd probably be declined. 

[pinkandgrey]

It’s hard to say. Chase tends to be more unforgiving than some lenders. If it weren’t for burning them, I would say you’re good. But you might give it more time.