how strict are BofA's new rules?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The reason why people suggest gardening is to prevent you from triggering a cascade of card closures. Lenders get really spooked when a thin file adds a lot of cards in a short time. 

Something that gets missed when looking at people's signatures is how thick they were before they went on a spree. I am a perfect example of this. I started this journey with just 3 cards last year and a total of $9250 in limits between them. I closed two cards and kept my QS and I have added every other card in my signature since March of last year, growing to 20 cards with $100,250 in total limits. This seems impossible and it looks like I have done this with a thin file but I have student loans going back to 2010 on my reports, including multiple transfers, and my oldest card is from 3/2014 as well. My AAoA is still 2 years on my thinnest file and 2y6m on my thickest despite my spree behavior. There is also still no guarantee that I won't lose some accounts when everything reports. 

If you are okay with the possibility of ending up losing accounts and not being able to get another one from that lender for some time and you don't have any lenders on your radar that are sensitive to credit seeking, getting it out of your system now could be beneficial later. Just beware that you could trigger a cascade of closures and other AA. 

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i have never seen anyone get a cascade of multiple card closures like you are describing here Saeren. You yourself did not suffer from it either despite going on sprees.

i provided an example of someone who built up without much gardening and without AA. since i provided an example maybe you guys can provide one? show me a multiple cascade of card closures from multiple banks because you apped for a card or two on a thin file. chase might do that but i have no chase cards. and my exposure is low, one card at each bank. i only have 3 cards total. i'm thinking it would be really tough to get a cascade like this until i'm at least over 5/24. but if you have examples i'd like to see it.

creditinspired, yes i will app for it soon. i know you would love to see me get a denial to say "i told you so" but i have a good feeling about my chances there, and they have a recon-line which you can get up to 3 reconsiderations on!!!

so i really have 4 chances to get approved. but if i get denied i think it will be because they see my amex inq. i don't know how sensitive to inqs they are as part of their new rules, but for the open accts i think i'm fine. another thing they might not like is my AoYA is only 5mo.

[AllZero]

If you got a checking account with BoA you won't have to worry of the 3/12.

You see people mentioning the garden is because they want you to be successful.

The goal is to improve your odds for approval. Improve your odds at a higher credit limit. Improve your odds at a low APR.

If you want to just get in the door that's up to you. You got a $6,000 AmEx. Be proud of it and let it be the bench mark for the next credit card application.

Lots of things are considered besides FICO score; DTI, Income, inquiries, age of accounts, and etc.

At the end of they day, it's your decision.

[kdm31091]

Take note that BoA really doesn't recon much anymore. Typically they will abide by the computer's decision. Not to say it never happens, but compared to 1-2 years ago, they aren't nearly as flexible as they used to be. When you have an app "reconsidered", the human really just puts it through the computer again and typically, the same result comes out. It's rare for the analyst to overturn (or attempt to overturn) it anymore.

AA can and does happen. It's not the end of the world if it does, but creditors definitely monitor accounts on and ongoing basis. Seeing tons of new accounts/inquiries is a risk factor and can lead to issues for anyone, but especially on a thin file.

Anyway, you're obviously going to do what you're going to do, so best of luck with whatever that is.

[Anonymous]

No app is risk free but BofA is pushing the CR cards hard and the underwriting isn't known to be strict.  And I don't think you need to worry about AA.

To have a thick file you have to start somewhere. Might as well start now so you have multiple cards that will all age together.  

[Anonymous]

Oh oh maybe I count 2 years bunch of trade lines XD
Question I was sent a offer and applied and was approved 2 weeks ago now im.getting another offer for Alaska airlines it has a preselected personal secure code says credit line no less than 1.5k set apr is that preapproved

[coldfusion]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Oh oh maybe I count 2 years bunch of trade lines XD
Question I was sent a offer and applied and was approved 2 weeks ago now im.getting another offer for Alaska airlines it has a preselected personal secure code says credit line no less than 1.5k set apr is that preapproved

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There are 2 points worth noting:

1) it's difficult to say without seeing the offer itself but if there is no opt-out language it is definitely not a preapproval.

2) the data used to assess who would be sent those offers was almost certainly collected more than 2 weeks ago i.e. before you applied for the other card.  Since your credit profile has changed since then with the addition of the new tradeline, even if it were a valid preapproval your odds of actual approval would be diminished.