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I would like an opinion on when I should apply for this card. Here is my story:
Current EQ Fico: 694
Current TU Fico: 654
Current EX Fako: 680
Between all 3 bureaus, I have 2 old collections (1 paid 1 unpaid) that will drop off in November.
I have 1 other first reported in April 2011 (first delenquency date is back in early 2009) that is in process of pay-for-delete (I'm waiting for them to send me the letter of intent before I mail a check), should also be off my reports by end of october.
I also have an old chase account that has been squeeky clean for 3 years straight, with 3 instances of 30 day late due to change of address/no bill sent (1 each in 2007, 2008, 2009). Also have 4 of the 120+ in a row from early 2006 when I was laid off while over-extended (was working part time through college, have been full-time employed since mid 2006, and so started getting back on track on my payments).
By December 1, my largest credit utilization will be on my 2 Sears cards (approx 32% because I had to buy new fridge, stove/oven, dishwasher, and clothes dryer for house)
My existing cards (all in good standing no derogatories ever with balances less than 30% of CL) are:
Discover ($4000 CL opened Jan 2012)
Sears ($2950 CL opened in 1998)
Sears+ ($5500 CL opened in Feb 2012)
JCPenney ($2500 CL opened in 1998)
Kohls ($1500 CL opened in August 2011)
EX has 1 HP in past 12 months, EQ has 2, TU has 2.
Also have had a truck loan since Nov 2009 (refinanced June 2010), and student loans (about $40K, started repayment in July of 2009, first loan taken out 2002).
Opened mortgage through Wells Fargo Bank for $174K in July 2011, currently owe about $170K, good standing over a year.
My thoughts are that my 3 biggest issues that Amex might have are: my current over 50% utilization on the Sears cards, the late payments on chase, and the collections.
Collections should all be gone completely by end of October, and below 50% utilization on every card I own by December 1st. That just leaves the late payments from 6 years ago on Chase.
Any thoughts on how Amex might view those, in light of excellent recent payment history, balances, credit types, etc? I'm trying to decide between appling in December, or waiting until May to ensure that all but the three 30-day lates are off my report.
Thanks!
Wait until November.
Get your utilization under 30% overall and per card if you can.
Under 30% utilization will happen Jan 1st (due to december payments).
Obviously I want the card as soon as possible, my payment schedule is more flexible than the drop-off date for the late chase payments.
Why'd you start two different threads about the same thing?
@SubseaEngineer wrote:Under 30% utilization will happen Jan 1st (due to december payments).
Obviously I want the card as soon as possible, my payment schedule is more flexible than the drop-off date for the late chase payments.
I would work hard to make the UTL below 30% happen early. Getting the BCP in December this year will help you long term, thanks to bonus backdating goodness on future cards. If you get the BCP in December and decide you want a second AMEX card in January you get 11 months of age thanks to backdating.
djrez: They are related, but not the same. At the core I am not sure how Amex treats old late payments, and I was curious about difficulty of US Bank versus AMEX; there is litlte information on one compared to the other.
APologize if it seemed like i was double-posting. I'm a newbie here, but not to forums.