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Hi Everyone!
Last year I took advantage of a slew of 0% APR balance transfer offers to help finance the cash purchase of a house. Fast forward a year and I find myself in a situation where all of my cards but Chase are balance chasing as I pay them off. To make matters more complicated, I inherited a cash sum as expected that would allow me to pay off either my Chase cards completely or spread payments fairly equally, the result of both being an overall utilization of about 29%. I was leaning toward spreading out the payments to reduce overall exposure at each bank, but given that Chase is the only one not taking AA yet, I also want to take care of that balance first and hope they won't give me a CLD. Again, my other cards are chasing to the point where I'm staying at or above 90% utilization and Bank of America has cut ties completely. Any thoughts or advice would be highly welcome!
EDIT
Below are the cards I currently have open and their respective utilization. My credit profile is fairly tenured, with my newest card being 3-4 years ago and a fair mix of other credit/loans in good standing. Again, I'm trying to determine how to apply about 45k to these balances in a way that would hopefully the balance chasing all but Chase are enacting on those with an open balance. Would calling Chase and explaining my intentions help or even possibly hurt?
American Express Cash Magnet 7k/96%
American Express Everyday 1k/0%
American Express Blue 1k/0%
Mercury 5.5k/0%
Capital One Platinum 1.5k/0%
Capital One Playstation 6k/0%
Capital One Quicksilver 4k/0%
Chase Amazon 2k/74%
Chase Freedom 0.5k/0%
Chase Disney 19k/92%
Chase Saphire 19k/92%
Citi Simplicity 4k/90%
City Double Cash 10k/96%
Discover IT 3.5k/82%
Discover Cash Back 1k/92%
Regions Bank 4.5k/84%
Store Credit
Wayfair 11k/0%
Home Depot 3k/88%
Kohls 1.5k/0%
Total 106k/64%
You might be better off using the “snowballing method”. This is where you pay off one card completely then the next etc. etc. Start with the smallest debt. Pay it down to 0. Let the chasing algorithm chase you down. Let a statement close with your new low limit. Then once it stops call in and ask for a CLI. They will not restore your old limit but they will usually give you something. Banks do not want to lose money but they also want to make money. If you get chased down to a few hundred bucks (which is likely) they know that card is done making money for them. You borrowed money, you paid them back, so they are usually willing to give you a bit back. Again don’t expect your old limits right away but they are inclined to give you some breathtaking room.
All of this is assuming they chased you for maxing all your cards not for lates, or over the limit, or returned payments. If any of those occurred you are likely stuck with those limits for a while. ymmv
@Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone!
Last year I took advantage of a slew of 0% APR balance transfer offers to help finance the cash purchase of a house. Fast forward a year and I find myself in a situation where all of my cards but Chase are balance chasing as I pay them off. To make matters more complicated, I inherited a cash sum as expected that would allow me to pay off either my Chase cards completely or spread payments fairly equally, the result of both being an overall utilization of about 29%. I was leaning toward spreading out the payments to reduce overall exposure at each bank, but given that Chase is the only one not taking AA yet, I also want to take care of that balance first and hope they won't give me a CLD. Again, my other cards are chasing to the point where I'm staying at or above 90% utilization and Bank of America has cut ties completely. Any thoughts or advice would be highly welcome!
I would spread it around, try to get them off your back.
OP, how does the rest of your file look outside of the high utilization spike due to the 0% offers you took advantage of? Do you have late payments on your CR? Is your file young or thin? I ask these questions because rarely have I seen multiple creditors take AA just due to high utilization if the rest of one's profile is sound. 9 times out of 10 there's other reasons for it and the utilization increase is just the straw that broke the camels back.
I just updated my post with additional balance info. Other than that, no negative information, fairly tenured accounts, and diverse credit types.
As long as it is just balance chasing, and you continue to make payments, this is temporary. Snowballing, as mentioned above is an option, as is going after highest APR first. As long as you have the means (cash flow) to meet your obligations you will be fine. Your FICO score only really matters when you need to acquire credit.
@Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone!
Last year I took advantage of a slew of 0% APR balance transfer offers to help finance the cash purchase of a house. Fast forward a year and I find myself in a situation where all of my cards but Chase are balance chasing as I pay them off. To make matters more complicated, I inherited a cash sum as expected that would allow me to pay off either my Chase cards completely or spread payments fairly equally, the result of both being an overall utilization of about 29%. I was leaning toward spreading out the payments to reduce overall exposure at each bank, but given that Chase is the only one not taking AA yet, I also want to take care of that balance first and hope they won't give me a CLD. Again, my other cards are chasing to the point where I'm staying at or above 90% utilization and Bank of America has cut ties completely. Any thoughts or advice would be highly welcome!
EDIT
Below are the cards I currently have open and their respective utilization. My credit profile is fairly tenured, with my newest card being 3-4 years ago and a fair mix of other credit/loans in good standing. Again, I'm trying to determine how to apply about 45k to these balances in a way that would hopefully the balance chasing all but Chase are enacting on those with an open balance. Would calling Chase and explaining my intentions help or even possibly hurt?
American Express Cash Magnet 7k/96%
American Express Everyday 1k/0%
American Express Blue 1k/0%
Mercury 5.5k/0%
Capital One Platinum 1.5k/0%
Capital One Playstation 6k/0%
Capital One Quicksilver 4k/0%
Chase Amazon 2k/74%
Chase Freedom 0.5k/0%
Chase Disney 19k/92%
Chase Saphire 19k/92%
Citi Simplicity 4k/90%
City Double Cash 10k/96%
Discover IT 3.5k/82%
Discover Cash Back 1k/92%
Regions Bank 4.5k/84%
Store Credit
Wayfair 11k/0%
Home Depot 3k/88%
Kohls 1.5k/0%
Total 106k/64%
Total Credit Lines: 106k
Goal Utilization: 29%
Goal Balance to Achieve 29% Util: Approx $30k
Determination w/ $45k available: Doable!!
Op, quickly and without 'exact' math, getting back to normal-ville is quite doable in my mind. You can't immediately be concerned with the balance chasing, that can iron itself out over time if they choose to allow future CLI's, but for the right now, here is what 'I' would do as an example:
Remaining balances across most of the cards: $15k
Overall UTIL after the above: 14%
Again this is quick math and an example of paying things down quickly. It does not take into consideration things I can't possibly be aware of like your income, bonuses, personal expenditures, how many dates you have lol, or the changing %'s based on the balance chasing. Hope this helps!