CLI DECREASE????

[KeithW]

I pulled my FICO reports, and nothing on there that I can see. My payment history is perfect except on the Equifax, which had two 30 Day lates back in 2009, and my car had a 30 day late at the same time. Other than that every payment is perfect, no collections and my debt to income is 28%. I do have a ton of credit pulls on my report with the new car shoping and mortgage shopping.

I had such a high balance because I bought an iMac for $2,400. That card is going into my sock drawer though because my other cards have much better rewards.

[Erusidhion]

    Do you have a Personal Line of Credit? You should look into getting one if you want to choose how much of a payment per month you want to make. You won't get penalized for using a PLOC and making the minimum if you had to for 6 months; or if you just decided to cut the balance down into 12 months of payments. I got a credit limit decrease recently and while it was due to many factors; a lot of credit card companies don't want you to carry a balance even if you pay interest. I don't know why. But it's how credit cards have always been as far as I know. Use for 30 days, PIF; reap the rewards. Repeat for next month.

    You could just buy something on your credit card, PIF from your PLOC and pay a little bit of interest until you pay the balance in full. It seems to be the better way of doing things. I plan on getting a PLOC within the next couple of weeks from my local credit union. Minimum payment is 3% of current balance and the interest rate is only 9.5% which isn't bad. I also bank at Wells Fargo but they're overconservative.

    Good luck. Since it's PIF, you could try calling the Executive Office or Underwriter/Credit Analyst and see if they'll reinstate your credit limit after your statement cuts. Also just wanted to add I don't advocate paying interest, but sometimes it has its benefits if you have ways of turning money you borrow into higher returns then what you'd pay. I've been fixing up craigslist cars in my spare time and flipping them for extra income during this tax season. You'd be surprised what you can buy on the cheap.

[NRB525]

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@Burned2manybridgesB4 wrote:

Jumping on the bandwagon here.....

I've been running a (58%util) $7k balance on my ring that hit December, with my overall at 5%, and I've only paid $600 on it so far, with two statements showing a posting balance consecutively, but I'm mindful of what my other cards are reporting as well (keeping reported balances down to four cards or less), so it doesn't look bad to the AR soft pullers. I've checked the AR's, and I've had NO AA so far, so it's most likely a bad combination of multiple reporting balances, HP's, and increase usage.

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I'll raise the bidding: I've been carrying large balances for years. I've gone through CLD, but the lenders all seem to be comfortable with the limits now.

I did several BT last summer and those were to 4 cards putting 60% to 70% on each, those were up to $12k transfers on to the cards, and 96% on an $8k Discover card.

But I don't have, and likely will never have, a Barclays card. So I can't speak to how Barclays responds to amounts like this. I think a lot has to do with your prior borrowing and payment patterns, both in general and with a particular card. All of the cards I had transferred to? They had all reached zero balances in the recent past, even if for just a short time.

This is another reason why I disagree with the common practice of "pay before statement cuts so all cards but one report zero balance". well, that and I just can't get them all to zero at the same time yet.

[KeithW]

I also find it odd that while my FICO scores, which are listed in my signature, are all above 640, the FAKO scores I get all seem to have really tanked around the end of the year. About 60 days after we bought our car, and when the utilization went up on our cards. Right now my overal utilization is 46% on my cards. I have a 17 year credit history, and my most recent 30 day late was 6 years ago, I had another 30 day late a couple years before that.

I also have two PIF medical collections on my report from 2009.

My FAKO scores are down in the mid to upper 500s as of right now.

[Tomgon1981]

Discover did that to me I've carried a balance for months then in January I PIF 3 days later they drop my credit limit from $1500 to $500 I was very upset about it and like you I have never been late or missed any payments 

[Bman70]

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@KeithW wrote:

I also find it odd that while my FICO scores, which are listed in my signature, are all above 640, the FAKO scores I get all seem to have really tanked around the end of the year. About 60 days after we bought our car, and when the utilization went up on our cards. Right now my overal utilization is 46% on my cards. I have a 17 year credit history, and my most recent 30 day late was 6 years ago, I had another 30 day late a couple years before that.

I also have two PIF medical collections on my report from 2009.

My FAKO scores are down in the mid to upper 500s as of right now.

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I do think files with any old "baddies" are subject to tighter scrutiny and perhaps a shorter fuse when it comes to AA. Yours are soon to drop off, so if you lower overall util to under 30% you should get into mid 700s or more FICO.