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Comenity AA Concerns - Advice requested

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Comenity AA Concerns - Advice requested

This is a little complicated, and I'm not a hundred percent sure it's in the right place. I'll try to keep it as data oriented as possible.

 

A month or so ago, had to put around 5k in emergency expenses on a couple of high interest cards (putting me near limits on both). I don't have the means to immediately pay them off, so I'll be paying them for 9-12 months. First time the statement cut, interest charges were over $100. Recently recieved a pre-approval offer for a card from the bank I do checking with - 0% BT for 15 months. What a coincidence. Applied and approved for $6600. Perfect. Immediately put in for the balance transfers.

Here's my problem:

Transfer completed today (I was expecting sooner).
Statements for the existing cards cut and reported yesterday. High util shows on report and will likely not be updated until next statement cuts in 30 days.
Statement for new card reports on the 1st of the month, and will report high util for the balance transferred, effectively doubling overall util% until the 17th when existing cards are reported as zero balance.
One of the existing cards is CapitalOne Playstation, and is transferring to Comenity on the 10th. Right inbetween those dates.

 

So on the date Comenity gets my zero'd out Playstation card, I will be showing near max usage on most of my cards, including one that was just opened. That, combined with three unpaid COs from 2013, looks really, really bad, even with four years of perfect payment history since then. I expect my score during these couple of weeks to completely tank and I fear they'll auto-pull my report and AA me, either by reducing my limit or closing my account. I have no prior relationships with Comenity.

 

Should I temporarily freeze my reports? Will that even work to prevent them from checking? Is it more of a red flag to have frozen reports? Am I worrying about nothing?

4 REPLIES 4
GApeachy
Super Contributor

Re: Comenity AA Concerns - Advice requested

Which cards are they? (the ones you transferred from)  Reason I ask is maybe you can call those 2 ccc's that have the two cards and ask for an off-cycle report to reflect your new 0 balances.

My Take Home Pay Don't Take Me Home
Message 2 of 5
CreditCuriosity
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Comenity AA Concerns - Advice requested

Freezing reports wont help one bit as creditors you have can SP right through them by law.

 

With that said one month most likely isn't going to cause AA for being near MAX on limits.  Banks and FI's look for patterns and one month isnt a pattern they will SP you every month to two and see you have paid things off and you will be in a good position IMO.   You should be perfectly fine.  Don't stress about the things you can't control in life and you made the best decision as FICO has no memory.. Sure your score will take a DIP for a few days, but once those balances shows payed off it will recover just fine.

Message 3 of 5
calyx
Super Contributor

Re: Comenity AA Concerns - Advice requested

Freezing your reports may not do you any good, as financial institutions that you have a relationship with can still do account reviews.

Sit tight, you aren't the first person to use balance transfers.



Happy practitioner of AZE7or8or9or10 | Team Finances > FICO
Message 4 of 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Comenity AA Concerns - Advice requested


@Anonymous wrote:

Am I worrying about nothing?  YES


As long as you're making payments you should be fine.  Don't worry too much about what a creditor will do.  Worry more about how much it costs you in interest.  Of course low UTIL is key to growth but, not spending more than you have to is more important.  Don't worry about your scores while paying things down either.  Once it's paid off they will rebound as scores don't have memory outside of payment history.

Message 5 of 5
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