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Considering new CC

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Considering new CC

I'm considering adding a new CC. Been working on my credit like a mad man for 4 months by handling a charged off debt and having collections removed. Scores have gone up significantly. This was in preparation for a home loan in late next year. After I took care of my derogatories, I applied for a few cards to build my FICO8 and mortgage scores. I added 3 CC's since October and have 2 installments. I'm wanting another CC so I can beef my profile up and garden up  until after the home loan. 

Cap One - $3,000 CL 10/20

Synchrony Car Care $1,000 9/20

Discover Cash Back $3,500 1/21

 

Utilization is at 1%

Installments

Cal loan $13k 9/20

Personal Loan $16k 11/20

 

I'll have the loans paid off prior to applying for the mortgage. I'm hoping to get feedback as to whether I should apply for another CC and which one? All my payments have been made on time. I've had my eye on the Citi Double Cash and Chase Freedom. To be honest, I'm not sure if I would even get approved. Has anyone had similar scores/situation and got approved for either cards? 

 

FICO8  

EX-665

TU-674

EQ-662

 

Inquiries 

TU-5

EX-3

EQ-2 

 

Thanks. 

12 REPLIES 12
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Considering new CC

That is a lot of new credit added the past four months.  I would suggest giving it a break until your home loan.  You don't have any utilization issues, so adding additional revolving lines isn't really going to help your scores if they're being hammered by constant new account penalties.  I would just try to put some distance between your most recent applications, and would also suggest reconsidering fully paying off your loans prior to the mortgage application, as there are scoring penalties for having no open installment accounts that could potentially cost you many thousands of dollars on the home loan.

 

As for the two cards you mentioned, approvals in the mid-600s would be marginal, but combined with very aggressive recent credit-seeking, it would be highly improbable to be approved by Chase or Citi.

Message 2 of 13
WavysMommy
Regular Contributor

Re: Considering new CC


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm considering adding a new CC. Been working on my credit like a mad man for 4 months by handling a charged off debt and having collections removed. Scores have gone up significantly. This was in preparation for a home loan in late next year. After I took care of my derogatories, I applied for a few cards to build my FICO8 and mortgage scores. I added 3 CC's since October and have 2 installments. I'm wanting another CC so I can beef my profile up and garden up  until after the home loan. 

Cap One - $3,000 CL 10/20

Synchrony Car Care $1,000 9/20

Discover Cash Back $3,500 1/21

 

Utilization is at 1%

Installments

Cal loan $13k 9/20

Personal Loan $16k 11/20

 

I'll have the loans paid off prior to applying for the mortgage. I'm hoping to get feedback as to whether I should apply for another CC and which one? All my payments have been made on time. I've had my eye on the Citi Double Cash and Chase Freedom. To be honest, I'm not sure if I would even get approved. Has anyone had similar scores/situation and got approved for either cards? 

 

FICO8  

EX-665

TU-674

EQ-662

 

Inquiries 

TU-5

EX-3

EQ-2 

 

Thanks. 


Any baddies outside of the charge offs and collections? Any recent late payments?

 

I would ixnay Chase for right now. I believe they have a 5/24 rule, so if they pull your Transunion, there is a possibility you'll be denied. Especially with so much of your loan history being so recent. I'll let the vets here chime in on that, tho.

 

Have you thought of joining a credit union, like Navy Fed? Or one that is local? I'm 16 months out of a BK and got a huge(for me) SL of 12.5k after my secured card with them hit 90 days. Not necessarily a guarantee, but data points seem to indicate it's more common than not.

Message 3 of 13
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Considering new CC

I would ixnay Chase for right now. I believe they have a 5/24 rule, so if they pull your Transunion, there is a possibility you'll be denied. Especially with so much of your loan history being so recent. I'll let the vets here chime in on that, tho.

 

The Chase 5/24 applies only to the number of credit and charge cards opened in the past 24 months.  Inquiries and loan products have no bearing.  If the three credit cards listed are the only ones the OP has been approved for in the past 24 months, they would be 3/24.

Message 4 of 13
WavysMommy
Regular Contributor

Re: Considering new CC


@K-in-Boston wrote:

I would ixnay Chase for right now. I believe they have a 5/24 rule, so if they pull your Transunion, there is a possibility you'll be denied. Especially with so much of your loan history being so recent. I'll let the vets here chime in on that, tho.

 

The Chase 5/24 applies only to the number of credit and charge cards opened in the past 24 months.  Inquiries and loan products have no bearing.  If the three credit cards listed are the only ones the OP has been approved for in the past 24 months, they would be 3/24.


Thanks! I knew someone would correct me. 😉

Message 5 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Considering new CC

@K-in-Boston 

 

Yea I have been credit seeking since November when I improved my scores. I had opted out of having any CC's since 2015. Since November I've just been adding lines to have some type of revolving lines open and reporting because it's been so long and figured it would be better to have another account reporting good payment history. I don't need the another CL. Not for financial purposes at least. Just hoping to have a thicker profile and have another account reporting good behaviors. 

I have considered paying off the personal loan within a few months and keeping the car loan open and at about 9% or below when we apply for the mortgage.

I may just hold off on the card because it's not needed truly. I just thought I'd get a second opinion. 

Message 6 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Considering new CC

@WavysMommy 

I just have the charge off from 2015 that was settled a while back and will fall off in about 12 months. Aside from that, just a few lates from a few years ago. Sent out goodwills to the CEO and executives for this finance company regarding the lates and got a response via email that it's being looked into. Hopefully they work with me on that. 

 

I actually already bank with a great local credit union where I earn nice dividends, but unfortunately they don't have CC's at the moment. They're working on it last I heard. That's where I got my loan from (personal unsecured loan to consolidate fiancé's debt). I wish they did have CC's though. I have a great relationship with them and have $70k in savings  and a decent in my checking along with perfect payment history with all my loans with them. So hopefully they roll a product out soon so I can go that route. 

Message 7 of 13
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Considering new CC

Just hoping to have a thicker profile and have another account reporting good behaviors.

 

Unfortunately scoring doesn't really benefit directly from quantity.   100 accounts all reporting paid on time doesn't help any more than 10 accounts all reporting paid on time.  What a thicker profile helps with is padding for some key scoring metrics like average age of accounts by giving you a buffer when you later open new accounts, and to a lesser extent for some things like percentage of cards reporting a balance - there is a penalty at 50% or higher so with two cards reporting a balance you would see this penalty (which can be quite small or imperceptible; it really depends on the profile) whether you kept the 3 or added a 4th.  The key things for a good score are payment history, low revolving utilization, and time.  Adding new accounts may eventually help you later with buffers to keep the other factors in check, but in the shorter term adding additional new accounts would be harmful or at best make no difference.  Adding time since your most recent new accounts, inquiries, and late payments is the best thing for improving your scores.

Message 8 of 13
SecretAzure
Valued Contributor

Re: Considering new CC

3 is plenty to rebuild your profile. Sit on those until you get a mortgage. Request CLI when you can without hard pulls only. Do so every 6 months. I have never seen a situation where a mortgage lender views 3 cards as insufficient.

"Show your thanks with action! Hit the "Kudos" button (the stripe with the star) for every post you find helpful to show your appreciation to the community of great individuals who help you on these forums" -Me

Active Cards: Chevron Texaco, Amex BCE, Barclays Ring, Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Best Buy Visa, Marvel MCMust garden until 2/1/2022 to hit my goal AAOA. Smiley Indifferent
Message 9 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Considering new CC


@K-in-Boston wrote:

Adding time since your most recent new accounts, inquiries, and late payments is the best thing for improving your scores.


then I shall. Thank you for the advice. I honestly just needed someone to tell me not to do it haha. I have no specific reason besides to have another account reporting, which  logically I shouldn't because it won't help as you stated.  

Message 10 of 13
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