Credit Card PIF concern!

[Anonymous]

Hey guys!

This forum has been very helpful for me over the past few months.  I was just wondering about PIF credit cards that have had a balance carried over for quite sometime, lets say about a year or so.  A little back story; I have been a college student for many years (seemed liked forever!) and I've finally graduated and landed a well paying job.  I have the ability to pay off the balances on my credit cards but I am afraid that my CL would be slashed.  I'll give you an example... I have a card with Chase that has a CL of 1.5k.  Last year I was able to pay that balance off entirely and about a month later I was attempting to make a $400 purchase and realized my CL was reduced to $300.  I immediately called Chase and my CL was reinstated.  Of the 4 credit cards I have, BOA, AMEX, CHASE and CAP1, I have paid off BOA and CAP1 with no negative result - 3 months and counting.  My fear is AMEX and Chase... what do you guys think I should do?  Pay them off in big chunks instead of all at once or just PIF and wait to see what happens?  I don't want to lose my CL 

Thanks guys!

[Kutuzov]

PIF and see what happens, if they drop your CL call them and ask them why, as you'll have util. very low you should be fine. Do not let them report more than 9%, and at least 1% util.. I also noted than some cc you actually need to report more than 1% to factor a 1%, like if it's 1000, do at least 15.

[scenery_guy]

PIF. Wait and see what they do and if they decrease call in and get it reinstated. If for some reason they cut the limit and won't budge apply for a new card as long as your file is clean and your ULT is low. 

Sometimes the only way to higher limits is with a new card.

[Anonymous]

Alright thanks so much guys! I'll just go ahead and pay them off whilst holding my breath lol.  

[Gunnar419]

Although it happens, and I'm sorry it happened to you, getting a CL decrease after paying down a cc is unusual. CLDs happened a lot in the couple of years after the big crash in 2008, and it happens when cccs review your credit and see something wrong (late payments, maxed out cards, etc.). But under most circumstances, if you're managing your credit well and keeping utilization within reasonable limits, you won't get CLDed.  YMMV of course.

You'd think they could have emailed or something to tell you to spare you the embarrassment of trying to make a purchase that wouldn't go through.

[Anonymous]

To avoid cld you should try to keep balance on a single card below 70% at all times. Maxed out card looks bad to creditors.

[Odiseous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hey guys!

This forum has been very helpful for me over the past few months.  I was just wondering about PIF credit cards that have had a balance carried over for quite sometime, lets say about a year or so.  A little back story; I have been a college student for many years (seemed liked forever!) and I've finally graduated and landed a well paying job.  I have the ability to pay off the balances on my credit cards but I am afraid that my CL would be slashed.  I'll give you an example... I have a card with Chase that has a CL of 1.5k.  Last year I was able to pay that balance off entirely and about a month later I was attempting to make a $400 purchase and realized my CL was reduced to $300.  I immediately called Chase and my CL was reinstated.  Of the 4 credit cards I have, BOA, AMEX, CHASE and CAP1, I have paid off BOA and CAP1 with no negative result - 3 months and counting.  My fear is AMEX and Chase... what do you guys think I should do?  Pay them off in big chunks instead of all at once or just PIF and wait to see what happens?  I don't want to lose my CL 

Thanks guys!

---

If you are carrying over a balance on the AmEx, that means it's a revolver. AmEx is one of the easier cards to get CLIs with (especially if you have low UTIL. 

I wouldn't worry too much. Even if your CLs get slashed, you can dig yourself back out over time using AmEx 3x CLI rule.