I am approaching my 1 year anniversary and have not yet graduated. I had posted for help in the Rebuilding forum, but I wanted to share all of those data here in the hopes that it might help folks figure out what the heck Discover uses to make decisions.
Filed Bankruptcy Ch7 - 7/2018
Discharged 10/2018
Did not burn: Discover, Amex
Burned: Pretty much everyone else
Opened Discover IT with $500 12/2018
Note: I did not find these forums until around 8/2019, so my util and inquiries were at times higher than they would have been because I was figuring things out on my own.
Statement Date: 1/2019, Balance $0, Limit $500, Amount Used $418.90, Discover TU 586
Statement Date: 2/2019, Balance $300.55, Limit $500, Amount Used $1044.78, Discover TU 622
Statement Date: 3/2019, Balance $472.82, Limit $1000, Amount Used $1002.54, Discover TU 581
Statement Date: 4/2019, Balance $726.41, Limit $1000, Amount Used $1262.20, Discover TU 599
Statement Date: 5/2019, Balance $152.63, Limit $1500, Amount Used $1264.04, Discover TU 613
Statement Date: 6/2019, Balance $189.22, Limit $1500, Amount Used $1525.49, Discover TU 629
Statement Date: 7/2019, Balance $419.97, Limit $2000, Amount Used $1691.25, Discover TU 644
Statement Date: 8/2019, Balance $617.74, Limit $2000, Amount Used $1757.01, Discover TU 655 *
Statement Date: 9/2019, Balance $279.66, Limit $2000, Amount Used $2384.59, Discover TU 658
Statement Date: 10/2019, Balance $95.84, Limit $2000, Amount Used $2570.97, Discover TU 676
Statement Date: 11/2019, Balance $0, Limit $2000, Amount Used $1207.72, Discover TU 673
Statement Date: 12/2019, Balance $0, Limit $2500, Amount Used $1927.99, Discover TU 679
*I see a soft pull on my annual TU report 7/29/19, so clearly I failed initial graduation
I have never been late. I have never gone over the limit. I pay whatever my balance is every 2 weeks when I get paid. I use the card for all daily expenses. Once I found these forums and realized how important util was I made a conscious effort to get the balance as low as possible prior to my statement date (4th).
I burned a lot of folks in my bankruptcy, but currently have the following accounts besides the Discover card all current, never late, never over:
Capital One Secured - $49 dep/$200 limit
Merrick Bank - $1100 (set to double next month)
Target - $2000
Ollo - Initial $2000, recent CLI to $2200
DSRM/Valero Gas - Initial $300, recent CLI to $500
Credit One - $1000 set to cancel when Merrick doubles up to dodge the annual fee
I opened the accounts on the following dates:
Ollo 4/2019
Merrick 5/2019
Credit One 6/2019
Target 8/2019
Capital One 8/2019
I am an auth user on my husband’s accounts to help with Age:
Capital One - 10k limit, 25 years old
Citibank - 5k limit, 3 years old
I have significant student loan debt:
Federal - ~175k, but I qualify and am on track for public service loan forgiveness. I have never missed a payment, but obviously it hurts my debt to income since creditors can't see that I only pay 489/mo and it will disappear in a little over 8 years
Private - Initially 55k, now 36k, paying this off aggressively ahead of schedule. Never missed a payment, never late.
3 Bureau Experian on 11/6/2019: EQ is 713 / EXP is 708 / TU is 679. I'm currently at 1% overall util. My annual income is ~150k.
My TU score is lagging the other two bureaus. The most recent late payments for EQ and EXP are 1 yr 4 months, but for TU is 1 year.
12/7/2019: It doesn't look like I'm graduating this month. I suppose I may on Monday, since it seems like the trend is 3 business days and my 3rd fell today (Saturday).
For the heck of it I tried the prequal yesterday since it's been a year. I received a rate of 19.49%, which based on my reading here led me to believe the offer was firm. I was going to hold out until mid-next week to see if the secured card graduated, but I realized I would have applied for a second card with them at one year anyhow. I want to apply for a car loan in about a year and I think it makes sense to be inquiry free for the 12 months before, so I just said screw it why not and hit the button this morning.
I had to send proof of address. We've only been at our current place 1 year.
I sent the proof and then called the number to follow up. I was approved for $14,500. I'm pretty floored. Do you think something with my address was holding up the graduation? Not sure what to think. I will hold onto my secured card until Jan 10 (my Cashback match is on Jan 5). If it doesn't graduate next month I plan to close it.
I really don't know what to make of this. I'm thrilled of course, but find it so weird that they have been reluctant to unsecure $2500, but are cool with giving me $14,500 unsecured?
@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
I really don't know what to make of this. I'm thrilled of course, but find it so weird that they have been reluctant to unsecure $2500, but are cool with giving me $14,500 unsecured
Keep having to remind folks that YES Discover can/does bucket cards... Just like Capital One but they tend to be a bit more flexible on their buckets... *meaning it sometimes can grow out of the bucket but its very slow and gradual* It is why for many folks, sometimes apping for a second discover after the first year, can pay off.... Plus you usually get a second year of cashback match (YMMV but most folks seem to be getting it even though they rumor to be discontinuing it on second or third cards)
Might want to look through some of @AverageJoesCredit Past postings and getting a second Discover as well
Also what are Asset Backed Securities
-J
Discodad
Also if it were me, id hold out untill at least March... (have a feeling that it might unsecure according to your timeline).... You could even try to merge it when it unsecures with your new card limit (but it has to be eligible for a CLI)..... (Thats a whole different game) At the least, id wait at least until a week after Feb statement
-J
Okay, I can wait until March. 2500 is just not an insignificant amount of cash for me and I'll want it to help with the down payment for the new vehicle in a year. I just need enough lead time to get it back under the does not unsecure scenario. The rep told me on the phone I'm eligible for the match on the new card.
I'll look through the additional reading you recommended. Thank you!
I'll look through the additional reading you recommended. Thank you!
Added additional funds to the security deposit over time.