Expanding. Which Cards, and Why?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Do you think ~$6k limits are reasonable for my profile at this point in time, or what should I be asking for? I reasonably have access to my housemates income, so I list it when applying. I typically say $59k annual income, $9k of which is the SSI which is tax-exempt.

I apparently have 1 derogatory mark on my Equifax from a $47 doctors office visit that the state's disability department was supposed to pay for (for the physical they had me go to when applying) that apparently never got paid and I never recieved a bill or notice for it. I mean, I'd have easily paid that out of pocket before letting it go to collections if I had known about it. I didn't find out about it until about 2 years after the fact.

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$6K is reasonable. I don't really know how it all works when using other people's incomes. I have gotten all my limits on my $18K of income from SSDI. 

I am aggressive about getting credit. I don't have any problem throwing HPs to get CLIs even though realistically I could get by with much less than I have. 

As for that collection, have you thought about just contacting the company and asking for a PFD. It's such a small amount of money that it would be worth getting rid of. It's not affecting your scores because it's less than $100 but it's certainly showing up to lenders. 

[Anonymous]

I tried calling the doctors office, they said it's out of their hands since they sent it to collections and they gave me a number to call. I called the number and it redirected to some company in Malaysia or something, I could hardly understand the representative's broken English. I told them about it and they they'd have to mail me a bill and that they couldn't just rebill the state because it was "in their old system." I said that was fine, ensured they had my current address (which they did), but I still never got the bill and it slipped my mind after that. I should try and reach out to them again though. 😕

As for other peoples income, it works the same as being your own. When you apply for anything, if you read the fine print, it states that you may include other income "that is available to you"... Here is the application for a Discover card, for instance:

[Anonymous]

Yeah I know the rules for the application but if it comes down to verification later, that's a hassle I just wouldn't want to deal with, especially since I don't file taxes anyway which would pose a problem if a lender ever wants a tax transcript (4506-T). 

As for the collection, I would reach out again. Ask for an address to send a letter. Send it certified mail return receipt and if they don't send you the info, you have grounds to file a dispute with the credit bureaus. You can ask for more specific help in the rebuilding forum. @gdale6 actually has a method for dealing with medical collections. 

Chase and Uber will likely entail someone looking at your reports so I would probably get the collection taken care of first. You have two sign up bonuses to hit with the Freedom and Cash+ anyway so that gives you some time to get this taken care of so you can optimize your CLI requests. 

[Anonymous]

You made a good point. Unfortunately, I had already put in a CLI request with Barclays. They bumped me up from $500 to $2,500... I'll hold off before seeking a CLI on my Amazon Prime.

I think this week has turned out well though... starting the week, I had a CL of $2,500 ($1,000 Prime, $500 Uber, $1,100 Double Cash) and now have ~$19,400 ($1,000 Prime, $2,500 Uber, $3,600 Double Cash, ~$6,000 Cash+, $6,300 Freedom). So an increase of $17k... 👍🏼

[Anonymous]

That's a fantastic week and you can't really complain about a 5X CLI either. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your recent Card aquisitions and CLIs! Was the Uber CLI a HP? If so i would caution against anymore credit seeking for another 6 months. And I believe that since Amazon is Chase? I would hold off on a CLI since you just got the Freedom. Unless they'll use that recent HP for the CLI on Amazon Prime. Depending on how many you currently have, I guess. Or if they matter to you.

I think $6K limits are reasonble for now, based on then current lines of credit. Also, I doubt adding someone else's income is going to make that big a difference in your SL. 

[Anonymous]

Saeren, where can I find their process for dealing with medical collections? I made a new topic [ here ] explaining my specific situation.

Janus, yes, Barclays always does HPs, and Chase's recon wouldn't even use the same HP to reconsider a higher SL on my Freedom.

1. What are good reasons for requesting a CL? When I called Barclays, they asked for a reason as to why I'm seeking an increase... I feel like "To lower my credit utilization..." wouldn't be what they want to hear. I ended up saying that I'm often forced to use other cards to make larger purchases when I'd like to be able to use their card. But this can only be used for lower CLs, because a lot of things cost between $1k-$2k, how would you justify a $10k+ CL?
   
   Also worth noting that Barclays only allowed my $9k income since the rest wasn't from a spouse. Didn't seem to care that it was an immediate relative I live and share a bank account with... this is the first company I've encounter with such strict rules on it. Thus far, it seems like the $59k vs $9k difference in income has a pretty significant impact on how much they're willing to increase your CL... but I may be wrong.
   
   
2. If you have two cards with the same bank (eg. having the Prime Rewards and Freedom with Chase) and at some point want to request an increase on both. Would they be willing to do only 1 HP while considering both requests? Or would they just deny your requests if you even show an interest in increasing the CL on two cards at the same time?

[FinStar]

As the OP has provided an update on all the recent approvals/CLI successes, this thread is now locked and closed to new messages.

For any guidance associated with any collection items, feel free to post a separate thread in the Rebuilding Your Credit section:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/bd-p/rebuildingcredit

Otherwise, feel free to start a new approval thread in the Approvals forum if you would like to do so.