How soon Can I Apply for a New Credit Card?

[Anonymous]

I know this question has probably been asked a dozen times, recently I applied for the chase aarp about a month ago, and was approved. I wanted know long should I wait before applying for another credit card without having a negative impact on my credit score (inquries)?

Reason I'm asking is because I would like to go after a bank account bonus (and possibly another card in 6-8 months), and I didnt want to make my credit score take dip applying to soon. Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I know this question has probably been asked a dozen times, recently I applied for the chase aarp about a month ago, and was approved. I wanted know long should I wait before applying for another credit card without having a negative impact on my credit score (inquries)?

Reason I'm asking is because I would like to go after a bank account bonus (and possibly another card in 6-8 months), and I didnt want to make my credit score take dip applying to soon. Thanks in advance!

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Inquiries don't matter much if you have a decent FICO8 scores (say 740 or above).  They do count, but they age off quickly.  Around 6 months after an inquiry it hurts for less, and 12 months after that inquiry it hurts for 0.  So don't be afraid of inquiries as long as you're not looking to add 20 inquiries.

Also, different lenders do inquiries on different bureaus, so you might not get them all on the same bureau.

You can app right away and age your new accounts together -- accounts need 24 months of aging before they really offer maximum boost to your credit profile.  Accounts younger than 24 months "hurt" the most in terms of score punch.

[Anonymous]

It depends on your average age of accounts and the number of accounts.  I got 21 new credit cards last year and it only helped my score.  Also if you have utilization a new card can help bring that down and help your score.  I apply for a new one a couple of weeks before I am going to finish my last sign up bonus required spend.  That way I always have a card working on a bonus.  

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the insightful advice! Honestly, I'm not sure of my FICO8 scores, I thought that would cause another inquriy bringing it down after apply for a card recently?  As for my credit and credit history goes, here's a brief overview:

I was hurt on a job, and instead of workers comp kicking in, they billed everything to me, so for a few years my credit was in a derugatory status until I had my employer sort things out. I was cosigned at the same time to pay my for my car to try to help with things.

In 2013, the hospital bill was corrected, and  I went for the freedom and got approved. The card has a history of payments on time and in full.

In Jan 2016, I applied for Chase ink cash and in July the Amex simply plus. Both have good payment history, and unfornately around the same time around the 3rd quarter of the year,  I was involved in a near fatal car accident by a drunk driver clearly in the wrong. 

Last year around Mar 2017,  I applied and got a approved for th CSP and now I have the aarp.

I'm kind of embarrased to admit this, but I'm kind of scared to pull up my score. I have no debt or anything in collections, except when I was injured in the accident recently, medicial bills came in to the price of a mercedes. I retained an attorney immediately because its not easy dealing with a personal injury with insurance companies, so I wonder if my score will be affected, even though my attorney has sent letters (not sure what the legal term is) letting these companies know they will be paid once litagation has been resolved (which I learned is a slow process).

[Anonymous]

Pulling your own credit reports does not cause a hard inquiry, so you can pull them all the time if you want.  I subscribe to a montly FICO monitor (MyFico and CreditCheckTotal both offer them) and it doesn't hurt your credit.

If any medical collections show up, forward them to your attorney for possible lawsuits if they don't remove them after a harshly written letter.  Those medical costs were to be paid by someone else, so there might be multiple parties you can go after for many violations of your rights and federal/state laws.  You may see $0 of it but your lawyer will make a mint and it'll cost the agencies a lot for not paying attention to the laws and your rights.

[MrDisco99]

There’s really no set rules around how long to wait between apps. Every credit product has its own different algorithms for whether to approve or deny based on scores, recent inquiries and new accounts, etc. Sure some have known rules (e.g. Chase 5/24) but nobody gets to see all the decision factors. It all depends on your risk tolerance. The longer you wait, the less risky it is.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, so where would you advise be the first place I go to (annual credit card report)? And the guy that hit me fled the scene (and his vehicle was so heavily damaged, investigators are still looking for any possible information for him), so that left me to fall back on my UIM, which is another story.