@Anonymous wrote:
I just thought while we're putting WAMU down a bit that I sold a musical instrument for $3000 to pay my account entirely (had been 30 days late twice, but never in the last year). I was rewarded with a lower credit limit, which in turn hurt my utilization ratio and my FICO dropped instantly.
What a nice thank you!
Ouch, sorry to hear that! It sounds like they're chasing balances.
This is how a CCC shoves you out semi-gently. Instead of just closing your account, and risking you walking away without paying, they drop your CL every time you pay, moving it lower and lower, until you're finally squeezed out.
If they drop your limit again next month, I would assume that they're closing you out. When you get to where you can pay the whole thing off, I would pay and then immediately close it out, before they can. This way, it will show as "closed by consumer" on your reports, which looks better to other creditors.
But first confirm that they really are doing this to you on subsequent statements. Sounds ominous, though.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007