Let’s Get Capital One to Unsecure Again

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

I owe a lot to everyone on this forum for the knowledge I've gained the last few years. Between here and other forums, I am proposing a solution to get cards unsecured. Work with me to see if it is viable.

History: 

I applied for a Capital One Platinum Secured early 2018. I paid $50 deposit for a $300 limit. 6 months later of on time payments, I was raised to $500. Since then, I've achieved on and off 800 score with multiple cards and a clean credit report thanks to the users on here. I waited for my 1 year (March 2019) to get unsecured or a credit line increase. Never happened. I called/ messaged and was told wait til 13th statement. 13th came and nothing. I waited a few months and had time to call later in the year since I feared this would hold other/ new cards back with a $500 limit (Nov 2019). The person I spoke to could not help so I got a supervisor. I plead my case with them, and it got nowhere.

Backup: 

During the call, I had multiple resources available to fight tooth and nail. 
1. I (we) signed up with terms stating we can unsecure at some point after good history of payments or what not

2. I have received many offers through different marketing for a preapproved Capital Quicksilver (mail, email, and even app once if I remember correctly)

3. I should at least have the option to product change without taking a hard hit in the case I want to get a mortgage loan (supervisor incorrectly stated that a new account hard hit and account would not negatively impact a loan which is illegal to state to my understanding and job training of Fair Credit Act)

4. Supervisor claimed this was a change in April 2019 that took effect. I had told him I had a screenshot/ copy of terms of the same card application at that time and May stating that "cards could be unsecured." It is illegal to say that in a card application if it is not true. Consumer Fair Credit Reporring Act I believe. They had nothing to say.

5. I asked if these terms changed, would they happen to have sent me 45 days prior to the change as required by law. Issuers must disclose significant changes to products of Credit to the consumer 45 days prior. Examples are annual fee, changes in card structure, apr, and other major changes which this should be considered as well. (Supervisor claimed if this was law, they definitely sent it. 20 minutes later of him looking, they said it was not sent).

6. At the time of the call, their website terms on the application of the card still had the unsecure terms in there (November 2019)

Breakdown: I have come back since I received yet another offer and went to check data points to see they inconsistently have given many users different excuses for why they cannot unsecure. Correct me if I'm wrong, but by law they cannot retroactively change terms of a card on a previously signed contract (and future applications) without notice. There is no consistency of when this started which is also a legal problem. 

We have the law on our side. I am not lawyer and take no responsibility of the above information being used. I am also not providing legal advice, this information is acedotal at best. These are items I have come across over the years, and if we can file complaints with the proper agencies, we could get this resolved.

Edit: adding sources 

CARD Act: Passed 2009 with the intention to prevent issuers from making major changes retroactively. Requires at least 45 days prior to allow for consumer to cancel without fees or adverse action. Covers APR, fee changes, and other major changes. Major changes will be determined by The Board.

Also, it is not in the terms, but on their website about the card https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/secured-mastercard/ 

scroll down to "rates and fees" and "why does Capital One require a security deposit?"

[pizza1]

Are you "800" scores current, or past. If current. Apply for a regular card with them (not plat), and once approved, close the secured. I wouldn't jack with it anymore.

[Anonymous]

After closing a loan, it's down to 770. I have no need for another C1, but a product change to something useful would be nice is all.

[JeffMO]

I dont even want a PC, i would be tickled pink if they would just reward me for my loyalty and hard work and unsecure my MC. And give a modest increase to it. 

[recoveringfrombk7]

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@pizza1 wrote:
Are you "800" scores current, or past. If current. Apply for a regular card with them (not plat), and once approved, close the secured. I wouldn't jack with it anymore.

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I closed my secured and unsecured accounts with them.  I really hate the model of "now that my credit profile is improved I need apply for a new card to do better" with a creditor.  Capital One is not the only one to do this, but they are the only one to do a triple hard pull to do it.  I know some people love them, but the model is not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

While you are at it, get Chase to lower APRs; Citibank to improve SLs and Amex to lower the AF of the Platinum card. 

My mom had a Capital One partially secured card. In 1998 she sent them $99 and was given a $1,000 credit line. The card had an annual fee but received a few credit line increases. In 2006 (8 years later), Mom received a check from Capital One for the $99 + interest. 

Between 2006 and 2019, Capital One refused any and all credit line increase requests as well as requests to remove the annual fee on the card. My mom's credit was in the high 700s and she had Chase, NFCU and Nordstrom cards as well as the mortgage on the house. Capital One did not budge and they did not care. So Mom closed her 21 year-old card with them.

I highly doubt that Capital One would purposely break CARD Act by no longer unsecuring cards. CARD Act, which is wayyyyy too consumer friendly in my humble opinion, covers things like skyrocketing APR increases after first signing up for the card or instituting an annual fee or fee increase within the first 12 months. If Capital One did not explicitly indicate that the card would become unsecured by an exact date or point in the relationship, there was no guarantee of the card being unsecured; and therefore, they did nothing wrong. In the T&C's, there is more than likely language indicating that the program could be changed at any time. USAA secured cards and that Blue Sky Visa is never unsecured etc. 

And, some food for thought: it is very well known here in MF that Capital One buckets the rebuilder cards. So, even if they did unsecure your card, it would likely be stuck at low credit lines and high APRs. 

So, I am not making fun of you and I appreciate your tenacity, but you have to decide if it is worth the fight. It may be best to just close the account and move on. It will stay on your bureau for about 10 years and will continue to help you; and when it does fall off in about 10 years, you will have other cards that will have aged and it really won't hurt you. 

[KJinNC]

I doubt that Cap One ever had language guaranteeing that the card would unsecure. The language probably just said that it might unsecure. Even so, there could POSSIBLY be grounds for a lawsuit if anybody cared enough to pursue it depending on exact language. (If they said it would be "eligible" to unsecure and we know in reality it is not "eligible", that could be grounds), but consider what the damages would be, in the context of a credit card that the lender can close at any time for any reason. I don't think this is worth pursuing in court, tbh.

I suggest closing the card and moving on with your life. Even if they unsecured the card, would you really even want the card?

[MrZero]

There's enough wiggle room in the disclosure's wording with unsecuring being at their digression and the usual PR speak that there's not much grounds for anything. It'd be nice to graduate and product change it but as said, it's not going to grow much anyway unless they change the way they do business, they like having people who have grown their credit positively in their subprime tiers because it helps offset everyone else in it and allows them a greater variety of cherry picked statistics and more attractive to investors.

I'll close mine at some point since it'll be my lowest limit in a few months that is assuming my Discover graduates on time and I don't get stuck with $500 or less limit because of Disco's nervousness even though I've already shown them I haven't been that negatively impacted by this financially. In the mean time it'll be in a drawer only used for my $2 Hulu sub.

[notmyrealname23]

OP, you are basically arguing with a very large company over whether or not they want your business.

I suggest you take the hint that they don't actually want it very much, and find a different fish in the sea, rather than fighting them for the privilege of sending them your hard earned money. Get your security deposit back and seek out a different card. I can think of several credit unions local to me that match or beat a C1 QuickSilver; if your credit scores are good and you've got income it's just not that hard to beat what Capital One offers.

[MakingProgress]

At various times Cap One has offered to unsecure  or not.   It has to be being offered when you opened the account to have the ability to unsecure.   A phrase in the T&C that says IF does not guarentee you can unsecure. 

If Cap One says your account can't unsecure then it can't unsecure.

My advice to you is to close the card and get your deposit back.  Your only other option is to keep tilting at Windmills.