Need advice on opening a new card

Anonymous · ‎01-28-2010

I have not applied for a year. I started applying 2 months ago and got approved for Citi 11.7k, Ameriprise 11k, USAA 18.3k and Macy's 10k. I still want 1 more card, but recently my friend who joined me with app spree got his oldest account closed and his new Nordstrom account closed due to too many new accounts and inquiries... I did not they would do something like that. He does not have baddies or high balances.... Just thought maybe I should stop applying for a while?

Jazzzy · ‎01-28-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
I have not applied for a year. I started applying 2 months ago and got approved for Citi 11.7k, Ameriprise 11k, USAA 18.3k and Macy's 10k. I still want 1 more card, but recently my friend who joined me with app spree got his oldest account closed and his new Nordstrom account closed due to too many new accounts and inquiries... I did not they would do something like that. He does not have baddies or high balances.... Just thought maybe I should stop applying for a while?

If you have no need for new credit right now, why keep going? Closing accounts and decreasing credit lines happens more and more these days. It doesn't make a lot of sense to risk your older cards for the newer ones.

Let things mellow a bit and have patience.

Anonymous · ‎01-28-2010

I just wanted to finish the spree and then stop applying for a while and let the accounts age and the inquiries go away. The problem is I never knew I was putting my old accounts at risk by applying for 4-5 new CC's. I thought if I needed various CC's for different purposes and have relationships with different banks it is a good thing... So as my friend. He did not apply for everything that moved, he applied for the cards he always wanted to have and just now got a chance to get approved for

Jazzzy · ‎01-28-2010

Applying for a lot of credit in a short period of time can be seen as risky. I just read about your experience with Nordstrom in your other thread. Apparently one of the reasons they lowered your new credit line was too many inquiries?

If I were you, I'd take that as a hint that it's time to let things age a bit. I applied for and got 3 new cards since May of last year. I feel as if I've pressed my luck enough for one year.

You have nothing to lose by slowing down a bit. Do you?

Anonymous · ‎01-28-2010

No, that is what I will do now. Just got excited with opened accounts and wanted to get all the cards I wanted before they showed up as new accounts, you know. I also tried to distribute inquiries between bureaus, I only got 2 on each, but I guess now it is time to stop... Just did not know they will get so crazy about it. I guess we have to change our tactics these days

Anonymous · ‎01-28-2010

BTW, LynetteM, can you please look into this thread, I remember you gave somebody advice on this already, maybe you cold help me. I want to remove inquiries done by Nordstrom without my permission, even more, after I asked the rep not to pull my credit again. http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=94283 Thank you

Jazzzy · ‎01-29-2010

Hi Lexa,

I've not had the experience of trying to dispute hard inquiries.

I would recommend first calling Nordstrom. In applying for credit with them, you gave them permission to pull your credit reports, and they did so. I recently applied with Discover. I got the card after a recon, but by the time we were done, they had pulled all 3 credit reports.

When you call, be very, very nice. Explain to them that you asked the rep not to pull again, but yet it was done anyway. If they remove these, it will be as a favor to you. So...in the phone call...don't blame. Don't get angry. If the phone call doesn't work, then try it again in writing. If that doesn't work, then you'll have to try with the CRA, and that will likely take a letter with some documentation.

I understand your frustration, but I think you have to "nice" these off your reports if you want them off.

Anonymous · ‎01-29-2010

OP - Sorry about the huge surprise!

This behavior (closing the account or reducing the CL) is not unique to Nordies. And it’s not new – it’s been built into FICO scoring for awhile - FICO is scoring us on lots of different angles. And even though you were savvy in sharing your inquiries evenly across the different CRA’s, they will all show the new accounts.

In this case, FICO’s looking at:

Code #28 “Number of established accounts” – Even with zero balances reporting, this can be a risk to lenders because it may allow too much credit available – or could be seen as a credit management issue.

Code #4 “Too many bank or national revolving accounts” – These can include CC’s or LOC’s and do not need to carry balances to impact your score.

Code #23 “Number of bank or national revolving accounts with balances” – that will only be triggered if actually carrying balances (even small balances).

Code #9 “Too many accounts opened in the last 12 months” Type of accounts matter – a student loan has less impact than a CC.

Along with the one you were watching:

Code #8 “Too many inquiries in the last 12 months”

Congrats on your lovely new cards, CL’s, and your decision to let it rest.

Thanks for sharing your experience – it’s a good wake-up call for us all.

Anonymous · ‎01-29-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
BTW, LynetteM, can you please look into this thread, I remember you gave somebody advice on this already, maybe you cold help me. I want to remove inquiries done by Nordstrom without my permission, even more, after I asked the rep not to pull my credit again. http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=94283 Thank you

On what basis would you dispute? You did apply for and get approved, then asked for more extension of credit (CLI).

The best you could hope for is to ask Nordstrom if they would be willing to recode as soft. The CRA's are required by law to report these inquiries for no less than 2 years. But they don't have to be hard by law, they can be soft.

But an outright dispute of the inq's could get you a fraud alert which could alarm your older accounts too.

The inquiries stop hurting you in a year...since you are going to cool it and lay low...then they aren't much of an issue for now, IMO.

IMO