New CC or CLI?

[Anonymous]

Hello!

I have both a Barclay's card and a Capital One card.

I opened the Barclay's card in the summer of 2008 and they gave me a $230 CL.  I tried earlier this year to get an increase after on time payments every month including paying off the card completely several times month after month and they refused.  How does one go about getting a CLI from them?

Capital One I opened up in Dec 2007 with an inital $300 CL, and had it increased in summer 2008 to $2300.  I always keep a balance on this card but am paying it down each month, no lates.  How does one go about getting a CLI from Capital One?  I got them to lower my APR in Sept quite easily.

My wife and I had to short sell our house and it was completed successful in Sept of this year.  We know we took a credit score hit but know we will recover in due time.  We did it do to the staggering house value drops in our area and also due to needing to move closer to work.  Current scores are in the upper 500s depending on which CRA.  I believe one CRA has me in the low 600s.  The other issue is we tried to buy a new vehicle a few months ago and couldn't find one affordable, but have the inquiries due to the shopping around over the several weeks we looked.  How much does that play into trying to get new CCs or a CLI?

I'm trying to do what I can to help improve our credit.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hi Neutron and Welcome!

First off, I just want to say that higher CL's will not increase your FICO score in and of themselves.  And a new credit card isn't guaranteed to increase your score, and may, in fact, lower it.  But the time to shop for an additional CC is after you've had a chance to do a little rebuilding.

You mention that "I'm trying to do what I can to help improve our credit." 

There's a few ways to get started.

First, have you pulled one of your FICO scores from this site?

Scores are available on several different sites, but a vast majority of them are fako scores.

If you've pull your FICO score here, you will also get information on what's helping your score and what's hurting your score.  This information is very helpful when determining what you can do to improve your credit.

If you haven't pulled your FICO here, google myfico discount codes first.  Always great to save a few cents!

[Wolf3]

If you don't have recent copies of your credit reports, I suggess you get those and check them before bothering with buying your scores.   Work on any issues on the reports first.

If you are trying to get a score improvement so you can get a car loan in the near future,  the best thing you can do is pay off the balances so that utilization is reported at less than 9%.     This will improve your score.  

If you are looking for long term  credit building, pay off the balances also, and then apply for a third CC ( major CC or store card).   The new account will lower your score for a while but FICO likes 3 cards minimum for best score in the future.