New Here ... Something Good and Uh Oh, what did I do Bad?

[Diana56]

Hi guys! I've been reading and lurking for a few weeks, decided to join and ask a few questions, along with sharing some good news.

I'm retired and living alone, finally cleaned up my credit report (paid all off) several years ago.  I've been a member of my CU for 15 years, and in that time, have gotten 2 car loans and a LOC from them.  All loans were paid on time each month, and I asked for a received a raise in my LOC limit once.

I had not even considered a CC until now, as I want to relocate to be near my sons in another state, and didn't see how I could make the move on my own.

I applied for a PayPal CC first and was approved, I was actually quite surprised.  I looked up my score and found it to be: 750!!!  I was actually shocked!

I then applied for Amazon and was approved  ... surprised at that also.  My BIG step was applying for both Capital One Venture (VISA) and Bank of Americard (MasterCard). I was approved for both!  

Capital One: $10,000!!! I am officially in shock over this one!!!

Bank Americard: $1,500

I was all set, right?  Then I did something really stupid!  I had been reading more into the reward cards, and wanted to try for another, so I applied for:

Chase and Starwood preferred.  I was denied both.  

When I received the letter from them, I did realize that I had applied for too many in a row ... BAD move!

My question:  Did Chase and Starwood pull what you folks refer to as a 'hard pull'?  I believe I understand that to mean that it affects your credit score quite a bit?

I then went to and joined myFICO Score Watch and it gave me a credit score of:  698

I was told in the letter that my score was in the 'low area' or 'poor' .... but that's not THAT low, is it?

Why did it go from 750 and getting approved for such a high amount at Capital One, to being considered low?

I have learned my lesson though .... 

One other question.  Advice now?  Do I just stop and keep these cards paid on time, pay in full, etc ... and wait a certain time before considering any others?

Will my score come back up with time and payments?  I sure hope so, I worked hard to get it where it was.

Thanks so much guys, looking forward to your replies. 

Diana

[gdale6]

My question:  Did Chase and Starwood pull what you folks refer to as a 'hard pull'? YES, all of these apps are hard pulls.

Your score does drop for most inquiries, and the change in AAoA, you will recover the points as the inquiries & cards age. I would advise you to make no more apps till you have at least 6 months of good history under your belt with the new cards. FICO 698 is not that bad believe it would be top of "fair" range

Congrats on your cards & welcome to the forum.

[baller4life]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new cards. Time to hit the"garden". Allow your new accounts and inquiries to age. Your score will bounce back!

Here's the link to the Garden Club:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Garden-Club-Meeting-January-2014/td-p/2689637

[indiolatino61]

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@Diana56 wrote:

Hi guys! I've been reading and lurking for a few weeks, decided to join and ask a few questions, along with sharing some good news.

I'm retired and living alone, finally cleaned up my credit report (paid all off) several years ago.  I've been a member of my CU for 15 years, and in that time, have gotten 2 car loans and a LOC from them.  All loans were paid on time each month, and I asked for a received a raise in my LOC limit once.

I had not even considered a CC until now, as I want to relocate to be near my sons in another state, and didn't see how I could make the move on my own.

I applied for a PayPal CC first and was approved, I was actually quite surprised.  I looked up my score and found it to be: 750!!!  I was actually shocked!

I then applied for Amazon and was approved  ... surprised at that also.  My BIG step was applying for both Capital One Venture (VISA) and Bank of Americard (MasterCard). I was approved for both!  

Capital One: $10,000!!! I am officially in shock over this one!!!

Bank Americard: $1,500

I was all set, right?  Then I did something really stupid!  I had been reading more into the reward cards, and wanted to try for another, so I applied for:

Chase and Starwood preferred.  I was denied both.  

When I received the letter from them, I did realize that I had applied for too many in a row ... BAD move!

My question:  Did Chase and Starwood pull what you folks refer to as a 'hard pull'?  I believe I understand that to mean that it affects your credit score quite a bit?

I then went to and joined myFICO Score Watch and it gave me a credit score of:  698

I was told in the letter that my score was in the 'low area' or 'poor' .... but that's not THAT low, is it?

Why did it go from 750 and getting approved for such a high amount at Capital One, to being considered low?

I have learned my lesson though .... 

One other question.  Advice now?  Do I just stop and keep these cards paid on time, pay in full, etc ... and wait a certain time before considering any others?

Will my score come back up with time and payments?  I sure hope so, I worked hard to get it where it was.

Thanks so much guys, looking forward to your replies. 

Diana

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Congrats and welcome to myFICO. Good luck and continued success to you. We all get denials eventually, so no need to feel badly.... Just let your new cards age and your credit profile will recover nicely.

[Creditaddict]

Call and recon chase... Call the backdoor and ready your story and push for it.

id recon the BofA limit too for closer to the cap1 limit.

paypal and amazon are both GE backed so after 4 statements with use ask for cli, it's always sp so no worry about more credit pulls.

as far as your score drop, it will come back don't worry!

[Diana56]

gdale:  thank you ... for letting me know those were hard pulls.  OUCH!

Good to know my points will go back up ... when inquiries and cards age.  

Thank you for the advice.

Diana

[Diana56]

baller4life: thank you for the welcome.  

Yes, I believe I will go garden for a bit ... have never heard that expression until I started reading the forum, a good idea.

Diana

[Diana56]

indiolatino61:  Thank you for the welcome.  Yes, I'm sure everybody gets denied, it just stung for a minute or two .... because I had gotten approved for a couple, then 2 denied me in a row.  

Diana

[Diana56]

Creditaddict:  Nice to meet you .... I had to figure out all the abbreviations you used first!  LOL ....

A couple of questions:  If I call the backdoor to Chase, won't that be another pull on my credit, and make my points go even lower?

Also, same question for BofA .... calling for higher limit?

As I'm not too familiar with a soft pull yet, how does that affect my points, number?

On the paypal, I've all ready gotten close to limit, and about to pay half of it back ... so I'll remember the 4 statement inquiry.

One more thing:  what's your opinion on what the others said, as to me gardening now for 6 months, and doing 'nothing'?  Do you think what you've suggested will rock the boat, or be safe?

Diana

[Jbb2788]

Diana-

Like someone above said, try to recon with the Chase card. You can find the list of "backdoor" numbers pinned at the top of the credit card forum. Chase is very good with reconsidering a denial. I have been approved for 2 Chase cards just by calling and asking them to reconsider. Sometimes they do ask questions like "why have you applied for so much credit recently"?,  so be prepaired.