Question about maximum credit limits and documentation.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is so bad about income verification?

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Well, that's private. Give me the CL or don't. I'm not interested in their risk assessment, pouring over how much money I might or might not make. It's bad enough we have to tell Uncle Sam how much we're making so he can dip his grubby little paws into it, we don't need someone else doing the same.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, kind of like Disco!  Amex hasn't done that to me yet.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is so bad about income verification?

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Well, that's private. Give me the CL or don't. I'm not interested in their risk assessment, pouring over how much money I might or might not make. It's bad enough we have to tell Uncle Sam how much we're making so he can dip his grubby little paws into it, we don't need someone else doing the same.

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Ah, I've always put in my income so to me verification would be that I didn't lie. I guess I never noticed it wasn't a requirement.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is so bad about income verification?

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Well, that's private. Give me the CL or don't. I'm not interested in their risk assessment, pouring over how much money I might or might not make. It's bad enough we have to tell Uncle Sam how much we're making so he can dip his grubby little paws into it, we don't need someone else doing the same.

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Ah, I've always put in my income so to me verification would be that I didn't lie. I guess I never noticed it wasn't a requirement.

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I sometimes have that feeling too, but some people get income outside of what their tax forms would show, so there's no way to verify that income. So, if you report an annual income of, say, 35k, your cards will show CL's to reflect that income. Now if, of that 35k, your actual income on your tax report is something along the lines of 20k and you send that in, there's a good chance your CL's would be decreased. 

If you get a significant raise at work during the year and you enter that into the slot when asking for a CLI, that sometimes will trigger the request, but remember, they'll only be going by last year's reported income on your taxes.

Rule of thumb; ask for what you want, if declined, ask for less and less until the 4506t demand goes away. Oh, and that advice is for online CLI requests only.

[Anonymous]

Question regardling Amex online CLI requests... several people above have cited "instant approvals" of CLI requests.  Does this mean that no human being is involved in the decision? 

I've never requested an Amex CLI, but will be doing so in about 30 days.  I've never been to the scree to request one.  So you just type in what you're requesting (say I type in $30k) and if I get an income verification prompt I just hit the back button and lower the amount to $29k and try again, continuing this process until I get a different answer? 

[Gmood1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Question regardling Amex online CLI requests... several people above have cited "instant approvals" of CLI requests.  Does this mean that no human being is involved in the decision? 

I've never requested an Amex CLI, but will be doing so in about 30 days.  I've never been to the scree to request one.  So you just type in what you're requesting (say I type in $30k) and if I get an income verification prompt I just hit the back button and lower the amount to $29k and try again, continuing this process until I get a different answer? 

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That's right, if it gives 7 to 10 instead of income verification...you're not due one yet. Basically the income verification message is a good indicator there's a CLI waiting for you.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Rule of thumb; ask for what you want, if declined, ask for less and less until the 4506t demand goes away. Oh, and that advice is for online CLI requests only.

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You MIGHT be able to do it with a rep as well.  Once when I called up, at the first figure he told me that would need verification and invited me to go smaller.   But pretty sure this will depend on the CSR's willingness.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So its my understanding that on AMEX cards that if you go over 25k credit limit, they will request documentation of your tax return.

Is this correct, and what is the top limit for other cards before they do this?

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It is not a given.  Definitely ready the 3x CLI Guide as it covers this and much, much more.  25K/35K is a threshold where some encounter income verification.  You won't know until you make the request.

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@Anonymous wrote:

That is a myth thus, requesting tax return for anything above 25k. All the people who responded above are correct.

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Not a myth -- it just isn't a given for everyone.  I've run into income verificaton crossing both 25K and 35K.  YMMV.

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is so bad about income verification?

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It's not income verification itself but the 4506-T required for income verification with AmEx that some find too obtrusive.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm not interested in their risk assessment

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It's all about risk assessment with all creditors.  However, not all use the 4506-T.  If you don't want to submit the 4506-T with a CLI you dont' have to.  It's the FR where you're required to comply or have your accounts closed out.

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@Anonymous wrote:

If you get a significant raise at work during the year and you enter that into the slot when asking for a CLI, that sometimes will trigger the request, but remember, they'll only be going by last year's reported income on your taxes.

Depends on timing.  IIRC prior year return data is not considered until around August/September of the following year.  In other words, at this point the latest they're accepting is 2014.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is so bad about income verification?

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Well, that's private. Give me the CL or don't. I'm not interested in their risk assessment, pouring over how much money I might or might not make. It's bad enough we have to tell Uncle Sam how much we're making so he can dip his grubby little paws into it, we don't need someone else doing the same.

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Ah, I've always put in my income so to me verification would be that I didn't lie. I guess I never noticed it wasn't a requirement.

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I sometimes have that feeling too, but some people get income outside of what their tax forms would show, so there's no way to verify that income. So, if you report an annual income of, say, 35k, your cards will show CL's to reflect that income. Now if, of that 35k, your actual income on your tax report is something along the lines of 20k and you send that in, there's a good chance your CL's would be decreased. 

If you get a significant raise at work during the year and you enter that into the slot when asking for a CLI, that sometimes will trigger the request, but remember, they'll only be going by last year's reported income on your taxes.

Rule of thumb; ask for what you want, if declined, ask for less and less until the 4506t demand goes away. Oh, and that advice is for online CLI requests only.

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If it's not enough to report to the IRS I don't think it would make that big of a difference in your income to a lender...