Really weird week with Amex

[GApeachy]

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@FinStar wrote:

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Omg! that's funny sick...luv it!

[GApeachy]

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@sstromberg wrote:

Yeah, I recognize that this is playing with fire, but I appreciate the good wishes. Certainly I will lay low now. How would things look if I PIF (or nearly PIF) the charge cards now? 

now that I've gotten where I am with Amex, essentially, how do I lay low long enough to avoid an FR? I have no problem charging to other cards, but is a steep decline in spending another trigger?

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If you're worried and not gonna use them...cancel one of them.  Maybe you can relax after that.  

[sstromberg]

Called and PIF'd the Business Plat (they called my bank on the line to verify the funds were there). Will do the same on the Gold once the payments from earlier in the week post.

Why wouldn't a 1040 support my states income vs the 4506T transcript?

[wasCB14]

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@sstromberg wrote:

I have no problem providing a 1040 (2019) that matches the stated income on my Gold application. However, all the other cards were approved under my income for this year (raise and a new job). I can prove via paystubs but will fail on a 1040 basis, since it wouldn't be reflected till I file taxes next year).

I asked Amex if I could put this larger income as my income and the CSR said yes (back in January), specifically "whatever income you feel you have access to."

Not scared about lower limits -- scared about closure/blacklist. 

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Sorry...thought I clicked Post on this earlier but I neglected the tab for a bit!

Some people take a more aggressive view, deciding not to deal with Amex and its "games" of charging big AFs while limiting spending power.

It sounds like you've decided the cards work for you. I like mine, too. If I was under close examination, I'd probably put up with some hassles to keep my cards.

That being the case, your safest course is to pay most or all of your balances with Amex ASAP (like you already did with the Business Platinum).

[Anonymous]

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@sstromberg wrote:

Called and PIF'd the Business Plat (they called my bank on the line to verify the funds were there). Will do the same on the Gold once the payments from earlier in the week post.

Why wouldn't a 1040 support my states income vs the 4506T transcript?

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Because Amex only accepts 4506T for verification, nothing else.

[Loquat]

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@GApeachy wrote:

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@sstromberg wrote:

Yeah, I recognize that this is playing with fire, but I appreciate the good wishes. Certainly I will lay low now. How would things look if I PIF (or nearly PIF) the charge cards now? 

now that I've gotten where I am with Amex, essentially, how do I lay low long enough to avoid an FR? I have no problem charging to other cards, but is a steep decline in spending another trigger?

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If you're worried and not gonna use them...cancel one of them.  Maybe you can relax after that.  

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Given the microscope the OP has put himself under, cancelling a card soon after getting it may not be in his best interest either...especially if the bonus has been paid out.  Start playing that game and he'll probably draw even more attention to himself. 

[recoveringfrombk7]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@sstromberg wrote:

Called and PIF'd the Business Plat (they called my bank on the line to verify the funds were there). Will do the same on the Gold once the payments from earlier in the week post.

Why wouldn't a 1040 support my states income vs the 4506T transcript?

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Because Amex only accepts 4506T for verification, nothing else.

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The Discover requests were enough to make me believe that every income question should be answered within a few thousand/percentage of my most recent return.  It seems like, from reading here, that big limits are attainable even with small income with a little patience.  I've never lied on mine,  but I have also used projected current year in the past.  Seems like playing with fire these days with more than one lender.

[Anonymous]

In this case I would think all of these would be bad:

canceling a card just now, especially if, as Loquat says, a bonus has been paid

dropping to zero spend across the new cards - makes OP look like a churner

using large amounts of spend on any of these cards

There is not really a great way to progress here since OP has likely tripped a number of warning signs. The advice upthread is solid. If it were me I would PIF all cards ASAP, and do as suggested - regular small use of each card, no more than 10-15% of limit, PIF monthly, for the rest of this year. No CLI requests, no moving limits, no nothing other than steady, regular low spending and full payments. Show Amex that you did heavy spend to earn your SUBs, and are now going to be a low-key, lower volume spending card member who is going to earn them swipe fees and not rock the boat. Many of us here see them as a great lender with the ability to provide some good rewards to spending, and losing out on that would suck. Hopefully keeping your head down will allow things to cool off.

[Anonymous]

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@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@sstromberg wrote:

Called and PIF'd the Business Plat (they called my bank on the line to verify the funds were there). Will do the same on the Gold once the payments from earlier in the week post.

Why wouldn't a 1040 support my states income vs the 4506T transcript?

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Because Amex only accepts 4506T for verification, nothing else.

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The Discover requests were enough to make me believe that every income question should be answered within a few thousand/percentage of my most recent return.  It seems like, from reading here, that big limits are attainable even with small income with a little patience.  I've never lied on mine,  but I have also used projected current year in the past.  Seems like playing with fire these days with more than one lender.

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Others have stated that a 4506T will not be able to retrieve a given year's tax documents until roughly August of the following calendar year. In this case, I've filed my 2019 taxes already, but if applying for a card before August of 2020, I would want to use the income on 2018's return, since a 4506T would only be able to retrieve that year's info until August. Don't use income you can't prove. Income may help determine starting limits but many have proven that it's rarely much of an impediment to ultimate limits with a lender, and that one can often receive through CLIs and combinations, a limit that represents a large percentage of their income.  It just takes time and the building of trust with the lender to show them that you won't screw things up when they extend additional credit.

[GApeachy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

In this case I would think all of these would be bad:

canceling a card just now, especially if, as Loquat says, a bonus has been paid

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Oops, I meant cancel one of the ones from yesterday.