Suggestions Requested for a 3rd CC (11 months post BK7 DC)

[Anonymous]

This is for DW. Here is her credit profile:

Almost 11 months post bk-7 DC

FICO8 - 672 (EX), 680 (EQ), 660 (TU)

New Accounts - 12 months - 0;   24 months - 2

Inquiry - 12 months - 0;   24 months - 4 (EX), 2 (EQ), 2 (TU)

AAoA - 5.6 years

AoOA - 11+ years

AoYA - 1 year

Open accounts (4 of 19):

   2 student loans (2.5 years old) 

   Cap1 QS - 1 yr old; 3.8K CL; platinum pc'ed to QS; 2 CLI's (credit step $500 and a $300 CLI last week)

   Discover secured - 1 yr old; 2.5K CL waiting for graduation

Util - 87% installment accts, 3% on revolving accts

Baddies - 5 accounts IIB and the BK itself

Here are the questions:

1. Given that her rebuilding is progressing pretty well, does she really need a 3rd CC from FICO scoring perspective? Our next credit goal is to be in the best possible shape for a mortgage early next year as soon as we hit the 2 years post bk mark. Not a fan of accumulating a lot of CC's. My FICO8's are 5 to 7 points behind her, and I already have 5 CC's (including a 2nd Discover that I just got approved for with a very nice SL). Her 3rd CC if she goes for one will be soley for credit rebuilding purpose leading upto our mortgage app.

2. I am thinking of applying for a 2nd Cap One for her which she can probably combine with her first one at a later stage. She is prequal'ed only for the Platinum and QS1; but not interested in either. What are her chances of getting approved for a QS or Venture at this stage with a decent SL (> 5K)? Cap One approved me a 2nd CC (a QS) 6 months ago at 5 moths post-dc but only with 1K SL.

3. Any other cards recommended for her with a higher chance of getting a > 5K SL?

4. Another option is for me to add her as a joint-account holder on one of my cards. I have 2 Cap One QS, 2 Discover and a secured CC from a local CU. Discover may not approve the joint-account app since her Disco is still not graduated. But I can probably add her on one of my QS cards.

Thanks for reading the long post, and any feedback welcome. 

[CreditInspired]

IMHO, since you’re looking at buying a house next year, I say don’t either of you apply for any more credit, especially you, DH, since your scores are 5-7 points lower than DW’s. When applying for a mortgage, the lender is going to take the lowest middle score between you and that will be yours. So example, DW’s middle is 660. Let’s say your 3 scores are 650, 675, and 660. The score for the mortgage will be yours at 650. And keep in mind, these are FICO8 scores, not mortgage scores, which could be slightly lower. So if you open another acct, your scores will drop.

I also suggest working on getting that installment loan paid down substantially so your DTI also looks good.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks @CreditInspired . Appreciate your feedback

I am not going to apply for any more cards. As for DW, she doesn't have a need for another card either. But since we wouldn't be eligible for a mortgage till late Feb next year, we were thinking of applying for a 3rd card for her this month if that's going to help raise her mortgage score in a year. Surprisingly our EX mortgage scores are about 25 points higher than our FICO8's. Her EX mortgage is 699 and mine 692. Don't know the EQ/TU scores.

Regarding bringing her installment util down, that's unfortunately not going to be possible. Those are student loans and still over 70K outstanding between the two accounts at 87% util. Slow horses. At the time of our mortage app, they should be at below 80% util.