Wife has good score, but no cards. I have fair-ish score and balance. BT on a new card for her?

[Anonymous]

My wife and I are learning tons on the boards. Thanks to all you great posters. Here's our situation:

Me:  642, her 713 (both Equifax from myFico)

We have 3 cards, all in my name:

Citi - $3200 balance on $3500 limit

Chase - $0 balance on $300 limit

Wamu/Chase - $0 balance on $500 limit.

The Citi balance is at the default 29% rate ever since my last late payment 19 months ago. The APR on the other two wouldn't be much help for BT.

My wife has no current revolving accounts. We did have a joint Best Buy card that went to collections for $3000 in late 2006 - the collection was paid before the end of the year. Since that closed, the only accounts in her name are student loans, paid religiously.

I'm a recovering idiot. After being young and foolish with credit, I've really been working on paying the card off (like I did the 2 smaller cards). The Best Buy card screwup was my fault, not hers.

Since she has no current revolving accounts, opening a card would help her score, according to the myFico calculator. I know that utilizing that credit with a BT would hurt her score, but we could pay off $3000 on a 0% BT in a year, at most.

Is this a good idea, or am I still an idiot?

These days, could she even be approved for a card with a $1000 or more limit?

I've read some anecdotal advice - BoA is great for BTs, stay away from Amex cards for BTs. Is there a specific bank or card we should consider or avoid? (We're looking at the BoA Worldpoints Visa.)

Any advice is appreciated, and I'd be happy to add any info I've left out. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My wife and I are learning tons on the boards. Thanks to all you great posters. Here's our situation:

Me:  642, her 713 (both Equifax from myFico)

We have 3 cards, all in my name:

Citi - $3200 balance on $3500 limit

Chase - $0 balance on $300 limit

Wamu/Chase - $0 balance on $500 limit.

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Is your wife a joint or authorized user on either of your Chase cards? How old are these accounts? Are they in good standing? (No lates,no over limits)

[Anonymous]

Not joint or auth on either Chase card. Auth on Citi.

All accounts opened in 2005.

WamuChase - High credit of $656 - one late payment in 12/06

Chase - High credit of of $335 - no late payments

I'd thought I'd had a late on the Chase (hence my 27% APR) but the eq credit report says I'm good.

 Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Not joint or auth on either Chase card. Auth on Citi.

All accounts opened in 2005.

WamuChase - High credit of $656 - one late payment in 12/06

Chase - High credit of of $335 - no late payments

I'd thought I'd had a late on the Chase (hence my 27% APR) but the eq credit report says I'm good.

 Thanks!

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Your late payment on Citi was less than 2 years ago and your utilization on it is high so if I were you I think the first thing I'd do is have her taken off as AU on that card and make sure it stops reporting on her CR. Then add her as joint or authorized user on the Chase card with no late payments. I believe her scores would improve enough by doing these two things to be approved for her own cards then. With such a small limit card I'm not sure what kind of CLs she would be approved for though...not sure of the best cards to apply for either.

Hopefully others will chime in here with recommendations.  

[Anonymous]

definitely have her apply for a new card, Bank of America has 0% BT for 15 months...

anything is better right now than paying close to 30% interest on a card.

good luck

[Anonymous]

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VEEnVEGAS wrote: 

Your late payment on Citi was less than 2 years ago and your utilization on it is high so if I were you I think the first thing I'd do is have her taken off as AU on that card and make sure it stops reporting on her CR. Then add her as joint or authorized user on the Chase card with no late payments. I believe her scores would improve enough by doing these two things to be approved for her own cards then. With such a small limit card I'm not sure what kind of CLs she would be approved for though...not sure of the best cards to apply for either.

Hopefully others will chime in here with recommendations.  

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No late payments on Citi. The late payment was on WamuChase, and it was over 2 years ago. Is 2 years a special landmark?

Since the Citi is in good standing (although high util), is it hurting her even though it's not joint, just AU for her?

Our goal is paying of the Citi balance more quickly so that we can save better. A dip in her score isn't too much of a problem, especially if it could raise mine, and get us a better home loan in a year or two...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

No late payments on Citi. The late payment was on WamuChase, and it was over 2 years ago. Is 2 years a special landmark?

Since the Citi is in good standing (although high util), is it hurting her even though it's not joint, just AU for her?

Our goal is paying of the Citi balance more quickly so that we can save better. A dip in her score isn't too much of a problem, especially if it could raise mine, and get us a better home loan in a year or two...

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So the Citi card is at default rate because of  late on Chase? Sorry, I totally misunderstood what you said.

I would still add her as JU or AU on the Chase card without late or overlimit. This will help a bit with utilization and make her report look better when she does apply.  Then, yes, definitely have her apply for a card to transfer this balance to.  Do you have any particular card in mind?

You really do need to do whatever it takes to get this balance paid off. If you can't transfer it, maybe a family loan or a second job? Scrap together whatever you can to get this paid.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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So the Citi card is at default rate because of  late on Chase? Sorry, I totally misunderstood what you said.

I would still add her as JU or AU on the Chase card without late or overlimit. This will help a bit with utilization and make her report look better when she does apply.  Then, yes, definitely have her apply for a card to transfer this balance to.  Do you have any particular card in mind?

You really do need to do whatever it takes to get this balance paid off. If you can't transfer it, maybe a family loan or a second job? Scrap together whatever you can to get this paid.

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Sorry, I wasn't clear. Thinking about it more, I'm pretty sure it was a universal default that raised the Citi APR. I will go ahead and add her to the good card as an AU - I don't think I can add her as a joint. I'm still having a mess trying to figure out how to roll the old Wamu card into the Chase card so there is only one account with combined limits.

We are definitely looking at BoA's 15 month BT cards. I'm curious, if she were to be approved (hopefully) by BoA, if she would have a higher CL depending on if she applied for a "credit builder" card or a "regular" points card.

And yeah, getting this debt paid off is the #1 priority in our lives. I'm doing some extra weekend work, and she gets some freelance work too. And in the past few years, we've totally reshaped the way we spend and think of money. We really hoping to stop renting and buy a house in a year or two. (Then comes having kids - and another financial nightmare!

[Anonymous]

You can check for preapproval at BOA site...check there before you decide which card for her to apply for.

Good luck to you...and never,ever,ever be late again!!

[Anonymous]

Update: Ouch, no BoA card for her. The preapproval process said no cards could be offered based on limited info. We bit the bullet and did a proper apply anyway, hoping a hard pull would give a better result - no go. Mayhaps we shouldn't have entered anything in the "Will you be BT'ing?" part.

Even if we can't BT, she still needs an active revolving account somewhere to build more history. Should we wait a while so we don't have another hard pull so close to the first? Thanks all.