Auto Refi Follow-Up

O.k. just got back from signing my loan papers. I can't express how happy I am to get rid of those rape artists Fireside Thrift! The best is my monthly payments dropped $89/mo......YES EIGHTY-NINE DOLLARS A MONTH!!!!! And FYI....I had 48 months left with Fireside. I now have 48 months left with my Bank. So the drop in payment wasn't due to an extended loan as in going 60 or 72 months thus lowering the payments. I had that option but obviously didn't want to go that route. If I keep paying the amount that I was paying to Fireside (I was paying more than the minimum) I could have this loan paid off in 36 months!

I requested that since I have combined loans over $10k, that they upgrade me to Gold member and upgrade my checking to Premium (earning interest). My checking account now receives free everything with the exception of checks. That was the only difference between Gold and Platinum member status. Platinum you need combined deposits or loans over $25k. So I'm happy needless to say. I don't order their checks anyway.

On to the Visa request. She used my same loan app (any credit report pulled w/in 30 days they use so no new report was needed) and the computer sated that it was outside of her authority to approve me and that she needed to send it to an underwriter at the corporate office. She did that electronically and received a response in 5 minutes. I'll just cut to the chase........they said NO! BUT....they provided me with valuable info on how to get one. They stated that they basically want me to pay and close one of my Providian accounts and they also want to see 6 months of timely payments on my auto loan. Once that is in place, they will issue me a card no problem. I guess they were a little weary since they just funded an auto loan for me. She even sent a note with the application on why I wanted the card (for the overdraft protection). I applied for the lowest card (classic) with the lowest limit ($1k). Oh well...That's fair enough. I can comply with their wishes. What's stupid is that the apr that they were willing to give me on the classic card was 18.9%! They base apr's on your credit, the lowest being 12%. Stupid.....but oh well....I wasn't trying to charge on the card anyway.

One interesting note. They pulled my report THREE times for the auto loan and could offer an explanation as to why. She did state that the first one failed (yeah, right!). Each time they got my score, it was the same score each time. I thought inquires lower your score but the loan officer said not if it's multiple reports pulled by the same lender. Interesting......so I got my Experian score and it was a whopping 586! I'm not sure if that's good, bad or what. Whatever.....but she did tell me that the 2 paid student loan collections are hurting me bad! That was the only thing they were trippin about. I got those off of Equifax and Tu but they are still on Experian. They won't even let me dispute it on-line anymore as they have already verified and re-verified it. Guess I can try and call or write a letter.

 

Thanks!

And yes.......do what you need to do to refinance because that apr is LUDICROUS!!!! I know you had to do what you had to do.

If you don't belong to a CU......JOIN ASAP! Make sure you pay your car payments (more than the minimum if possible) on time for at least 12 payments. During that time, be sure to figure out what bureau the CU uses and make sure that bureau has NO outstanding collections, judgments, etc. Make sure it's all paid. Also one other thing.....make sure your debt to income ratio is under 50%. The loan officer said that it's a big plus.