My husband has 3 accounts with HSBC and received a letter today saying: Your credit card with HSBC will expired this month, however we will not be renewing your account due to the following reasons: Derogatory public record or collection filed (he has a ch. 7 from 2001 and a disputed collections account that the CA will not verify) Deliquency (only one is a Cap 1 Auto that was 30 in Aug of 2006) His balance on the card is Zero and his credit score is at least 125 points higher than when he got his card. He called and they gave him a 700 number to call and imagine this, they will not allow the call to go thru as dialed! He also has a direct merchant thru the company that he just received a new card last month. Any suggestions on how to handle this?
His scores are too high. Alot of people experience adverse actions with them when their scores reach about a 680 and higher.
thanks, Apex, that thought went thru my mind from reading this forum. I always see everyone telling people who are trying to rebuild credit to apply for a HSBC card. 2/3 of his cards are paid off, and the 3rd we just put a laptop for our daughter on, so its about 1100. I told him to just pay it off, and close all the accounts his has. He is just so mad, and I really dont blame him. They dropped his credit line from 1000 to 305, so he was already very unhappy with them. Thanks for the advice, I'll pass it on to him.
I wouldn't close the accounts unless he has accounts as old as or older than these. Stop using them, except for an occasional tank of gas or something to keep them active. If they're his oldest accounts, closing them will shorten his history and may lower his scores. Even though he may be upset with them, he shouldn't react from anger by doing something that may hurt him in the long run. If he has accounts as old as these, the next thing he needs to look at is how closing these will affect his usage ratios.
Hedwig, He has a Target Visa that dates to 1998, I think, maybe even 97, and a paid off Sears card that may be older than that. He hasnt had these cards but for a few years. He got them after he and his ex-wife filed chapter 7. All of his cards are paid off except for the Direct Merchants and his Target Visa. I'm not even sure what his ratio for usage is. I'm not even sure what his credit limits are on those accounts anymore. I work 2 jobs, and I do good to keep up with my own stuff, lol.
Well, tell him those are the kinds of things he needs to look at before making a decision to cancel. You said the Sears card is paid off. If he doesn't use it, it will be canceled as well. He needs to use each card one in a while to buy little things he would buy anyway, then pay them as soon as the bill comes. That at least keeps them active. They need to be active to count in his history and ratios.
