Went crazy-stupid-hog-wild on applying for new credit and these are the results: BofA Gold - $1000 CL Chase Classic - $1500 CL Citibank Plat Select (BDD) - $3200 CL Corvette Mastercard - $1000 CL GM Card - $1000 CL In addition - I have these old, sub-primes: First Premiere - $250 balance, $600 CL, open 20 mo. HH - 0 balance, $400 CL, open 18 mo. Orchard - 0 balance $500 CL, open 18 mo. Cap One - 0 balance, $700 CL, open 15 mo. The limits on my new cards are low compared to what I've seen on this board, but I had to start somewhere, I suppose. Should I just leave ALL my sub-primes open for the history, while very, very conservatively using a new card or two for a tank of gas now and again? I'm truly scared that I actually got approved for these cards! Expected maybe an approval out of 2 of them. Can someone give me an opinion on what kind of damage I just did to my score? I was trying to increase my score and fear I did just the opposite. (My EQ and TU are 100% clean, EXP looks like complete and utter sh** - got a new $50 med collection added a wekk ago and an old unpaid charge off for $800 is hanging out there as well.) Thanks all for reading my post!
Between the inquiries and the new tradelines, you might have knocked your score down by 20-30 points. OTH, the new utilization ratio might have bumped you up or kept you the same. Over time, they will improve. Yeah, you over did it but now you're set for quite a while. I would think about a BT from that HH account to whatever card has the best BT terms. It's not much, but it's almost certainly going to be a better deal than HH and you're getting some activity there. I would keep the old cards as long as you can deal with them. You may be able to get fees waived by calling once a year, or getting them dropped completely. Once you've got a few years on your new, improved cards you can drop the most painful of the subprimes.
Not substansial damage, but surely opening up 5 new cards will hurt scorewise. I highly recommend clolsing only 1 subprime card, preferably the newest. Leave the rest alone and let it age another 12 months, then close one more subprime acct. Closing all subprime accounts now will kill your score. I also suggest to not open up anymore accounts for at least 12 monts.
Thank you both for your replies! I definitely will not apply for anything whatsoever for a long, long time. Swear to God! Hopefully my scores will recover enough and I can get EXP to delete my two "baddies" by spring so I can go mortage shopping.
I agree with DanS. The inquiries have already done whatever damages they could, you can't reverse it even if you close all your accounts. The more accounts in good standing - the better. Pay off the First Premiere card, spend at least a dollar on each card every month to keep them active, keep your utilization below 20% and you'll have your scores above 700 in no time.
Hey if you think you overdid it, I apply for 6 cc in one night. Don't know what kind of FICO damage yet. I apply for Amex Green and Blue, only looks like 1 EQ inquiry was pulled. Got a inquiry each from BofA, Bank One and US Bank these were pulled from TU. I applied for a Chase card and they have not pulled any inquiry yet. So 6 apps, 1 pull on EQ, 3 pulls on TU and none on Exp. Best regards, Mirage
At least you got approved! Were there more that you applied for that you didn't get approved for? Depending on YOUR credit profile, you can expect to lose probably 4-7 points per inquiry. From MY experience over the last 3 month - I've lost exactly 10 pts every time a new account hit my CR. At the same time, while your scores may go down for the inquiries and new accts, your scores will also go back up due to lower overall utilization.
Wait 6-12 months for your PRIME cards and them ask for a "PRE-APPROVED" CLI...no inquiry... "IF" the SUB-PRIME cards have fees...DUMP the highest fee the month before it is due...don't dump all at once. "IF" they have NO FEES...let them sit in the SOCK DRAWER...and use them for a tank of gas every 6 months or so and PAY IN FULL when the bill comes...
A BETTER DEBT TO CREDIT LIMIT RATIO BRINGS YOUR F.I.C.O. TO A HIGHER NUMBER... In some cases APPLYING for credit HELPS!!! MORE HELP THAN HURT...
Uh. Be careful about Georges advice about letting a subprime card sit idle for 6 months at a time. Many subprime lenders and cracking down on accounts that are not used for 6 months or longer. In that case, it will be closed by credit grantor, and that is never a good thing.
THEN CLOSE THEM ALL AND BE DONE WITH THEM!!!!! They need YOU...more than you need them!!!! ...OR use them every 3 months for a tank of gas and PAY IN FULL when the bill comes...
I think the third piece of advice is best. Use it every 3 months and pay it off, 6 is just too risky. Of course, the ideal thing to do is to close them all, but without the history, you'll have a tough time getting the prime cards you want
Re: Re: I think I overdid it Went crazy-stupid-hog-wild on applying for new credit and these are the results: BofA Gold - $1000 CL Chase Classic - $1500 CL Citibank Plat Select (BDD) - $3200 CL Corvette Mastercard - $1000 CL GM Card - $1000 CL **THESE ARE NOT PRIME???
Re: Re: I think I overdid it Its this type of irresponsible behavior that is gonna cause you to get back into trouble and end up with more charge offs and collections, Do you never learn. 2 Charges. Amex or Discover and a Visa Or Mc, with a few 3-4 dept store retail cards is all anybody needs, anything more is over indulgence. I challenge anybody to prove me wrong. I said my peace
The only one I applied for and didn't get approved for is a Bank One card - which was surprising in the respect that I had a line of credit and a car financed thru them w/ perfect pay histories in the past. On the other hand, considering I applied for so many others, it's NOT surprising I didn't get approved. Thank you George, for your advice; I'll be sure to nickel and dime my sub-primes for a tank of gas here and there to keep building history. None of my subprimes have fees associated w/ them, save for the 1st Premiere $6/month poop.
Re: Re: Re: I think I overdid it Thank you for your reckless assumptions; however, I can assure you that while I admittedly have two negatives on my EXP, I've never gotten myself into the "trouble" you are alluding to, but am simply into building some seriously outstanding credit. But I still appreciate your input.
Re: Re: Re: I think I overdid it No. It's this type of irresponsible comment that doesn't belong here on CreditNet. We're here to help each other - NOT judge each other!
Re: Re: Re: I think I overdid it George, Take it easy. She also mentioned she has subprime cards she wanted to dump. No one is saying the recently acquired cards are not prime.
Yay!! Congrats on your approvals. I, too, overdid it and will not be applying for any more cards any time soon. I can't wait to dump my sub-primes (Providian and Crap 1), which I'll only keep open for now until I get some time and history on my new Prime accounts You think you're bad, get this...I treated myself to a new designer wallet to hold my pretty new cards in! Charged it to my new Gold Amex (and paid it off already online, BEFORE my bill gets here!)
Congratulations. Do as most everyone says, exercise your cards, and you'll get increases. You'll be ready for a mortgage in no time.
