Question about interest rates /new legislation/ credit cards

[greenbriar]

WE have NO credit card debt, but have 3 credit cards with 0 balances one for 3 thous one for 5 thous and one for 5 hundred. One student loan for 15 thous in Excellent standing and our mortgage

I went to buy a 3 piece sectional today for 1900 and was turned down for credit?????????


is it new legislation?

is it because we have "too much" credit available???


should I cancel the credit cards I don't intend to ever use again???

[NYC]

1. Can you ask them why you were turned down?

I don't know if they'll tell you, but I think it is worth asking.

I assume it was the furniture store that turned you down.

[ThomWV]

18. They Are Like Used Car Dealers - Credit For Absolutly Anyone

[Extend a Hand]

2. you are entitled to a free credit report

because you got turned down. Request one and make sure you aren't the victim of identity theft. Something similar happened to my Mom not long ago.

[greenbriar]

3. I forgot to mention

we have 4 thous in savings and I could buy the couch outright and would have paid it off early, just didnt' want to let go of the cash right away.

I was going to get 12 months same as cash

[KharmaTrain]

5. Have You Checked Your Credit Report?

Not the rating...but the report itself. Seems like you've "red flagged" on that account. Under the new bankruptcy laws if you missed a payment to one creditor that information can now be shared with others that will either raise the rates your paying (without even notifying you) or will prevent you from being able to borrow. I'd spend the money to get a report from each of the major credit lending companies (again, not the "score"...the full report) and see if there's some mark on your record (good chance you don't know about) that not only messed up this purchase but could hamper you from using credit cards and writing checks...or borrowing large amounts for a business, home or even car.

Good luck...

[Warpy]

7. I'd add to that a late paymet on your electric or phone bill

even when it's the post office's fault and you can prove it was postmarked in plenty of time can cause your report to be red flagged.

[greenbriar]

8. we have never been late

but we do have all that "open" credit. I am going to close those accounts and just keep one credit card for emergency use

will it screw me up if I close the accounts?

[MissWaverly]

9. call up your credit companies, numbers on the back of card

this is kind of weird but it happened to me, I couldn't use a card because I use credit
cards so infrequently; they had decided that I was dead. Your cards could have been closed
because they were "inactive."

[Rosco T.]

10. DON'T close the accounts... "old" credit is better than new credit...

[KharmaTrain]

11. Very, Very Important Point

Nothing wrong with holding onto an account that you're not using...it'll cost more to close it than the service charges that keep it going. I've known of people who closed accounts and the information wasn't updated with the lender and this led to an "NSF" flag or other problems. I had to take care of a family estate matter...and even 4 years after my parents have passed on, I'm still getting calls and other issues involving accounts they hadn't used in their final years, but their name is still in the puters. I recently got a "bill" from the cable company "demanding" I pay for a box my parents had and is now obsolete...I called the company and ran into "collections"...and a real "sweetheart" who read me a riot act about all the nasty things they could do not just to my parents credit (yep, I did mention they no longer were among the living, but seems she didn't quite hear that) and mine as well (even though she only had my last name...not my first). I went over her head to the corporate office...even then it took several calls until I got to a real human who realized it'd be difficult to collect $150 from dead people.

A credit report isn't about how you pay bills today or in the past year...but of ALL credit you've used or been issued. From writing your first check to this month's electric and gas payments (thanks to the poster who made that point).

Too many people don't bother to look at their accounts or are afraid to confront a bank or lender when something is wrong...this just adds to the misery as silence is assumed an admission of guilt. Even though I don't need to, I still get a credit report every year to make sure someone hasn't wormed their way in and put a red flag on my record. We did find one who did...it was a messed up gas card payment in the early '90s...still on the record and that took months to clear up.

[1932]

17. Although my understanding is that this is true, I believe that it was

added to the credit score formula in order to deter people from changing to more competiitive credit card services. So, it seems to me that you should tear up your card with the worst over-all service, regardless of how old it is. It's going to help your finances much more if you get the card which gives you the lowest interest costs.

[PWRinNY]

14. Closing too many accounts isn't good either

If you're going to close credit accounts, only close the newer accounts. You want to keep your oldest accounts open. Even if they have higher interest rates - the longer a credit account is open, the better it is for your credit history, report, and score. Only use it to charge items you can pay off in full at the end of the month; use lower interest cards for revolving balances. If you close too many accounts, you can actually lower your credit score. The reason for this is that you suddenly have much less available credit, and if you then charge up more than 50% of your limit, that lowers your score. It's best to have more available credit, and keep the balance low or paid in full every month, if at all possible. Hope this helps.

[On the Road]

15. Maybe it Was Bait and Switch

and they turn everyone down for the 0% rate. It's definitely worth checking on the reason -- if they can't point to anything and you can't see anything on your credit report, there's something wrong. A credit report check is a good idea anyway.

[dweller]

4. i'd go back on a different day

and talk to a different salesperson.

you may have a different outcome.

dp

[I_Make_Mistakes]

6. That happened to me and the explanation was that I had too

much credit available for use. I to had zero balances but, in reality, in one day I could've racked up $30,000.00 plus, based on my limits.

I would recommend pulling your credit report. I had for ex., cut up my Macy's card after I had an infuriating incident, hence, I forgot I had credit there, as well as, several other non-used cards.

In addition, Sear's was having a sale but you had to use their card. Here is the deal they outsourced their credit to Citibank, which had just upped my limit to $20,000.00 without any request from me. I believe, and I think correctly, this is a way to trap you as their customer. Citicard denied my Sears application and gave me an unused $10,000.00 credit increase.

I used to work at a credit card co., only 2 1/2 mos. due to their unethical practices. I gave my notice and was offered an AVP position. Is that too funny.

Edit to add:

On day I was at a Victoria Secrets sale and Equifax turned me down for $70.00 check. I had close to $40,000.00 in my checking account (long story). They said I had written to many checks recently. I had paid off a credit card of close to $10,000.00 recently. I think that was it. They told me they had every right to deny my check even with that balance and having never written a bounced check.

I hate the credit reporting agency, they can embarrass you (the line was really long) and you have no recourse.

[dipsydoodle]

12. If you were in the UK the following

would be part of the main criteria for credit score rating :

How long have you held your present bank account.
Do you have any judgements registered against you.
Do you have a fixed home telephone number.

Also, as mentioned by I_make_Mistakes above, having credit cards with high credit limits but not using them does not signify the card holder to be a good credit risk.

As far as I'm aware companies such as Equifax have only the obligation ,on written request , to provide details of adverse information which may have led to a decline as opposed to any other reasons.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

13. Actually, with the Sear's issue, because I was declined, I was

entitled to a free on-line (my state you get a free credit report only through the mail once a yr., if requested).

This is important. I got my free credit report on-line and there is an area to challenge the credit complaint on-line. It is a very limited text area, so be careful to keep it short.

In my case, I went on a 5 week European tour. I had my mail temporarily transferred to my mom's so she could pay all my monthly bills. I returned in April of that year and had the temporary mailing forwarding stopped.

In Sept. of that year a bought a $10.00 item at Macy's and completely forgot about it. By that time my mom was just getting junk mail for me, so did not notice the Macy's bill, until later. Macy's had changed my billing address without my input. At the time my mail was being diverted I had no Macy's balance. They tried to sock me with late fees, said they used other sources to come up with billing addresses, like to know from where? They did admit it was their mistake, but unknown to me it was still on my credit report for way, way late non=payment, $10.00 lousy dollars.

Anyway, I explained the issue on-line in that text area they removed the item.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Just to be clear -

I meant if you were for example english - not if you just happened to be here on vacation whatever. The credit report you obtained wouldn't be obtainable here in the UK. Credit underwriting is used to estabish both the willingness and ability to pay - hence my reference to any judgements or defaults which convey willingness.

[Tracer]

19. Credit Reports.

Everyone is entitled to a free credit report each year, from each of the 3 main credit reporting companies (Experian, Transunion & Equifax).

Go to annualcreditreport.com for the genuine link to these companies (there are other web sites that claim to be "free", but really aren't).

Yesterday, I decided on the spur of the moment to check my credit for the first time. The above companies DO NOT MAKE IT EASY for you to get your free report! I could only get part way into the online section of Transunion before I was brought to a halt by their "request for account numbers" on THREE Citibank accounts.

I've never had a Citibank credit card in my life.

It took several calls (to India) before Transunion agreed to mail me my "free" credit report.