Couple Weeks Late Paying A Credit Card & They Took Away $10,000 Available Credit

[orleans]

shit.

now my available credit is $50.

not exactly a big incentive for me to pay on time this month.

and things are getting fucking tight. i was counting on being able to use it if i had to.

shit.

[Th1onein]

1. Call them, Orleans.

Don't sit back and do nothing. Call them.

[orleans]

2. and say what?

"hey, since you're erasing dollar amounts from my credit card, how bout getting rid of that balance for me?"

or...just out of curiosity i was wondering WTF?

maybe i will. i tell you, when i opened that fucking bill yesterday i was stunned. and then i got real fucking depressed.

[ecstatic]

4. was it citibank by chance?

They closed my account years ago when I was going through a rough time (although I was NEVER late paying them). Now they beg me to use their services. No thanks!

[orleans]

6. no it's not citibank. n/t

[EFerrari]

15. Call them with a story. If you need that credit, pitch it.

I'm sorry. Our AmEX line of credit got pulled for not reason at all at work. They just decided they didn't like our numbers -- although the numbers have been about the same for 20 years. :crazy:

[Uncle Joe]

42. Tell them you're too big to fail and if they don't give you some credit line back,

you're going under.

Peace,
Joe

[merwin]

3. I declared bankruptcy.

Best way to fuck them over :evilgrin:

Of course, our total debts were well around 70k and my wife and I have both lost our jobs in the last year. I was only out of work for a couple of months... she's going on almost 2 now.

[orleans]

5. sorry to hear you went through that. however, when i clicked on your

post and read the opening and saw your :evilgrin: it did bring a smile to my face. and it is something to ponder...

[merwin]

14. Well, I did succeed in sticking it to them.

While I was going through serious troubles, they just kept extending me credit too, even when it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to pay them back.

Maybe that's the reason that they need a bailout?

[Sherman A1]

7. Close the account, pay off the balance and

don't look back. You only have $50.00 of available credit so the account isn't really of too much use in any event. If you close it and pay it off, you deny them your business and you are after all the customer. I have closed accounts for far smaller issues. The last one however (Chase MC) I elected to keep open and use for gas once per month, moving all my other business to another card (which I pay off completely each month). This means that each month they have to mail me a statement, process a payment and carry me as a customer for about $20.00 worth of business, so I am guessing this is costing them more than it's worth to keep me, but they will do so for the potential of having me use them in the future.

One just needs to find alternate ways to "game" them while they are "gaming" you.


Good Luck!


:evilgrin:

[Thegonagle]

38. I wouldn't close it. Shred the card and pay it off, you'll help your score

more if you let the account stay open than if you close it.

Keeping it open helps average account age and credit-line utilization percentage. The higher the average account age, and the lower the utilization %, the more those factors help credit scores.

Otherwise, those games are good ones. You look responsible in their risk models, but you don't really make them much money, especially if utilize their rewards programs to your maximum benefit.

[Sherman A1]

39. Love them rewards programs

and I maximize them to the fullest. Most of this year's Christmas presents for nieces & nephews will be courtesy of Discover Cards Reward program. So I am pretty close to done with Christmas shopping, save for a few small things and while it may not really be "free" it sure feels like I saved a bunch of bucks for the holidays this year.

[qwlauren35]

50. I don't think $50 of credit helps your score.

Yup - cut it immediately, pay it off, hold it with a zero balance for 3 months, then get one from someone else.

[Trajan]

8. You hadnt heard they were cutting people off ?

I thought everybody was aware that they were looking for ANY reason to shut down credit cards ...

It has been this way for quite a few weeks now ...

I just read today that they are even going after those who pay only the minimum payment : They are cutting them off even if they pay on time ..... paying the minimum is an indication that they are not 'credit worthy' ...

Sorry ....

[ThePowerofWill]

13. had a piece about this on CNN, or MSNBC yesterday, or maybe Friday.

They were discussing that credit card companies were terminating cards, or reducing limits too bare minimums.....now get this while raising interest payments to as much as 32%!

[JerseygirlCT]

30. We always pay everything every month and they just

hiked our APR - sky high. Hoping against hope they'll catch us one month, I guess.

They are indeed looking for any and all opportunities to make up for the very bad business they've conducted for years. And we're all going to pay - those of us who have behaved responsibly and those who have not.

[1]

9. hscb is pulling back like that. it's not just you,,, n/t

[janx]

hscb has been all over my ass!

I hate them! "No interest for a year," etc., and now hard times and they have been robo calling multiple times a day for months, and now a letter from a lawyer! I'm so pissed I can't see straight.

30 plus percent!

It was the only credit card I had, and I don't spend a lot of money. Now they're demanding $8.000 or else! WTF is going on here?

[2Design]

10. open a new account with someone else -

find the best credit card deal with 0% purchase for 6 to 12 months, pay off the card - don't close but never use - just keep moving along. Always pay on time, some amount but ideally the full amount, unless on 0%, just keep opening them as you need them. The more you get with 0 balance the better your credit rating. when one offer is running out is the time to get the next one and pay off the last one.

[boomerbust]

11. Capital One

Doubled my interest rate for being one day late with payment on maxxed out card. Now they get NOTHING.

[undeterred]

17. They are the greediest bank in the whole country.

[boomerbust]

20. undeterred

How did that dog situation ever turn out for you?

[undeterred]

28. I gave the lab to a family in Sun Prairie

who already had an older lab that needed some company. That was just what he needed, an older dog to teach him and play with him all day.

And then I adopted this beautiful pup, Ollie. He is 6 months old and a great dog. :hi:

[SammyWinstonJack]

33. Ollie is a handsome guy!

:hug: to you for adopting him!

[LWolf]

43. They raised my interest rate from a fixed

6% to 29% when I sent them a partial payment; interest plus half the principle one month when I had to pay extra cash to fix the well.

I entered into a long, expensive battle with them, which resulted in a draw. They don't get the balance plus 29%; they still get more than I think they should.

Except for the $1500 they settled on me for calling my senior citizen mother and threatening her with my balance, when she had nothing to do with the account.

Of course, that went to pay legal fees for fighting them to begin with. That, and to pay the balance down.

[HamdenRice]

12. They're blaming you because they are out of money themselves

This is the "credit crunch" trickling down to consumers that some of us have been warning about for weeks.

Little noticed story last week: the banks have been unable to sell asset backed securities backed by credit card accounts (called "credit card receivable backed securities").

Just as the collapse of the market for mortgage backed securities has meant banks are making no loans to home purchases, the collapse of the credit card receivable securities market means the banks have no money to lend you for credit card purchases.

Rather than write to their customers and say, "we, your bank, are broke," they come up with all kinds of excuses to freeze or reduce your available credit.

Same is happening in the car loan receivable and student loan receivable securities market.

Not your fault -- your bank is lying to you.

On Edit: DO NOT TAKE THE ADVICE OF CLOSING THIS ACCOUNT. The reason is that you are not likely to be able to get any other credit cards at this time. THE BANKS DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO ISSUE NEW CREDIT CARDS except in exceptional circumstances. If you need your credit card, you're better off paying this one down and keeping it open so you can use it.

[undeterred]

16. Be late on a car payment just once

and your finance company has the right to repossess your car. Its in the fine print. Good luck finding a credit card or contract of any kind that isn't written to screw you, the customer.

[rasputin5]

18. They changed your limit from $10050 to $50?

I'm having a lot of trouble believing this story...

[sendero]

19. I'm not..

... you must not be paying much attention to what is going on here.

[rasputin5]

21. Uh, what's going on -where-? Do you mean here on DU?

I requested an increase in my limit on a card about 34 hours ago...online...from $15000 to $25000 because I needed to do a little money manipulaton.
It took about 40 seconds to get it approved. The first poster didn't explain any details so I am assuming he or she has run up against the limit. It was maxed out and payment wasn't made so what other result would they expect? Free money forever?


Oh, it's Bank of America.

[sendero]

24. What is going on here is..

... banks are strapped for cash, they are suddenly as wary of loaning $$$ to the great unwashed as they were cavalier before.

This is not a unique occurance, it's happening all over. Banks are not only lowering limits, they are simply not renewing cards as they expire.

If you have very good or better credit, it will probably not happen to you. Folks who have questionable credit, or unfavorable events popping up on their credit report, are going to find their access to credit cards severely limited.

[rasputin5]

26. Okay..that makes sense. Does that automatically make the banks the bad guys?

I'm just asking...is anobody suggesting they are indiscriminately targeting people without any cause?

[sendero]

27. Well..

... the banks certainly have their role in the economic mess we're in.

And in general, I think banks suck, as Mark Twain said, "a banker is a man who will loan you an umbrella, and ask for it back when it starts to rain".

As for "indiscriminately targeting people", not particularly - as I said before they were handing out cash like drunken sailors and now that it is blowing up in their face, they are going to get TOO restrictive.

So basically, they are full of shit 100% of the time.

[Tesha]

34. That's not what the OP is saying!

The poster is saying that the new limit is just
$50 over the current running balance on the
card. So, for example, they may owe $9950
and the new credit limit is $10,000.

'Sounds to me like a way to instantly generate
some nice fat "over-limit" fees!

Tesha

[JeanGrey]

47. ALL of them do this. If you are running a balance and you skip

a payment they usually 1 - raise your interest rate almost double and 2 - lower your limit down to almost what you owe so they can slap a late fee for over the limit on you. SOP.

[lunatica]

22. B of A did that to me and had paid regularly and on time. I canceled the card.

Now they beg me regularly to get credit with them.

[rasputin5]

23. You canceled it because they lowered your limit? Why?

I don't get it. If I weren't in a position to handle a bit limit, I think I would be grateful for them limiting my liability.
:eyes:

[lunatica]

31. What liability are you talking about?

The bank broke it's contract with me. It told me I had a certain limit, which I was hoping to have as a cushion if I needed it and then it just took it away because it chose to, not because I did anything. If anything it was creating the liability.

[LostinVA]

35. They are just attacking posters for no reason on this thread -- ignore them

[lunatica]

36. Thanks! I have to keep a sharper eye on the post count... nt

[sarcasmo]

49. A lot of new posters, doing the attacking, I find that interesting.

[TwixVoy]

25. Is this a joke post?

"Couple WEEKS late"??? And you are honestly surprised they lowered your credit limit?

[TBF]

29. Consider yourself lucky. About five years ago I cancelled most of our

cards after paying one late made all our rates go up (I had always paid on time, called them, the whole bit & they wouldn't reduce the rate so then I canceled every single one). It's the best thing I ever did. We have gas cards now and Am Ex to pay off every month when we use it.

It really is better without all that debt hanging over your head. You can use a bank debit card for the convenience factor and you learn to budget. I know it's not easy at first, but in the long run it's much better.

[RetroLounge]

32. Late on one card, ALL card raised the interest...

So I filed Bankruptcy. Fuck 'em.

RL

[lunatica]

37. I thought we couldn't do that anymore...

I don't know the convenience of filing Bankruptcy. Can you explain it to me? What happens with the credit card bills? This might be important for all of us to know.

[RetroLounge]

44. See a bankruptcy attorney.

I went on a chapter 13 payment plan. The credit card shitheads cannot call me anymore, and they get their money slowly, without any interest.

Fuck them and their 29.9% on every card.

RL

[skeewee08]

40. I work at a Credit Union

and we received notice that certain financial institution were lowering customer credit limits based on their zip/code for foreclosure risk even if you have great credit if you live in a Zip Code with high foreclosure rate you credit card limit will be lowered if not canceled. The best credit card to get is from your local Credit Union.

[SammyWinstonJack]

46. That's interesting! Thanks for the info. I bank with a credit union and have one cc with

Wells Fargo. They haven't raised our rate or lowered our credit line. They also hold our mortgage.

[MadHound]

41. Cut up the cards, don't get more, go to a cash, check, debit card basis

Fuck CC companies, they're out to make money off of you any way they can. I've been card free all my life and haven't suffered for it at all. My credit score is quite high, I keep within my budget, and I don't have to stress about those monthly payments.

It used to be common for people to go throughout life without plastic, it's only become ubiquitous within the past twenty years. Most people don't need CC's, so let's screw these greedy card corporations and give up the plastic. It's better for you and better for our society.

[buckettgirl]

45. Amen to that

Thats where I'm trying be.
I am 2.5 years post-bankruptcy. I filed when I was 24 and halfway through college. My husband put me through college and was our only income of about $10/hr for 4 years. I owed $25,000 in credit card debt alone - my husband had none. For me to make the minimum payments meant that we could not keep a roof over our head, so it became prudent for me to file (it was either that or quit school and have student loans come due).
Now, we have bought our first home 1 year ago (which I am not on the loan because I couldn't be at that point). We are working on our debt snowball, thanks to Dave Ramsey, and we have some emergency cash stashed. We are looking to be debt free, including the house, in about 5.5 years.
Now all that said, you would think that we wouldn't have credit cards. But we do. We each have our own. We each have a $300 credit limit. So, at anytime necessary, I can pay the bills in full and shred the cards - but still allow us a little bit of spending money during the month. If I had to guess, in the next year or so, we will just get rid of them and go with cash only.

[Pithy]

48. There won't be any leeway in this economy

If you want to keep your cards, you must pay a few days before the due date (and check the due date online frequently, as several companies have moved them up. My JCP has ALWAYS been due on the 15th for years, and they changed the due date to the 9th for December - hoping to catch those who are unaware or not paying attention with a late fee charge, I guess.) Do not give the creditor ANY reason to give you a credit limit decrease or close the card, as new cards will be exceedingly hard to get for at least the next 18 months. You probably shouldn't even try to pay just the minimum due - good rule of thumb is to pay at least twice the minimum due, if not three times. You cannot, ever, for any reason, make a late payment and hope to keep the card with current limit intact. Not in today's economy. They are looking for ANY reason to reduce their risk and make their balance sheets look better.

The ironic thing is that many cannot afford even the minimum these days. Another irony is that card issuers also want to see some activity every month on the card - GE Money Bank, who issues Dillards, Penneys and many other store brand cards, is suffering financially and is closing many cards for inactivity. So - if you don't use the card, it might get closed. If you do use it to buy stuff that isn't essential, you might not be able to afford the payments. We have to really be careful and use excellent judgment if we want to emerge from this crisis with all our credit accounts intact.

Best advice is to be proactive and really keep an eye on your credit card accounts for the next 6-12 months if you wish to keep them. If and when we can all ride out this economic low period, careful custodianship of your current cards will result in your being able to keep the accounts and hopefully experience credit limit increases.

I'm not in any way preaching or judging - I've become somewhat obsessive compulsive about credit repair over the last year and a half, and have learned that I didn't know squat about how to get and keep good credit until I started really trying to repair our credit. Creditboards.com is a great resource. I highly recommend it.