While I do that, please read up on these scores so you stop spreading rumors 
One Q you could answer for all of us is where does the credit report have your income? Seems important, if this was a criteria as you claim.
Yeah, itâs not like the people that carry a lot of credit debt are going to post on this thread.
From the internets:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/credit-scoring/20031104a1.asp
"What doesnât count in a score
The scoring model doesnât look at:
- age
- race
- sex
- job or length of employment at your job
- income
- education
- marital status
- whether youâve been turned down for credit
- length of time at your current address
- whether you own a home or rent
- information not contained in your credit report"
While the credit agencies do look at personal information, like SSN, address, job, etc. , this is used to verify your identity, and is not used to calculate your credit score. The more you know!
But, to higgmondâs benefit - it does appear that opening more credit lines can adversely affect your credit, but it depends on your past payment history. For instance, if you already have a lot of debt or have a history of delinquency, applying for more credit cards is bad. So looks like both of you are sort of correct.
There seems to be a lot of credence in Higgmondâs postsâŚif you have a lot of available credit and you are seeking additional credit via a new loan, a bank would have to consider that you already have been extended credit in its assessment of your application, which would have to ding your score at least somewhat. I would think it would be even worse if the available credit that you already have is unused.
For example, letâs use the case of having $75k in available credit card debt, but very little, if any, is currently being used. Next, you apply for a $300k mortgage. Is the bank not going to consider that you already have $75k at your disposal if you want/need it? The bank might need to be concerned about their $300k if you start tapping into this separate, but readily available, $75k. Seems logical to me that any lending institution would consider this as a negative aspect of your application.
More credit could be bad if it seems like you already had trouble paying previous balances on time. However, income is not part of the formula
Damn, I would kill for either of those cards⌠but Canada just doesnât have those options. From what I can find the Capital one aspire cash is the best cashback card north of the border @ a whopping 1% + 50% annual bonus
Youâre right rawraw. I was mixing concepts. The amount of available credit is a factor lenders use in deciding if they will actually lend you money or not. It is not a factor in your FICO score. I apologize for the misinformation. That being said, I would assume the goal of a high credit score is to actually be able to secure an auto loan or mortgage at a good rate, not just be able to boast about your credit score on AF. If that assumption is correct, be wary of having too much available credit.
Higgmon is correctâŚLike I said, I recently applied for a $500 prepaid CC. I told the âbankerâ that I am now employed and very responsible. Even mention that I was a cpa ( that should count for something right) and assured him that I would have no problem paying a $500 balance. A day later, he calls and tells me unfortunately, you have a history of being a deadbeatâŚdeadbeatâŚ.deadbeatâŚdeadbeatâŚsorry deadbeat.
Did anyone know that actual humans look at your score, history and then make a decision to approve or disapprove? I thought it was computers that made the decisions.
@OhaiâŚHumans make the decisions to approve or disapprove. ergo you cannot rule out race as a factor.
Well, I guess I was talking about credit score, which does not consider race. Looking back, it does seem like the other guy was talking about mortgage applications, which might be subject to racial discrimination.
Also, yeah yeah, we all know you are black and the man steps on you. Oh poor you.
stormy - maybe you can get a loan from the Native American gal I see on TV all the time. I think the name of the group is Western Sky. It flashes off the screen too quickly for me to know for sure, but I think the small print says the APR is 118% or something like that.
I actually wouldnât mind taking a loan from them⌠What would the consequences be when I default? My credit is already fucked up. I know they require a checking account but what can they really do with that? I will actually look into now. I mean I had a ball courtesy of citi and BoA shareholders. If the Indianâs want to finance my life style, sure, why the hell not. I would not feel an inch of guilt while doing it. They make a killing fucking vulnerable people over.
Stormy - How do you get turned down for a pre-paid card? I didnât realize there was even an approval process for this - I thought you just gave the bank the amount for the card and off you go. Either way, is there not some lender in the US that approves a $500 limit for anyone (even with the tighter lending laws)? Just sign up with one of those and start to rebuild asap. A few years of steady payments will give you a lot of options in the long run.
I got decline by Suntrust, BAO, and some other internet CC company. The crazy thing is that for prepaid CC, you have to deposit the cash up front. So the lender is not really risking any of its money. I would just be drawing down my own money; just like a savings account. They would make money from annual fees, interest, late fees, and they could earn income from my deposit. Iâm the perfect irresponsible customer they could make a killing on. sounds like a win win for them. I dont get it! Prolly just stupid bankers and underwiriters making bonehead decisions.
So, not lending money to irresponsible customers is a bad decision? Not sure if this is serious or notâŚ
^Well I thought we are in this business to create wealth for share holders. People in the CC business know that there is no money in lending to squares like you. The real money is made in sub primeâŚWhere have you been?
Well, that is somewhat correct. But at the same time, there needs to be a balance with risk management. In 2006, Washington Mutual or banks like that would approve basically all credit applications, package the loans into CDO, and then sell off the tranches. Of course, this results in high leverage, and the banks collapsed when things did not perform as expected.
Nowadays, there is more scrutiny on risk management, as well as the lending process. Banks have been sued for âtricking customersâ into taking out loans that they could not afford. Ironically, now, people are accusing banks of âdiscriminatoryâ lending, for not accepting credit applications from people with bad credit. Banks need to make appropriate judgment in accepting subprime customers. Unfortunately, this means rejecting many people who would have been approved in 2006 or 2007.
Lending to the poor is a beauty.
You know your life is fucked when no one is willing to even predatory lend you money.
damn, I need to seriously examin my life
On the other hand though, is not that bad. Short of renting a car, you can buy pretty much everything with debit cards, even online purchases in most cases now.
CC customers who carry a balance and/or pay late are certainly more profitable than âsquaresâ like me who pay the full balance every month, assuming they donât completely default. Citibank makes less than $1,000 per year on me, but itâs very low risk.