Originally Posted by alanh
Moving money around in an (apparently) pointless fashion is not illegal per se, but may indicate money laundering so the Feds may check up on you. The result can be that they determine no laundering is going on, as suggested above.
It's like the deal with cash transactions over $10k. They aren't illegal, but will generate some scrutiny.
could be for some, but with a lower income than normal, commissions at an all time low, and a foreign wife with only 2 years as a resident and 2 years US credit history, we were able to buy a new primary residence and we already have a vacation home. All the while, during the entire mortgage process, I was still churning upwards of $15-20+k/month of gift cards (some of which are no longer around) and no problems whatsoever came from this activity. Even the mortgage person said, "all those high charges you keep seeming to pay off every month are sales and expense-related, right?"
I said yes and with that, they never really counted my "debt" at all.
I have also not had a balance or any finance or service charges as a result of doing this, but Visa and MC sure do like me because I charge everything to them.
in keeping with the suggestions of those helping you build credit I did let a balance go once and a while when I owed only a few hundred a couple years ago, and this action actually HELPS you make your credit work for you! But with the churning of MO and GC funds, you actually are always able to avoid all of those charges all the time! So it is not illegal but those who wanna make money off of fees sure would hate you for it!
MM