bigshooter

Hi everyone. Thought I'd post this even though it's not travel/mileage/points related.

My father and I have mostly taken over the management of my aunt's finances due to her being an airhead and mostly illiterate financially and technologically. As part of this we have started to consolidate checking accounts and credit accounts from some random credit union and store cards onto Chase.

We have a Freedom Unlimited opened for her, but it only received a $500 credit line. We have made her utilize this card and have been paying it off weekly for ~6 months. The problem is she has run into situations where she hit the credit limit and gets denied, which is making it difficult for us to get her to stop using other cards. We requested CLI (my father has POA) but were denied. I assume this is due to lack of income (only Social Security right now) and fairly high rent. She has significant investment assets that he did not provide income from on the request.

Any suggestions on how to get a successful CLI the next time we try? We only need it to be $2500-$5000 so hopefully not much of a concern to Chase. I told my dad we should include investment dividends plus 2-4% of her portfolio which should be considered a reasonable withdrawal rate for a woman my aunt's age. We have also transferred a large amount of cash to her Chase checking account although I don't believe Chase credit takes this into consideration.
Should adding investments/investment income be enough to get a small CLI, or is there anything I'm not thinking of?

Thanks

mia

Read here to start: Retired and getting credit cards with lower income

FriscoHeavy

For someone who can’t manage finances, the last thing they need is access to credit.

The best solution: a good ole’ debit card, spending only money she actually has.

Sorry to be blunt, but it’s the truth.

gengar

Odd comment, as OP subject already has access to credit. OP is seeking to combine (effectively) that credit under a single account.

garykung

Never assume. As a matter of law, Chase must disclose the actual reason of denial. So refer to the letter sent by Chase.

Typical shotgun approach.

Without knowing the actual reason of denial, it is impossible to say what has been done right and wrong. Chase is not exactly relationship-based. So choosing Chase over other financial institution may be a mistake per se.

Many details are missing. I don't believe you can get anything constructive based what has been mentioned.

Agree. Using a debit card does not always prevent financial issues.

bigshooter

Thanks for the comment, but you apparently didn't read my post.

She has plenty of money/investments but is concerned about becoming a bag lady as she gets older. In order to help reassure her my father and I needed her investments, cash, and credit in a place we have authorization to access and monitor.

Using a debit card in her case is actually a terrible idea... anything directly linked to a checking account with sizeable cash balance is not good and debit card does not have the protections of a credit card.

There's also a difference here between managing finances and managing spending. She doesn't spend extravagantly, but also occasionally forgets to pay bills on time, signs up up unnecessary things like store cards and ridiculous features on phone/cable, and doesn't keep track of information very well.

mia

Does she live with your father?

If you cannot get what she needs from Chase, I would look at opening checking and credit card accounts at a local institution, perhaps a credit union, where you can explain exactly what she needs, and why, directly to the person who will make the decision. However, I wouldn't refer to her as an airhead.

time_stamp

Why not just make her an AU on your father's credit card? Obviously your father becomes liable for what she spends if she decides to not pay him back but it doesn't sound like that's a concern for you.

FriscoHeavy

I did read the post and I do know what I'm talking about. What I said, stands.

Actually, when you swipe a debit card and select 'credit' instead of putting in your PIN number, it does carry the protections of Visa and Mastercard. Secondly, any reputable banking institution or credit union will still not hold you 'responsible' for unauthorized charges on a debit card. I've had several instances of fraud on my debit card and haven't lost a dime.

The whole protection thing is very much A. misunderstood and B. isn't reality.

bigshooter

Hahah... i only refer to her as an airhead in anonymous situations.

She has a credit union today but they have been difficult for my father and i to work with when trying to help her out... hence the move to another bank that gives us easier access. She had a fairly large charge on her CU credit card that was apparently suspected as fraudulent, but instead of declining it and calling her they let the charge through and then locked her card. Since she doesn't pay attention to much of her mail a easy matter to fix turned complex when I tried to have a joint call with her and the CU.


I'll close the thread with what I believe the issue is. I was able to get into her Experian profile this afternoon and pull down her credit report instead of waiting on Chase. It turns out she had closed a store card in September but she didn't realize it had a $15 balance left on it which is now 90 days past due. This has dropped her credit score 120 points in the past few months and is most likely what Chase is seeing on top of some late payments she has had over the last 4-5 years. I called my aunt and she "found" the past due notices in a stack of mail but for some reason didn't think they were important since the card was closed...

I guess I get to spend time on the phone with Synchrony bank tomorrow and see what I can do about paying the balance and getting the past due remarks off her credit report.