No need to get high and mighty here. I already said that I am going to have no activity close to the statement so that I can pay off the whole amount and not worry about pending transactions. Also note that you cannot pay more than outstanding amount in the "other amount" category, and outstanding amounts don't always include pending transactions. And sometimes it's better to buy the $1500 first class flight with the 2x miles card even if it's close to the statement date.


As I said in the previous post I use citi identity monitor. Sorry I'm not too well versed in the fico and fako issues, but citi gives me 3 bureau scores. I believe the reason for score drop is my utilization changed. Balances went up from a few hundred dollars on 3 cards to $2000 on a couple and less than <$50 on others. I'm going to take all efforts to get the scores in the best shape by Nov.

I had my wife add me as an authorized user to two of her retail CC's that were opened in 1984. That did wonders to my average age of accounts.

My scores didn't drop alot considering that I recently refinanced 3 rental properties and opened 3 new CC's. I saved about $500/month in mortgage payments and got alot of AA miles (2 times 50K) plus about $400-600+ in airfare with the US bank Olympics promo.

My FICO's are well north of 750 and before the mortgage/CC applications, my mid bureau score was 804.

With the primary residence & cars paid for, there are no need to get new credit except for churning CC's. I only need above 720 and with my thick credit file, that will be no problem.

I do not bother to pay before the statement "cuts". I just set online payments to pay 1-2 days before the due date. My utilization is usually 1-2% with no more than 10% on any one CC when I just charge everything on one CC. I put alot of small charges on certain CC's where the rewards are the greatest. (like one card where I get 5% cash back on fuel purchases).

Not sure why people are fixated on credit scores only. First, what consumers see isn' what CC issuers see. Second, issuers have their own records and keep their own PITA lists (people who tie up phone agents constantly, file disputes over $25-50 items and the like) and third, issuers are keenly aware of broader credit risks. Live in an area where unemployment is up when it's down elsewhere, you can expect to see less tolerance. Same thing if housing prices are still low where you are.

Post recession, there are plenty of people who've never missed a payment who can't get new credit.

I agree about other things, but the housing prices? Can you elaborate?

Declining housing prices in a specific neighborhood at a time when housing prices are rising elsewhere is a bad sign for credit risk purposes. Just like credit scores, it's a predictor of bad things to come. So, rather than sorting out specifics, the safer course is to hold off on new credit.

Yeah, makes sense.

May make sense to some, but appears to be a legend. And, a legend which is dead wrong.

In fact, it would be illegal to tie granting of credit to residence area per the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act and state equivalents.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/cons...dit/cre15.shtm

Residence in the past WAS (and still is, illegally) used as surrogate for race, religion etc discrimination. Many have paid out big bucks because of this illegal activity. For just one example see http://www.ballardspahr.com/alertspu...allenging.aspx

This fits me to a Tee. I have 3 credit cards, all long term. Until discovering the benefits of points, I used them all just a bit... 1-2K a month here and there. Now, everything has changed in pursuit of points. Any penny I can put on a card gets charged, paying in full, of course, at the end of the month. I run so much through my credit cards that I have to pay the bill mid-month, or I'd go over my limit. I just got a credit line increase of 8,500 from Citi... now my CL is big enough to use as a down payment on a house if I needed one! I have never called for some sort of favor and been turned down. The occasional fee or some such thing is usually waived. The HUGE down side of all this is that my credit score is flip flopping like mad... it used to be about 803/805 and never changed.
Now, I'm subscribed to MyFico.com scorewatch (I'm getting a home loan and thinking about churning), and my score goes up and down by 40-50 points, depending on what's been reported. My utilization rate is 35%+ if they catch me on the upswing, with that Citi card approaching maxed out on some days. It's ranging from 750's to the 790's, up then down then back up. I guess the score models think that if you're maxing out cards and applying for new credit, you're probably heading for dire straights.

[QUOTE=pcharles;19406343]IBut what's drawn in a larger focus than I noticed pre junk-mortgage selloff is an increase to the amount of spend and balance to stated income. What you put as your income on your app has now drawn much further weight than before. Banks would do a credit pull, see your scores, history, utilization, but the app income amount now is playing a larger role into their formula.



QUOTE]

You are correct in this observation. Income did not have to be an explicit component of credit risk calculation prior to Dodd Frank. Many companies required a minimum income, but did not do a lot of verification and used payment performance. Dodd frank contained regulations on a new ability to pay component of risk where income has to be considered in the granting of any new credit, a new card or a line increase on an existing card. What is difficult for the non mortgage lender is to get any verification on the self reported income.

I got my EXP update from credit sesame (decent approximation of Experian score) and my score went up 30 pts when the two old retail accounts were added to my credit report. I am close to 800 credit score again and when the new accounts age some more, my scores may go up a little more.

2-3 months before you start the home loan process, pay your CC bills before the statements "cuts" so the lender does not factor in minimum monthly payments that increase your debt ratios. Also, the FICO's are high when there are very low debt relative to credit limits. Best to have zero statement balances when applying for a home loan as even a $20 balance will have a min monthly payment of $20 but some lenders will not factor that in as the payments needed to get to zero is less than 6 months. (I am not a mortgage person but I have rental properties that I recently refinanced (3))

Best thing is to have zero statement balances on all but one of your cards as one card would be your everyday spending card and some CC companies will not allow you to do online pay for more than your balance. (you could "push" a bill pay from outside the CC company to reduce your statement balance to zero or a small credit).

I suggested 2-3 months out because lenders update the reports at different times and each credit report updates balances differently. 2 (3 to be safe) months out seem to be a good time to get statement balances to zero (or below).

Bottom line: 2-3 months out, try to have all CC's at zero (or small credit on one CC) statement balance so your FICO's will be high and you have minimum debt on qualifying for your mortgage.

I agree with most of the posts here, and disagree with the "experience" of the Chase rep. None of that sounds true. I am in the last group, and obviously, make lots of money for the bank due to transaction fees. I never have a problem getting fees waived or getting things adjusted. Every new credit card will waive something once. The second time may be a different story.

Thanks, Chemist.