Guess I'm a bad credit risk!

[Hank70SS]

Lynda and I were at Carsons, formally Elder Berman. Don't know if you've heard of them but they're like Kohls. Had a number of different store names and changed them all to Carsons.

Anyway, Lynda had a discount coupon she got in the mail, she had an Elder Berman charge. She also had a disount coupon from renewing her charge card which was switched to a Carsons charge card. Didn't know if the coupons were valid on the items we were buying so we asked, there's always the fine print you know. Well the clerk said no but if you don't have a Carsons credit card we can open one and you'll get 20% off. Since Lynda already had one she suggested I open one and get the 20%.

So they run the info through and it was declined at that time. She said they would mail me in a few days and let me know for sure. So the letter came today, declined, reason:

1. Insufficient number of accounts with a balance.
What was I thinking paying off my charge cards every month?

2. Limited real estate obligations.
What a dumb ass I am. I should be upside down on my mortgage instead of having my house almost paid off.

Now if you're thinking like I did, that's crazy, just wait. The credit scoring company they use is Experian, one of the big 3. Credit scores range from 1, worst, to 999, best, my score, 984. Not sure what the cutoff point is but if 984 out of a possible 999 isn't good enough I'm pretty sure I don't want to do business with these people anyway.

F'um, I don't want or need their card. I already have a wallet full of credit cards. I also won't shop at Carsons anymore and I'll let them know in writing why.

I don't really care, we bought the stuff we wanted anyway and I sure don't need another credit card. Just saying, that's about the craziest thing I've ever heard. If I was a lot worse credit risk they would have handed me a credit card on the spot, go figure.

[shadowgray396]

Credit scores are a joke. You need to be totally in debt to have a high credit score. I don't have any credit cards, haven't had a car payment in over 6 years and like you my house is almost paid for and my other one is. My wife has a couple of credit cards so when we just purchased her new car she now has a higher credit score then me and works like 10 hours a week. They put her first on all the paper work and made me the co-signer and I'm the one who will making the payments. Go figure?

[flash]

I have a co worker that lives paycheck to paycheck ,no savings and a recent bankruptcy that can get all the credit he wants .I dont understand how the system works anymore .I only owe for part of my Kubota tractor ,houses ,cars ,everything else paid for and like you I pay my balance in full every month and would probably be turned down too.

[earthquake68]

It baffles me too. At least I understand my problem. I have NO credit. I paid cash for everything my whole life. Even the 5 acres in Tennessee I have. I tried to get a $15K loan on a HOUSE with 1 acre of land next door. (the house had some fire damage, but wasn't bad at all.) I was turned down for a $130/month mortgage payment. REALLY?! ...But they'll let me get a smart phone and data package for whole family that costs more than that.

I can't imagine why the economy is so screwed up when someone that pays for stuff is denied a loan, but someone with a bunch of credit cards on food stamps qualifies for whatever they want.

[Ms Grumpy]

Grumpy and I have never really had credit cards. We have paid cash for everything we wanted, except house. When I went to purchase a van about 10 yrs ago I had to have my mother co sign for me because I didn't have enough credit history. We paid off the van in 2 1/2 years. Then 4 years ago I went to buy a new car, with a huge down payment. I was told I didn't have enough of a current credit history, the van had been paid off 4 years prior. I got them to give me a small loan on the car. I had $100 payments on the car, and made them every month, on time. Just found out a few months back that my credit score went up. And ended up saving me on my car insurance. Just curious, what the heck does your car insurance have to do with your credit score. Funny thing is that I have been with the same car insurance company for over 14 years. Go figure.

[Bowtie-Bri]

I thought my car insurance rate was getting alittle high so I gotta a quote from another insur. co. The quote was alot lower than what I was paying. I went to my insur. co with the quote to see what they could do. They explained to me that they base the insur. qoutes on your credit score. They rewrote my policy and it saved me almost 1800 bucks a year. I asked them why they didn't call me when they started doing that. The agent said, oh it's was in your renewal policy packet. I thought, who reads that?

[Ms Grumpy]

Brian, I found out that the insurance companies don't tell you about your credit score impacting your rate. Also, some give you a discount for being on time for at least the past 12 months, and sometimes you have to ask about that one too.

[Hank70SS]

Originally Posted by shadowgray396

Credit scores are a joke. You need to be totally in debt to have a high credit score....

Thing is Ray, I have no debt but I do have a high credit score. 984 out of a possible 999. So what does it take? 985, 990, what? I have a damn near perfect credit score, very little debt, only the mortgage and I'm a bad credit risk. Things have definitely changed.

11 years ago when we bought this house I asked for an $80,000 mortgage. They ran my credit then asked if I was sure I only wanted $80,000, wouldn't you like $200,000? No I don't want $200,000, I can't make those kind of payments. Oh sure you can. No thanks.

A few years later we applied for a home equity credit line to get the upper level sided and some new windows. I asked for $25,000, that was the smallest they offered. They suggested I get a $50,000 line of credit because the interest rate was lower. Okay, make it $50,000. When we went back to sign all the papers they suggested I get $100,000 line of credit because again the interest rate was even lower. So we got a $100,000 line of credit. Now we certainly never borrowed that much but it's still available if we wanted to.

Around the same time I opened a Home Depot credit card to purchase a generator. Got a discount by using the HD card. Took 5 minutes at the service desk and they said, here you go, you have a $15,000 credit limit. $15,000? I don't need a $15,000 limit, I'll never spend that much here. It's $15,000, take it or leave it.

Now I don't qualify for a store credit card at Carsons? Yup, things have changed.

[Hank70SS]

Originally Posted by Ms Grumpy

...Just curious, what the heck does your car insurance have to do with your credit score. Funny thing is that I have been with the same car insurance company for over 14 years. Go figure.

The theory, not my theory, their theory is, if you have bad credit you're also a bad risk as a driver. Not sure who made that correlation but that's their theory.

[shadowgray396]

I had the same thing happen with the bank also. Infact they raised my credit line with out asking. I had to go in and have them lower it and when I had credit cards they would raise the limit all the time. I had to call them and have them lowered or put a freeze on the card so it they every got stolen they couldn't get max out at some high number.

Credit scores are base on :

Payment history:
A good record of on-time payments will help your credit.

Outstanding debt:
High balances in relation to your credit limits can lower your credit score. Aim for balances under 35%.

Credit account history:
An established credit history makes you a less risky borrower. Think twice before closing old accounts before a loan application.

Recent inquiries:
When a lender or business checks your credit, it causes a hard inquiry and a slight ding to your credit score. Apply for new credit in moderation.

The rest of a credit score is based on factors like the length of a borrower's credit history, the types of credit he has, and how much new credit he has recently applied for or obtained. The longer an individual has had credit in good standing, the more reliable he is deemed to be. Individuals with a mix of credit types, such as credit cards, mortgages and other loans, are also viewed to be more responsible and will have a slightly higher credit score.

The older I get the lower my credit score is going to be since I don't want to have debt to worry about. You can buy a house with no credit history, my son did. He show his rental history to the bank and got the loan. Credit scores should be base on what you have payed off and closed rather what you owe. Insurance companies and other companies have no business basing their rates on a credit score. We should be able to rate them instead. The insurance companies have some of the most expensive buildings in every town across America.