Buck531 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Are credit card companies allowed to lower your credit line without notice? I just got this piece of shit in the mail the other day stating they lowered my credit line like 7,000 because some company ran my credit and told them about it. WTF? I've never had this happen before. All this seemed to happen when I missed a payment on my Best buy CC (dumb move on my part, I just simply forgot, it's not like I didn't have the money). A month after that a completely different company (Citi bank) lowered my credit line 7k.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotart Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Are credit card companies allowed to lower your credit line without notice? I just got this piece of shit in the mail the other day stating they lowered my credit line like 7,000 because some company ran my credit and told them about it. WTF? I've never had this happen before. All this seemed to happen when I missed a payment on my Best buy CC (dumb move on my part, I just simply forgot, it's not like I didn't have the money). A month after that a completely different company (Citi bank) lowered my credit line 7k.. Yes they can and many banks have been lowering credit limits and raising interest rates on people who have never missed a payment. pretty much they can do what they want. Also, some companies regularly recheck credit and if you miss a payment on one card, another one will lower your limit or raise your rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 well that blows. That entire credit card is going away in a few weeks anyways. I've had this Citi card since like '98 and they treat me like a pile of shit. oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Yes. Happened to my wife on her business AMEX She pays it off monthly and uses is for all kinds of auto-payment stuff related to her practice. We were shocked and confused. They gave no reason specifically related to her or her business other than they said it's their common practice now to "real-in" large lines of credit to lesson risks during this economy. That's what they said. It's happening with banks and home equity lines of credit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseyctsv Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 It is called "universal default" and it is BS. If you miss a payment on one card all of your other credit cards can increase their rates. Chase stopped the practice a while ago because of public outcry but others still do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseyctsv Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Yes. Happened to my wife on her business AMEX She pays it off monthly and uses is for all kinds of auto-payment stuff related to her practice. We were shocked and confused. They gave no reason specifically related to her or her business other than they said it's their common practice now to "real-in" large lines of credit to lesson risks during this economy. That's what they said. It's happening with banks and home equity lines of credit too. Right - it does not take a missed payment either. Banks are reeling in the available credit to protect their bottom line. As people lose jobs they will use their available credit and when it runs out they will not pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thing that sucks it that I had an extra 7k I could use if I wanted to. Now since they dropped it $7300, I now have an available credit of $250! fucking gay. Well I'm going to do a consolidation loan here in a week or so and pay off that high ass interest card, cut it up and never use it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotart Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thing that sucks it that I had an extra 7k I could use if I wanted to. Now since they dropped it $7300, I now have an available credit of $250! fucking gay. Well I'm going to do a consolidation loan here in a week or so and pay off that high ass interest card, cut it up and never use it again. what's worse that that is the loss in available credit will reflect negatively on your credit score. That may cause other cards to raise your interest rate or lower your limits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmrmnhrm Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 I've had this Citi card since like '98 and they treat me like a pile of shit. oh well. If that's the oldest active card you have, and it's in good standing, stick it in the freezer, but don't close the account. Your scores are helped by lengthy *good* histories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 yep. if its open 10 years, just pay it off, but dont close it. you will hurt your credit more closing an old card that you have good history with but hold on...what was your limit and what did they drop it to? what's probably happening to is your creidt score may have dropped by them lowering it, because what your available credit was vs your total limits now dropped, so if you had 1,000 charged and 10,000 open, youre at 10%, and if they drop one card 5k, you still have 1,000 charged, and 5k open, which is 20% of your total available run up. but yes, they can lower your limits and jack up your rates. i use this as part of my talk off at work (collections), letting people know their other cards may lower rates and jack up intrest because they've defaulted on our card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkas Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thing that sucks it that I had an extra 7k I could use if I wanted to. Now since they dropped it $7300, I now have an available credit of $250! fucking gay. Well I'm going to do a consolidation loan here in a week or so and pay off that high ass interest card, cut it up and never use it again. Wouldn't do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJINOHIO03 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 You work at Chase still right? They did the same thing to there customes 10 years ago when I worked there. If you really were only a few days late that wouldnt even show on your credit report. You have to be 60 days late to be even reported to the credit bureau. Then it is a 30 day late mark. Although, a lot of creditors do pull your credit randomly these days to see if you are late with others or over extended with other companies. So if they see you are running up a lot of credit on another account they reduce your credit lines etc. Shit Chase (was First USA back then) would jack your APR rates up too sometimes. You can call and complain you might get it back its worth a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excell Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Credit card companies can pretty much do whatever they want without reasonable cause. Most contracts (you know, the three pages of teeny legal print that we don't read) give them full modification rights at any time for any reason. Negative creditor activities generated only by negative debtor activities essentially were just self-imposed rules they followed out of courtesy. I had a Capital One card closed on me last month because I haven't used it in a long time. If you're just sitting on credit cards, I highly recommend taking them out every month or two and putting a few charges on them that you pay off immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 I just found it odd that they could do that. I knew they could fuck with the interest rate, but never lower my credit line. That's just fucked up. I think I know (or have a good reason) why it happened I missed (forgot) about 3 payments at Best Buy. not even thinking about it, I get a call from HSBC the creditor. Fine. Pay that off. In the mean time I did some checking to refinance the house and consolidate some stuff. Then all of the sudden I get this thing in from Citi stating they're lowering my credit line. All just happened within a few weeks. Gay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 lol. people like you are the ones i like getting at work "yeah mr. XXXX, calling about your XXXXXXXX card that's now been written off, blah blah blah"... "oh damn. i forgot about that. can you take a visa card for the payment?" sure. cha-ching! few and far between, but its always nice when you can get some good $ in a 2 minute call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost face Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 I actually heard that on the news not to long ago. For some reason citi's been lowering my APR and increasing my limit. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96154274 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furloaf Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 The reason is that they don't want you to spend more of their money (because of this slow economy, how over-extended they are). The credit card company fronts the bill when you use their card; they are out of money until you pay the balance. Raising rates, lowering credit limits is a deterrent against you spending more of their money and an incentive for you to pay any balance back faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supldys Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Yes they can lower the credit line, or raise it, and even just close the account even if you dont miss a payment. Usually if you just don't use the card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s13 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Tell me why citi bank is increasing my rates when I have never missed a payment . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excell Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Tell me why citi bank is increasing my rates when I have never missed a payment . Because it's profitable and they can. Call and nicely complain, they may back them down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaronsToy Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Call City and tell them you are going to transfer the money and close the account ( even if you are not going to ) and they will make you a offer to lower ( keep credit under 50% do you pay more then the Min payment ) Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot_wire Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 debit cards ftw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Call City and tell them you are going to transfer the money and close the account ( even if you are not going to ) and they will make you a offer to lower ( keep credit under 50% do you pay more then the Min payment ) Good Luck yeah I tried that last year. I called 'em up and said "i'm moving to another CC company". The lady on the other side of the phone said "ok, have a nice day" and that was it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excell Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Call City and tell them you are going to transfer the money and close the account ( even if you are not going to ) and they will make you a offer to lower ( keep credit under 50% do you pay more then the Min payment ) Good Luck This isn't working as well anymore. Banks are "scared", they're happy to let most types of accounts go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmrmnhrm Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 debit cards ftw No. Debit cards do not - Build a credit history - Provide fraud protection - Provide additional warranties - Protect against overdraft* * A little-known fact of credit/debit cards is that when you use one, a hold is placed against some amount of money in the account. Gas stations will typically place a hold of $1 or $5 just to make sure the card is good, while restaurants and high-end retailers will hold the entire amount (restaurants often hold an additional 10% without even realizing it). This hold counts against your balance remaining, regardless of what the actual transaction is. By example... You have $200 in your checking account. You go to a restaurant, run a tab of $100, and use your debit card. Your initial hold is likely to be $110. Now let's say you're a big tipper, and tip 30%, so the transaction amount is $130. Unfortunately, the hold does not get automatically released at the same time the transaction is processed, so instead of being dinged for $130, you are actually hit for $240. HELLO OVERDRAFT FEES!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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