Anyone else get bent over by Chase this week?

[tomato_racing]

I got a nice letter in the mail this week informing me that they will be utilizing my variable rate and effective 1/1/10 by interest rate will double.

AWESOME, now I'll have a credit card open that I'm not dumb enough to use with such a high interest rate.

Anyone else get this friendly letter? I know of 4 other people that all received basically he same thing...

/rant

[Strictly Street]

I got a nice letter in the mail this week informing me that they will be utilizing my variable rate and effective 1/1/10 by interest rate will double.

AWESOME, now I'll have a credit card open that I'm not dumb enough to use with such a high interest rate.

Anyone else get this friendly letter? I know of 4 other people that all received basically he same thing...

/rant

Call the number in the letter and decline the interest rate hike.

They have a contract with you and they are trying to change the contract.

Legally you can decline the change, do so.

They will get all huffy and tell you they are closing your account.

Tell them that is just fine with you. You would not have used the card anyway at that insane interest rate.

Pay off the balance at the present rate, cut the card up and move on with your life!

Been there, done that.

[Disclaimer]

What's it matter? Who keeps a balance on their credit card?

[OsuMj]

I got an interest rate hike from national city from 18% to 28% (I think)....

[kawi kid]

What's it matter? Who keeps a balance on their credit card?

people who have had to use one to get by one time or another. i was one of those people.............

[exSRAaron]

I got one from Keybank, havent heard anything from Chase yet, but I'm sure its coming soon...

[tomato_racing]

Call the number in the letter and decline the interest rate hike.

They have a contract with you and they are trying to change the contract.

Legally you can decline the change, do so.

They will get all huffy and tell you they are closing your account.

Tell them that is just fine with you. You would not have used the card anyway at that insane interest rate.

Pay off the balance at the present rate, cut the card up and move on with your life!

Been there, done that.

That's the plan, but does anyone know if this negatively effects credit?

I got an interest rate hike from national city from 18% to 28% (I think)....

Mother of god... talk about an unusable credit card.

[Todd#43]

That's the plan, but does anyone know if this negatively effects credit?

I believe based on the terms of use that you agreed to, they have the ability to change the interest rate within certain parameters at their sole discretion.

The only way it could negatively impact your credit, is if you have a high balance, or a high limit, or dont pay on time.

Closing the account shouldn't be an issue.

[Likwid]

First, closing accounts shouldn't cause too much of a credit change as long as you still have a good debt to equity/assets ratio.

Part of the problem is CC companies are claiming the credit reform makes them change their APR.... what they fail to tell you is that they are losing a TON of ability to rape you even worse.... so your APR goes from 10% to 30% and you all close accounts, but when your APR goes to 30% they also loose abilities to charge rediculous fees.

Same thing with checking accounts, people are FREAKING out that they won't get free checking accounts anymore, banks will soon find other banks going ahead and giving free acounts AND not getting rich off overdrawn fees and more...

Once the market stabilizes and these inconveniences become the "norm" expect everything to go back to normal, and put us (the consumer) ahead in the long run. Citi FUCKED me over seriously, 6 year accountholder, was 2 days late on a payment because I was having computer issues, $40 fee, and default APR ROFLMAO

I have too many credit cards so I just called them and canceled it, I don't care really, have a house, car, and credit card.... FICO score only matters when you are looking for new cards or other financial services, going from 780 to 760 doesn't bother me.

[tomato_racing]

First, closing accounts shouldn't cause too much of a credit change as long as you still have a good debt to equity/assets ratio.

Part of the problem is CC companies are claiming the credit reform makes them change their APR.... what they fail to tell you is that they are losing a TON of ability to rape you even worse.... so your APR goes from 10% to 30% and you all close accounts, but when your APR goes to 30% they also loose abilities to charge rediculous fees.

Same thing with checking accounts, people are FREAKING out that they won't get free checking accounts anymore, banks will soon find other banks going ahead and giving free acounts AND not getting rich off overdrawn fees and more...

Once the market stabilizes and these inconveniences become the "norm" expect everything to go back to normal, and put us (the consumer) ahead in the long run. Citi FUCKED me over seriously, 6 year accountholder, was 2 days late on a payment because I was having computer issues, $40 fee, and default APR ROFLMAO

I have too many credit cards so I just called them and canceled it, I don't care really, have a house, car, and credit card.... FICO score only matters when you are looking for new cards or other financial services, going from 780 to 760 doesn't bother me.

Thanks again for the help guys, I'm 21 and just want to make sure I don't make any bonehead moves that will come back to haunt me when I tryin buy a house or something.

[that dude]

i bank with chase and have multiple loans with them and no. maybe they are targeting low credit scores or peeps with high balances.

[ReconRat]

Call the number in the letter and decline the interest rate hike.

They have a contract with you and they are trying to change the contract.

Legally you can decline the change, do so.

They will get all huffy and tell you they are closing your account.

Tell them that is just fine with you. You would not have used the card anyway at that insane interest rate.

Pay off the balance at the present rate, cut the card up and move on with your life!

Been there, done that.

Good advice. I've canceled many, for any reason I want to. My credit rating does not change. If anything, it gets better, judging by the dozens of offers for credit cards I'll get when I get rid of one. I'll even cancel a credit card for changing to charging me an annual fee. Which usually happens to me after the first year, since I refuse to carry a debt on the card. I pay it off as I go.

You do not have to be in debt to have a credit rating. It only shows that you know how to, and are willing, to repay a debt. Having cash in a bank or brokerage account gives you a good credit rating also.

[that dude]

Good advice. I've canceled many, for any reason I want to. My credit rating does not change. If anything, it gets better, judging by the dozens of offers for credit cards I'll get when I get rid of one. I'll even cancel a credit card for changing to charging me an annual fee. Which usually happens to me after the first year, since I refuse to carry a debt on the card. I pay it off as I go.

You do not have to be in debt to have a credit rating. It only shows that you know how to, and are willing, to repay a debt. Having cash in a bank or brokerage account gives you a good credit rating also.

+1 on the cash

[jporter12]

Credit sucks. I don't want any credit cards. I've proven to myself that it's too tough to be responsible with them, and that the CC companies are (obviously) only in it for the HUGE profits they make at the cardholder's expense.

FICO? Who is FICO? Is that your dog's name? Seriously though, NO credit is better than BAD credit. I'm trying to live to where I don't NEED credit, and I'm doing pretty well with that. I know somewhere down the road, I'm going to want to buy a house, and by that time my credit should be pretty much zero'd out. At that point, NO credit will get me further than the BAD credit I could (would) have with credit cards. We have a few things we need to pay off still, some are bad credit points, and we'll be on track to having it all cleaned up.

I have heard that the CC rates are going so high because of all the people defaulting, they've having to spread some of the burden over to those that DO pay their bills. Socialism anyone?

[SAMBUSA]

It wasn't Chase that bent me over this week.

Wait.......................wrong thread nm:lol:

[OsuMj]

Credit sucks. I don't want any credit cards. I've proven to myself that it's too tough to be responsible with them, and that the CC companies are (obviously) only in it for the HUGE profits they make at the cardholder's expense.

FICO? Who is FICO? Is that your dog's name? Seriously though, NO credit is better than BAD credit. I'm trying to live to where I don't NEED credit, and I'm doing pretty well with that. I know somewhere down the road, I'm going to want to buy a house, and by that time my credit should be pretty much zero'd out. At that point, NO credit will get me further than the BAD credit I could (would) have with credit cards. We have a few things we need to pay off still, some are bad credit points, and we'll be on track to having it all cleaned up.

I have heard that the CC rates are going so high because of all the people defaulting, they've having to spread some of the burden over to those that DO pay their bills. Socialism anyone?

I'm gonna have to disagree... about 2 years ago I went to value city to try to buy a couch. I thought, what the hell, its $300 I'll get a credit card, try to start establishing some credit, bc up to that point, I only bought things that I could afford with cash. I try to get a card and I'm declined because I have no credit. Never mind that i had ZERO debt to my name, they wouldn't give me a 300 dollar credit line bc I didn't have credit. Gotta start building it up at some point...

[Likwid]

I'm gonna have to disagree... about 2 years ago I went to value city to try to buy a couch. I thought, what the hell, its $300 I'll get a credit card, try to start establishing some credit, bc up to that point, I only bought things that I could afford with cash. I try to get a card and I'm declined because I have no credit. Never mind that i had ZERO debt to my name, they wouldn't give me a 300 dollar credit line bc I didn't have credit. Gotta start building it up at some point...

Yup yup

No credit = no equity on paper.

Your credit score/ credit worthiness is Debt/Assets , for obvious reasons, you want an Debt to Asset ratio to be as small as possible, but 0 is no good, and neither is having a very small (or very big) debt availability.

So 2 examples.

Person A: 0 credit cards, no house

Person A has 0 assets according to the bank, and 0 debt... 0/0 is undefined, but for sake of argument we'll say it's a 0 D-A ratio.

Pays on time every month, lives very comfortable and pays cash for everything

Person B: 5 credit cards ($50,000 debt of $100,000 credit limit), house ($240,000 mortgage, home value is $250,000).

Pays on time every month, but lives paycheck to paycheck

Person A is high risk, noone knows there payment history.

Person B is low risk, they have an established payment history, and are only using 50% of their total credit availability.

Just examples, but you get the point

[tomato_racing]

Great example.

Now can anyone enlighten me as to why Chase felt the need to approve me for almost $16,000 over two credit cards but wouldn't give me a loan for a motorcycle at $5000?

Somewhere in all this there is a difference between revolving credit and fixed credit(I think that's what they called it) but I don't know how to build this fixed stuff if all they give me is revolving credit or CCs?!

I pay on time every month and make enough money that my debt to income is low. Keep in mind that co-signers aren't an option in my case.

[Likwid]

Great example.

Now can anyone enlighten me as to why Chase felt the need to approve me for almost $16,000 over two credit cards but wouldn't give me a loan for a motorcycle at $5000?

Somewhere in all this there is a difference between revolving credit and fixed credit(I think that's what they called it) but I don't know how to build this fixed stuff if all they give me is revolving credit or CCs?!

I pay on time every month and make enough money that my debt to income is low. Keep in mind that co-signers aren't an option in my case.

Revolving credit is your credit cards

Installment credit is a fixed payment every month (student loans, mortgage, auto loans)

Not sure on why Chase would give you a 16k limit and then decline a loan, other than if you have a payment history that puts you at a higher risk.

If I may suggest, check out your free credit report, you can do 1 at a time, and just make sure ANY case they ask you if you want to join any monitoring program say no.

This link is the FEDERALLY required FREE credit check, NO credit card number, no fee, no "you must cancel"... go here, fill out the info and decline any offers and boom, you're done.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Take a look at what's on your report, feel free to PM me if you need a hand deciphering any information, I'm not a financial planner or otherwise certified to help, I just have looked at my credit report a lot and have dealt with it a ton.

[OsuMj]

I think the banks just aren't giving out loans. I couldn't get load from national city for $4000 for my bike even with a cosigner who had paid off a $70 or $80k load to them and has amazing credit .... I'd like to hear a good explanation for it to, its pretty dumb.

[Likwid]

Right now I'm betting it's the way installment credit shows up on THEIR books. With installment credit it's GUARANTEED debt, revolving credit is under utilized.

They know on a $16,000 credit card you likely won't use all that

On a $5,000 loan they IMMEDIATELY lose $5,000 a then make it up later

If I was a bank, I'd prefer to tell you "Hey, go ahead and buy some stuff, you can spend up to $5,000 but I'll charge you 20%... but if you don't spend anything you don't owe me anything" than to say "Here's $5,000, spend it however you want and start paying me back immediately at 7%"...

In the first scenario I don't need to have ANY money right now, in the second one I need to have $5,000 right now.... with the way banks are, they don't have any money to spare right now.

Edited November 29, 2009 by Likwid

[MattKatz]

All these Rates are going up because of new laws taking effect limiting the Credit Card companies from raising them ridiculously after the first of the year.

SO even if your not High risk....You are at odds of having your rates raised for no good reason.

It sucks....But its how it is and will help people in the long run.

Most people don't know how to limit their CC use and have no self control and quickly get themselves into financial troubles that most never recover from....and this is exactly what the CC companies are banking on.

[OsuMj]

+1

Your rate is going up due to excessive balance and/or high risk profile. How's your "debt to income" ratio? That'll play a big part' date=' as well. Ever miss a due date? Ever overdraft the credit card? All of this comes into play.

[/quote']

I'm gonna disagree. I'm in the same situation. My rate hiked waaay up, and I've never missed a payment, never overdrafted, nothing. In fact, I make payments that are 4 or 5 times the required amount each month. And my balance is by no means excessive. .... any other theories?

[Likwid]

I'm gonna disagree. I'm in the same situation. My rate hiked waaay up, and I've never missed a payment, never overdrafted, nothing. In fact, I make payments that are 4 or 5 times the required amount each month. And my balance is by no means excessive. .... any other theories?

I do the same... EVERYONES' rates are going up, end of story. No reasons, no "justification", no shit. Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong.

[MattKatz]

I'm gonna disagree. I'm in the same situation. My rate hiked waaay up, and I've never missed a payment, never overdrafted, nothing. In fact, I make payments that are 4 or 5 times the required amount each month. And my balance is by no means excessive. .... any other theories?

THere is no theory....I layed it out already.

Credit Card Company laws have changed and they are getting what they can before they cannot do it any longer.

All these Rates are going up because of new laws taking effect limiting the Credit Card companies from raising them ridiculously after the first of the year.

SO even if your not High risk....You are at odds of having your rates raised for no good reason.