WHAT THE....?!?!?!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
WHAT THE....?!?!?!
6
Fri, 02-18-2005 - 10:19am
My chase card bill came yesterday and the interest rate has gone up from about 18% to a whopping 29% interest rate since last month! It's my husbands card so he called to find out what the heck is going on and they told him that we are now considered a "credit risk". I don't see how we could all the sudden be a credit risk from last month--there is nothing different! (except that I transfered a balance on one cc to a lower interest cc and cancelled the first card) could that be why? I was going to pay off one cc completely with our tax returns, instead I sent this card all that I could! (it will still have over 5000 on it, but hopefully they will be willing to work with us more after a 4000 payment!) Last night we were up late just freaking out! This is the first time that this has happened and I'm afraid it might happen with another card. It made our payment jump about fifty dollars a month, we can't afford that on another card, too! Can I just say that I hate cc's! When we finally get out of debt I absolutely refuse to have more than one--and that one needs to have a limit low enough to be able to pay off in full every month.(just for work and things that you need to have a cc for.)
Annie

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2004
Fri, 02-18-2005 - 10:25am

I hate chase!!! They did the same thing to us only ours jumped from about 3.99% to 27%.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2003
Fri, 02-18-2005 - 10:57am

Just a question...What is the reasoning behind keeping the card with the longest history? When I look at my credit report, ALL of my credit card accounts show up, whether they are closed or open. On the ones that are closed, there is a notation that the account was "closed at the consumer's request". The whole history is there to see and any creditor would be able to see that I have always paid my bills on time and kept a clean record. I know that I have heard you should keep your longest active account open as it is favorable for credit ratings, but really, how much can it help? When my credit history is pulled, it goes back to when I and my husband started using credit. A personal loan from a small town bank still shows up on my DH's credit report from almost 12 years ago. It shows that it was paid and in good standing. If you were to close your long-term account, I think that it would be reflected just as favorably.

I guess my point is to not let the credit card companies think that they have you cornered. If you don't like a company due to unfair practices, there is always another credit card company that would love your business and treat you better. For all we know, that little blurb about keeping your oldest credit card open was a falsehood started by the CC companies themselves.

Windy

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2004
Fri, 02-18-2005 - 11:27am

My dad and DH's mom, whose credit scores are near 800, have always said pay off the cards but don't close them.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Fri, 02-18-2005 - 12:03pm

Maybe after you make the big payment to them, you can call and see if they will lower your rate? It's worth a try. I'd make this card your new target card where you send all your extra funds.

I agree with you about not using CCs anymore. I know there are times when it's just plain neccessary (like for travel, etc), but once ours are paid off, I'm going to avoid my cc and pretend it doesn't exist. LOL! I know my parents were able to live all their lives without credit, and the only reason they now have a credit card was that they went to buy a car from a Ford Dealership two years ago, and when the dealership pulled their credit report, they didn't have much info on it. Their home is paid for, all previous cars are long-since paid off, and they have no other loans or debts. So the salesman actually looked my Dad in the face and said, "Well, I don't know if I can sell you this car. I don't know if you're good for the money". My Dad just about blew his top. So now they have the one credit card, and my Mom just puts her AOL monthly charge on it and pays it off each month so that they will at least have a credit report. LOL! :-D

Pat

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-15-2003
Sat, 02-19-2005 - 11:21pm

My mom and dad have the same trouble they went to get a satalite because they don't like the service they are getting with cable and couln't qualify because they have always paid cash.

avb

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2004
Sun, 02-20-2005 - 9:50am

It's funny, because just yesterday morning I woke up early and started to pay the bills (I woke up early, of course, because I woke up freaking out about my escalating debt...) And I noticed that my Bank One amazon.com card jumped to 29.94% APR!!!!!! I thought I was the only one this was happening to! So here I am, frantically calling Customer Service at 7:30 AM, and she brings up this whole thing about my credit score having gone down and whatnot. I obtained a copy of my credit report, and while it did go down from what it once was, it still clearly shows on there that I've never been late with a payment and always pay on time. It's just so frustrating that now that I finally have a plan to get out of debt, I'm backed into a corner. How are you supposed to get out of this when you're charged 30% interest on your balance?? I ended up transferring $1500 of my balance (a total of 3,000) to a card with 0% interest for the first year on balance transfers. And when my tax return comes in, I guess I'll pay off the rest with that, although I really wanted to devote that money to another card with a high balance.

Glad I'm not the only one who experienced this horrible shock!!