Latest posts for the topic "Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered? "

Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

EmilyCreditExpert — GMT

If your credit limit has been lowered recently, we want to hear your story. Credit card issuers are slashing credit lines - even for customers who haven't made a late payment or otherwise misused their account.

Having your credit limits lowered can have a major negative impact on your credit scores. Share your story in this forum thread or email us.

In particular, we're looking for people around the [b]San Francisco Bay Area[/b] who have had their credit card limits reduced.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

klgrey14 — GMT

Hi Emily,

I linked up to your forum and wanted to share my recent experience. I have two cards with Capital One one of which I've had for over 15 years and about a week ago received a phone call regarding this particular account. I was told when I called back that Capital One would be lowering my credit limit and I would be receiving a letter to the effect with instructions on what to do. To date, I have not received any letter but found out that the credit limit had already been lowered. When I called Capital One to complain I was told that the account manager I'd spoken to had provided incorrect information-the action was immediate, I would receive no written notice and I had no recourse. After arguing my case for approximately 10 minutes with the account manager I spoke to, I got nowhere and was told that he'd been hearing this from many customers and that this would be noted in my file. I even argued that any time a credit card company changed terms, I received the information in writing but was told that the call served as the notice and I had no recourse. I also was told that this manager was a supervisor and couldn't speak to anyone else regarding this issue. I understand that many credit card companies are lowering limits but doesn't the credit card company have to notify you in writing to do this?

Thanks,

klgrey14

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

jenniferc — GMT

Bank of America did this to me. I had a $20,000 limit on my BofA card and they cut it by more than half - to $8,000. Thankfully, I don't carry large balances and typically pay it off when the statement comes in.

I've also had my interest rates jacked by Cap One. I had a 6.9% rate with Cap One and out of the blue they jacked my rate up to almost 17%!! I have one other credit card account with Discover with a $10,000 limit. Even though I don't carry a balance, I watch my scores like a hawk and I'm just waiting for Discover to follow what BofA and Cap One have done. What's frustrating is that I rarely carry a balance (if I do, I pay it off the following month) AND I've never been late on my credit cards - EVER.

I get the fact that we're in the midst of a severe economic meltdown but what I don't understand is why some of these credit card companies are penalizing their best customers. I mean, i could understand if I had been late or if I was close to maxing out, but give me a break. I've read about the credit card regulations act but if it's not going to happen until next year, the damage will already have been done. Just my two cents -- Jen

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

EmilyCreditExpert — GMT

Thanks for sharing your story, Jennifer. Would you be up for talking to a reporter about your credit limit cuts? If so, send me an email at emily@credit.com.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

hornman1972 — GMT

Emily,

I received notice today from BofA that my credit card limit had been cut in half. It was a big insult because I've been an excellent Visa Card customer for over 30 years: Never late, balances always paid in full, never maxed out.

So, you tell me, if you can, why BofA is going to the trouble of irritating some of their best customers. And, of course, is there a way that I can convince them that they've made a mistake and should restore my credit limit? I'm actually irritated enough to close my bank accounts and credit cards with BofA, but that could hurt me much more than BofA.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

arseroviri — GMT

Good luck with convincing them that they made a mistake. I doubt you'll have much luck with them agreeing to give you your limit back... I've had this happen with two of my cards and the problem is that these credit card companies arent' willing to make exceptions for any of their customers - no matter if you've been a great customer for the last ten years. They don't CARE. Their number one concern is their bottom line and seeing just how much they can bleed us dry. Corporate greed is a big part of the reason why we are where we are right now. I know that these credit card companies have us between a rock and a hard place right now so I'm not going to make any hasty decisions and close my accounts in a fit of anger.... but I sure can tell you that when the market DOES change and things DO get better, my loyalty to any credit card issuer will fly out the window. Why stick with a company that's intent on kicking you while you're down? Or in our case, kicking us when we've done NOTHING to cause them to hike our rates like this.

Thoroughly disgusted.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

AskJohn — GMT

[quote=arseroviri]I know that these credit card companies have us between a rock and a hard place right now so I'm not going to make any hasty decisions and close my accounts in a fit of anger...[/quote]
Arseroviri - I feel your pain on this one but you've got the right attitude. At this point, you have to take the emotion out of the equation and play the game. Does it make it better? No. Does it help keep your credit scores from tanking? Yes. It's a matter of which one is most beneficial to YOU - not the credit card companies - but YOU.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

karen — GMT

I received a letter a week ago from Bank of America that my credit line was being "adjusted" from $22,500 to $11, 500. I called to ask what was going on and had I made the mistake of shopping at the "wrong" merchant? I was told that he had no idea what I was talking about "wrong" merchant. It was noted that I had my card since the 1970s and I was congratulated for paying on time, but because I had never carried a balance higher than $3,500 they determined that I didn't need such a high credit limit. So in the past they increased my credit line for responsibly handling credit, but now it would seem that they have changed their minds and decided to reduce my credit line for being responsible. I was also told that this was not intended to be a negative reflection on me---I could not believe my ears, because that was exactly the way it was coming across! I pulled my credit report from all three agencies and found nothing negative. Now today I received notice from them that certain transaction fees are increasing. My first thought was to pay off the $800 balance (I just had dental work), stop my two automatic monthy payments to the gym and Internet provider and stick the card in the drawer; then my second thought was to pay it off and keep the two automatic payments which total $65.00 a month and just pay it off every month and keep it in use as something of a "nusiance account". Clearly they are not likely to care because when I mentioned I would stop using their card and switch to only using my American Express which has a rebate program, I was told "well, you are certainly entitled to do that" . Obviously we consumers have no recourse in the matter, but I would like to know the best way to react because in either scenario above when the card expires in 2011, they can decline to re-issue for lack of use or because I am not using it enough. I also would love to understand just who it is that they want as a credit card customer these days, if anyone?

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

dtempleton — GMT

[quote]then my second thought was to pay it off and keep the two automatic payments which total $65.00 a month and just pay it off every month and keep it in use as something of a "nusiance account". [/quote]
This would be your best option as far as your credit and credit scores go. It's a shame what the industry is doing to some of their best customers. I know it doesn't help the matter but you're not alone.... it's happening to all of us. [b]President Obama met with the major credit card industry execs last week[/b] and put his support behind the new credit card legislation to pressure them into making changes. Legislation was passed a few weeks ago but it wasn't expected to go into effect until July 2010. With the new pressure from the Obama administration changes are expected to happen much sooner...

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

wally9354 — GMT

Seems to me that it's a little too little a little too late... These credit card companies are just going to push to get all of their rate hikes and limit cuts in before the laws go into effect... They should put some type of moratorium or freeze on them until this takes place. Or maybe even push for retroactive changes so that anyone that had their interest rates go up when they didnt have any late payments or go over their limit - they have to lower them back to what was originally agreed!!!

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

econobiker — GMT

Self fulfilling action?

Credit card companie worried about your credit risk.
Reduces your available credit line.
Your available credit goes down and maybe your utilization ratio goes up.
Your credit report shows you are a higher credit risk than before.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

douglas4844 — GMT

Bank of America just lowered my credit limits for 2 credit cards i have with them from $40,000.00 total to $11,000.00 total. I've never been late, never missed a payment, and have I only have a $300.00 total balance. They're reasoning is I only make around $56,000.00 a year. I don't like B of A anymore.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

alessandromachi — GMT

I know this topic is a big deal but it actually pales in comparison to not having the right to opt out when a bank changes terms, such as what Chase bank is currently doing to almost a million of their best customers who were never late on a payment and now have had their monthly minimum payment increased 150% above and beyond what it already was.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

rontiss1 — GMT

My credit limit with DISCOVER CARD was lowered from 5,000 to 1,000. I was alarmed because I have a balance of 3000.00 on the card and now they are charging me overlimit charges which are quite extreme! Any help out there? Tks.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

rhirhi — GMT

I'll be glad to see the back of 2009. My partner lost his job, I couldn't get a loan modification, and Bank of America SLASHED my credit limit. I finally sold my home, prior to a mortgage payment increase, for what I believed was less than market value. Now that I'm not popping pills for anxiety and depression I can honestly say I don't care if my credit scores are affected WHEN I cancel the
B of A credit card, which used to be MBNA, I've had for about ten - fifteen years.
When I first came to the U.S. twenty years ago I had nothing but I soon realized it was important to establish a credit history. So I did. I have almost excellent credit, no late payment charges, no loan defaults, and I've never declared bankruptcy.
The only satisfaction I've had this year is not giving my mortgage business to Bank of America. It's not really that I believe that one bank is any better than another one but after hundreds of calls to BofA to try and get a loan modification I swore that I would NEVER borrow money from them again.
So, if anyone out there knows of a great company which offers a credit card which doesn't charge an annual fee and would welcome a customer who has excellent credit and doesn't carry a credit card balance then let me know!

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

dtempleton — GMT

Have you tried looking through the credit card offers on Credit.com? Probably the lowest interest rate cards without an annual fee are the Discover card offers. Interest rates are going to vary depending on how good your FICO scores are but there are a number of cards available that offer no annual fees. Credit.com even breaks the offers down into tiers for Excellent Credit (750+), Good Credit (700-749), Fair Credit (650-699), Poor Credit (600-649), Bad Credit (Below 599) and No Credit. Might be worth taking a look and browsing through.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

britty3189 — GMT

I'm incredibly unsatisfied with Capital One. Granted, I'm only 19 (nearly 20) years old, married to a soldier, and so my credit history isn't incredibly long, but I have NEVER been late, missed a payment, or been delinquent in any way. Capital One was my first card and I started off with a credit limit of 500, which they eventually increased to 750. I would use my card, pay it off, and do my best to build a positive credit history.

Just this past year before the new laws were passed Capital One decided they would do double cycle billing, and I argued with a representative for probably an hour, always getting a run around answer. I had just paid off over $400 to my card and I always pay more than I owe, so my balance is usually in the negative. Suddenly I had a $4 charge and the representative kept going around in circles, not wanting to admit they do double cycle billing. That was when I first started to have my problems with Capital One. I had had my card for a little over a year at that point and, as I've stated, I've never been late or missed a payment and I pay off my balances as quickly as possible, nor do I ever get close to my credit limit.

Just today I logged on and noticed they knocked my limit down to $710! It's only $40 but I'm supposed to be going FORWARD here, not backwards! I'm trying to get my foot into the door which is hard in this economy. You need great credit for a lot of things otherwise you're screwed. My credit history is only about a year and a half old but all of my accounts are in good standing and I'm very nearly debt free, aside from my one student loan. What's next? Are they going to cancel my card for me?

I never received anything in the mail about them lowering my credit limit. I'm so tempted to cancel my C1 card, but I know that the length of your credit history is important, and closing this account would negatively impact me. Capital One seems to be punishing me for being a customer that pays off their balances, and therefore they can't make money off of my interest.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

Sounds like it's been a rough year. I think many of us will be happy to usher in a New Year - hopefully a much better one.

Of course you are always welcome to take a look at the cards we feature at Credit.com . You may also want to try your credit union if you belong to one. Keep us posted!

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

abarwig — GMT

I had a zero balance on my Sears card and was keeping it put away just in case we needed to purchase an appliance or something. I received a letter from them stating they were closing my account due to inactivity and to destroy my cards immediately. Also, my husband has a Capitol One cc with 14% on credit purchases and 20something on cash advances. Well, I advanced $20 cash once and was not only charged an additional $10 fee but on the next statement the APR was 54%. I can't believe they can get away with this.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

54%???!!! That's a new record. Any chance your husband can fax us a copy (personal information blacked out)? I'd love to have that on record for our efforts.

Gerri

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

gsholling — GMT

I recall seeing a similar ridiculously high percentage on one or more of my past statements. It was labeled an "effective" APR. The transfer fee was considered a "finance charge". Many times there is a minimum transfer fee, perhaps $10. So a $20 transfer/cash advance with a $10 finance charge would be in the 50% effective APR range. The next monthly statement would probably have a "normal" effective APR because the one time transfer fee would not be part of the statement's finance charges.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

OK...Keep me posted!

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

leejane30 — GMT

Me conectó a su foro y quería compartir mi experiencia reciente. Tengo dos tarjetas con Capital One, uno de los cuales he tenido durante más de 15 años y hace una semana recibió una llamada telefónica en relación con esta cuenta en particular. Me dijeron que cuando me llamaron de que Capital One sería bajar mi límite de crédito y me gustaría recibir una carta en ese sentido con instrucciones sobre qué hacer. Hasta la fecha, no he recibido ninguna carta, pero se descubrió que el límite de crédito ya se habían bajado. Cuando llamé para quejarme Capital One me dijeron que el administrador de cuentas yo había hablado con había suministrado información incorrecta, la acción fue inmediata, yo no reciben una notificación por escrito y no tuve ningún recurso.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

Leejane - I asked someone in our office to translate your email. Thanks for sharing your your story. It is very common for card issuers to drop credit lines or close accounts, then notify the consumer. It can be terribly frustrating and embarrassing.

[i]I related to your forum and I wanted to share my recent experience. I have two Capital One cards, one of which I have had for more than 15 years and a week ago I received a phone call about this particular account. I was informed when they called me that Capital One would lower my credit limit and would I like to get a letter about this with instructions about what to do. As of today, I have not received any letter, but I discovered that the credit limit had already gone down. When I called to complain, Capital One told me that the account representative that I had talked to had given me incorrect information, the action was immediate, I don’t receive a notification in writing and I didn’t have any recourse.[/i]

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

jlazo32 — GMT

Así pues, usted dígame, si usted puede, ¿por qué Bank of America es la molestia de irritar a algunos de sus mejores clientes. Y, por supuesto, hay una manera que puedo convencerlos de que has cometido un error y debe restaurar mi límite de crédito? En realidad, estoy irritado suficiente para cerrar mis cuentas bancarias y tarjetas de crédito con Bank of America, pero que podía hacerme daño mucho más que Bank of America.

Well then, please tell me, if you can, why Bank of America (goes to) the trouble of irritating some of its best clients? And, of course, is there a way that I can convince them that (they) have made a mistake and should restore my credit limit? I'm truly annoyed enough to close my bank account and credit accounts with Bank of America, but (doing) that could hurt me much more than Bank of America.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

aiyura — GMT

I am going to try and make this as short as possible.

We got a letter from Citibank 2 months ago.
"To maintain a profit for us and our share holders we are raising your APR to 29.xx%"
To accept, do nothing.
To reject, pay off balance and close.

So, we had a $14K balance on the card. There was NO way we could pay the new APR.
Citi said "We can close your account and give you 0% for 12 months. This will have NO negative effect on your credit"
Great idea, let's do it.

Fast forward to last week.
All of our other cards sent letters.
Due to Severe Delinquency we are cutting your limit

Credit reports showed 0 late payments
Trans union credit showed an "Adverse Account"
THe Adverse account was Citi Bank.
Balance: $14,267
Date Updated:01/2010
Past Due: $0
Terms: Minimum $142
Pay Status: Paid or Paying as Agreed
Account Type: Revolving Account
Responsibility: Individual Account
Date Opened: 05/2002
Date Closed: 10/2009
Loan Type: Credit Card
Remark: >Paying partial payment agreement<
Estimated date that this item will be removed: 09/2016

So, based on this all of my other cards have cut the limits to just a few $ over the balance.

I have never been late for a single payment on anything in my life.

I don't know what to do.
I am unemployed and relied on the cards.

Citi, Amex, Visa all said sorry, nothing we can do to help you (Even though nothing is delinquent).

Thoughts?

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

If Citibank told you that accepting the 0% rate would not affect your credit rating, then they should have stuck to their word.

Have you contacted them to ask them why they are reporting it as partial payment? (Which, by the way, is a negative remark that does hurt your credit.)

There's no easy solution here. Unfortunately, even if they are willing to remove the remark, the damage is already done. You aren't likely to get those other credit lines back. But I also don't think you should suffer in silence. If they told you one thing, and did another, you need to fight back.

Hopefully you've saved copies of your letters and your credit report showing the damage to your credit. I would recommend you talk with a consumer law attorney who specializes in credit damage cases. Go to naca.net to search for one in your area. If they think you have a good case, or if your case would warrant a class action lawsuit, they may be willing to represent you on a contingent fee basis, where they collect their fee only if you win.

Let me know what they say, and we can continue this conversation if needed.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

jacnbox — GMT

Back in Dec 09, Chase lowered my limit by $2000 which resulted in a credit score drop of over 20 points. I am looking to buy a house and can qualify for 100% financing if I can get my score back to 720. Does anyone know if asking other credit cards to increase those limits will help? I am focusing on paying all my cards off since I do have a high utilization but I also do not use them anymore. Any guidance is appreciated.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

The danger with calling your card companies and asking for a credit line increase is that doing so could trigger a review of your accounts, which in turn could result in them actually lowering your credit limits further (or closing your accounts). Since you already have a high utilization rate, you are at risk of those calls backfiring. You can certainly try, but I have to warn you that it could go either way.

I would suggest you consider getting a FICO product that includes an interactive score simulator that predicts your FICO® score based on certain actions you could take. You can play with it to see if there are other actions you can take to get your score up to where you need it.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

redskn1nc — GMT

I have had credit limits with Discover, Retailers National Bank (Target Visa) and Chase lowered. I've never made any late payments to any of them. At this point, I only want to keep two major credit cards, pay off all retail cards (Nordstrom, Best Buy, etc.), and close the accounts. I thought is that Chase, Discover and Retailers have already "hurt" my credit, as they've lowered my credit limits. I do know that this affects my credit score negatively.

I hear that closing accounts is not good, but I have too many, and, I really don't need all of them. I'm tired of the way these banks act, and further, I get tired of paying them off only to charge them back up.

How much more negative can my report get...? Can closing accounts sometime help your score...?

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

Unfortunately, credit cards are one of the few products where taking your business elsewhere can hurt you! It's fine for you to pay off those accounts and stop using them. But I wouldn't close them unless they are charging you an annual fee you don't want to pay. Otherwise, I'd just leave them alone. Eventually they may close them for inactivity, but I am more concerned about you closing a bunch of them at once. That will likely hurt your credit score.

There is a FICO score product that allows you to simulate changes to your credit score to see what might happen to your score if you close those accounts:

http://www.credit.com/products/credit_reports/retailer/equifax/Equifax-Credit-Watch-Gold/

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

crazyman14 — GMT

It seems as if you're suggesting that I should leave them all open and not use them. This is fine, but I don't believe I have the discipline to stop using them all. It's way too tempting. I believe that I could better use my money (retirement) than to continue to keep charging and paying.

How bad would the "hit" to my FICO score be if I payed them all off and closed the accounts...? I did play with the FICO Simulator, and, it indicated that transferring the balances would increase my score. If I did this, why would I want to keep the older accounts open...?

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

GerriDetweiler — GMT

crazyman - Yes, my suggestion is normally to leave them alone and not use them. But if they are too tempting, then you should close them.

I simply can't predict how much closing them will affect your scores. It depends on everything in your credit reports. I am surprised the score simulator told you that your score would increase, and I wouldn't take that as a definitive answer.

But the bottom line is, if you don't need to get credit in the near future, then do you really care? Go ahead and close them, avoid the the temptation, and just pay cash for what you need. You can still come out ahead that way.

Re:Has your Credit Card Limit Been Lowered?

grady — GMT

Thank you to all for your insights on this matter.

Gene