Question:

Too many credit cards in one day, mortgage?

by Guest33606  |  earlier

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My girlfriend and I went to get a home loan from Bank of America. We both have good credit and decent jobs. We also have a 20% down payment. Only looking for a house anywhere from 140,000 to 175,000 dollars.

We were not preapproved because I only had two lines of credit (even though I have spent thousands of dollars on these cards and paid them off in full on time). They wanted four lines of credit.

The banker lady told us to put my name on 2 of my girlfriends credit cards, and to wait for 30 days. She said this would work. We did this.

To avoid this issue in the future, I opened up 4 new credit cards on the same day (in addition to my girlfriend adding me to two of hers).

How stupid of a move was this? Being a hard check, I know it knocks some points off of my credit score, and makes me look desperate.

I bought 400 dollars worth of clothes at Express (because I am starting a new job). They said if I applied for an Express Store card, I would save 75 dollars. I did. I was rejected, which worries me.

Then during that week, I used each of my four new card for some small purchases and already paid them off.

When I go back to the bank to get preapproved, am I going to be screwed?

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4 ANSWERS


  1. Yep, you pretty much screwed yourself.  Opening all those new credit lines in a short period, takes a big bite out of your score.  It also looks bad that you are suddenly getting all those credit cards.  You should NEVER apply for new credit cards or any other type of new loan right before or during the mortgage approval process.

    You probaby would have been just fine with the existing credit lines you had.  You may have to wait 6 to 9 months before applying for a mortgage now.

    But I will point out what a really bad idea it is to jointly purchase a home with someone you are not legally married to.  Things may be just wonderful right now, but if things go bad, and they often do,  you will be stuck in a nightmare position.  There are courts set up to divide marital property.  No such thing for boyfriend/girlfriend joint purchases.


  2. (Slappin mah fo'head) Goodness gracious man, why did you go overboard like that? Dude, all you needed was to apply for 1 or maybe 2 cards, NOT 4 !!!!

    On top of applying for those 4 cards (each of them dinging your credit score 5-10 points/each) you also have 4 new inquiries @ 2-3 points/each. It's abnormal to apply for that much credit at a time. And you shouldn't have charged anything at all, because now you have really new credit in addition to a higher debt to income ratio!

    Whatever you do don't apply for anymore and don't close the accounts. Pay off the $400 like yesterday and don't charge anything else. Just keep a super low profile. Any bills that come up this/next month make dang skippy you pay them.

    The bank may reject your application on the credit wave you've been riding or they may have mercy on your soul and see that you're normally good with credit.


  3. I don't see why you would get screwed. Just go back to the bank and see what happens. If the story is the way you say, you should get your loan.

  4. First thing you shouldn't of put your name on your GF cards. What if you break up? You might get screwed over. Not very smart...

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