You applied, got rejected — what now??
CAN ADDING TRADELINES OF CREDIT REALLY HELP ME AS MUCH AS I NEED?
You’ve decided to apply, and the possibilities dance tantalizingly in front of you, for that credit card you’ve been eyeing, that sexy piece of plastic that opens doors to new possibilities—that you won’t max out and will remember to pay off monthly…
Or that car you’ve been dreaming of putting yourself in and cruising around town…
Or jangling those keys to your new home, finally building equity instead of paying someone else’s mortgage…then you or an agent hit the submit button, and there it is:
REJECTION
Few things can give us the visceral, complex emotion that feels like putting your tongue on a battery and someone insulting your mother at the same time. But getting rejected when you apply for new credit is definitely one of them.
There are any number of reasons you were rejected, and your immediate reaction might be, “Well the hell with you, I’ll try somewhere else and they will approve me.”
No.
Before you do anything, the following rule should be considered:
A rejection is a red light.
You need to know why you were rejected.
There are too many reasons, and too many lenders with different criteria to get into specific details of why you could have been possibly rejected, but good news, you will be able to find out exactly why, as the lender will tell you, sometimes in person if you are dealing with an agent, sometimes through the mail if it is an online application.
Let’s ask this question: How was it that you approached that application? Did you approach just to see if you could, or were you confident you would? And if you were confident you would, does that mean you don’t know what you’re doing?
Probably, but that’s okay. This stuff is complicated and as fun as watching grass grow. It’s also necessary, so the more you know, the better you’ll be.
Here are 3 tips to help you if you find yourself in this situation:
Tip #1 – You should always have some awareness of where your credit sits. Either by checking into it on a more frequent basis than the one time after you get rejected, or setting up alerts to notify you if negative information (or any information) appears on your report. This can be accomplished through any number of online credit monitoring services. Credit Karma is a good we like here. It’s free, gives access to two reports, and updates on a weekly basis. It does use the Vantage Score model, not FICO, so take the scores with a grain of salt. You get what you pay for, and since you pay nothing, the value is good and you can see the relevant data.
There are many, many other sites to choose from if you wish to put down some coin to get higher quality services.
Tip #2 – Just wait for a moment. The lender you applied to will send you a letter telling you why you got rejected. This does take a few days, but calling in does you no good. Any representative will refer to the pending posted letter. If the application was taken in person the agent or seller should be able to get you a copy of your report and give you some advice on how to proceed, remove negative marks, buy tradelilnes, etc.
Tip #3 – Diagnose the reason(s) you were rejected. There is always some action you can take to get your reports in better shape. Some things only time can heal—recent missed payments, currently late accounts—but most everything else can be worked on immediately, and possibly remedied within a month’s time.
And that’s it. As always, we are open to discuss how we can out with any credit questions or needs you may have.
