Capital One’s Lack of Credit Limit Reporting
I have mentioned in a previous post how some creditors do not report your good payment history or parts of your credit profile, like your credit limit, and how this can negatively affect your credit score.
Well, it was that time of year again and my husband and I were checking our credit reports for inaccuracies when I noticed our Capital One credit card had no credit limit listed on our Equifax or Experian credit reports. In the section of the credit report that listed tips to improve your score, both agencies listed that the balances on our revolving/charge accounts were too high. Considering that I have a car on a credit card that is only in my name, that is an reasonable, albeit debatable, comment for me (25% of my available credit on a single credit card is in use).
For my husband, however, it is not. The only credit card with a balance on his credit report was Capital One. He uses it for daily purchases and then we pay it off monthly so we do not pay interest. The balance reported on the credit report was 5% of our actual credit limit, which is considered a very low utilization of our available credit on that card. Any number reported as a balance that is greater than $0, though, according to a purely mathematical formula, would make us look like we are over our available limit.
This isn’t a huge problem for us because all of our scores are good. (My husband got lucky marrying a credit guru. I suggest everyone do the same!) This is a huge problem for anyone with questionable credit or trying to rebuild their credit, seeing as how I’ve heard your credit utilization (percentage of used credit vs. credit limit) can account for up to 30% of your credit score.
When you get a copy of your credit report, you have about 30 days to review it for inaccuracies and dispute them. Since my credit limit is not $0, I have disputed this to see if Experian and Equifax will update it. Note that Transunion only listed a high balance and did not list a credit limit so that report was fine.
Disputing the $0 credit limits may only temporarily resolve the problem, though. I have successfully disputed minor details like this many times before only to find that the next time I check my credit report, they are reverted back (the agencies do not scrutinize data nearly enough). If our disputes are unsuccessful or I find our credit limits missing again when I check our reports in 6 months, we will simply start using another credit card and inform Capital One of the reason for this sudden switch.
For anyone without the option of using another credit card, there are a few alternatives for you. One is to call up the creditor and demand they send a credit limit to the credit reporting agencies. They most likely will not oblige. If disputing the credit reporting agencies on the credit limit is unsuccessful, you can also pay most of your credit card off before your statements are prepared. The balance that is on your statement is usually the one that is reported to the credit reporting agencies. If you have no other loans or credit cards in use on your credit report, I would probably pay most but not all of it off prior to the statement closing. If you have a fuller credit background, I would pay it all off prior to statement closing.
I believe that eventually, the credit reporting agencies will make adjustments to account for annoyingly deceptive creditors like Capital One. Until then, we all just have to do our best to make sure our good efforts and histories are reported fully and accurately to the credit reporting agencies and let companies like Capital One know that we’re onto them. This is unacceptable.
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September 12th, 2006 at 5:19 am
The problem is also the credit reporting agencies make it difficult to dispute as well. You go to file an online dispute with Experian, and there’s no ‘other’ option. You have to pick from their set list of potential things wrong of which the wrong credit limit is not part.
September 12th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
I noticed that, too. No ‘other’ doesn’t leave a lot of options.
Hubby and I consolidated student loans and paid them off a few months ago. On my credit report, it said the loan was a joint loan with some person who I have never heard of. Good example of where ‘other’ comes in handy because it really is my account, the account information is completely valid except for the person whose name is listed as a joint borrower.
Were you able to successfully get credit limits added to your reports?
October 19th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
[...] of who made what purchase when they’re separated cleanly on separate cards. Still, though, Capital One continues the practice of reporting the person’s highest used credit amount instea…. The implication of this is that if you consistently charge $1000 a month, even if you pay it off [...]