I am looking to consolidate credit card debt and was wondering if anybody had any experience in recommending a reputable loan company and application strategy for this.
Purchased a house last year and ran into a bunch of unexpected issues that cost a lot and wound up putting a lot on the credit card. My credit score before purchasing was up to 760, and right now is hovers in the 675-699 range. My problem is a high credit card utilization percentage (was up to 90% with $40K+ in credit). I have never had a late payment
I make sufficient money to pay off my credit card bills over the next few years, and have been paying down my balances steadily, but there is still about $30K left (down from over $40K in the past year).
My problem is the interest is high (20%+) and a lot of my money gets eaten up in finance charges. Despite this, I am still paying them down steadily, but would like a debt consolidation loan. I have assets of a fully-paid of car (cost $40K new in 2006), $7000 principle paid off mortgage in the past year (over $20K of the house paid off), a steady job etc.
Though I don't think I am a high risk, I clearly do have a lot of credit card debt, and don't want to apply for a loans to consolidate everything and get turned down, and further lower my credit score with increased hard credit checks. So, I am looking for a company that lends reasonably to people in the 675-699 FICO. But I also was wondering how much to go for. Would I be better getting a $10K loan, which I would have a greater chance of getting, but wouldn't consolidate all of my debt, or try to get something like a $30K to consolidate everything, and risk getting nothing but a lower credit score?
Any advice?
And yes, I know credit card debt should never get so high, but given some unusual circumstances at the time, I had no choice.