How Often can I get a New Line of Credit?

There are generally no restrictions when it comes to how often you can secure a new line of credit. If your credit is good and you don't have much current debt, your chances of securing new credit are excellent. If, on the other hand, your credit is fair to poor, you may have a more difficult time securing new credit. Likewise, you may have to wait a bit for a new line of credit if your debt is high when compared with your current income.

When you want to apply for a new line of credit and you already have one, you may wonder whether it is too soon to put in an application. Financial institutions are unlikely to tell you that you cannot apply, so you can request a new line of credit as often as you want. If you already owe a good deal of money for current credit lines and other debts, however, you may have a harder time getting your application approved. In such a case, you may improve your chances of being approved by paying off some of your credit debt before applying for more. Financial experts may advise you against closing accounts or paying them off entirely, however, as this may lead to a drop in your credit score.

Sometimes having your credit report checked multiple times within a short period may also hurt your chances of securing a new line of credit. Often, this occurs when a person applies for credit from several different companies in an effort to secure the best deal. If you have good credit and your credit score drops a little because of multiple requests, you probably won’t experience much difficulty getting a new line of credit. If your score is close to the border line of fair or poor credit, however, a credit score decrease because of multiple inquiries could interfere with your ability to secure a new line of credit or at least cause you to pay higher interest rates.

Each creditor is likely to have unique criteria for approving line of credit applications. To learn what to expect when you apply, you may contact the financial institutions that interest you. By talking to a loan representative, you may even gain some insight into the amount of time you should wait before applying for a new line of credit and what your chances are with that particular company.