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Is it a good idea to lie on my credit card application?

On Behalf of | May 25, 2016 | Credit Card Debt

Being in a situation where money is tight is never fun. When you have limited means of securing money quickly, it may be tempting to lie about how much money you make in order to get approved for a credit card with a very high limit. However, this is not a good idea as it will likely only lead to more trouble down the road.

Credit card companies ask you for your information when you apply so that they can develop an estimate of how much debt you can afford to take on. Based on how many people have credit cards, it would be close to impossible for banks to fully investigate every application when their time is better spent devoted to higher end loan products like mortgages, according to Yahoo Finance. This makes sense considering the average amount of mortgage debt held by most American households is $130,000 compared to only $15,000 of credit card debt.

If you get approved for a credit card with a high limit based on a false income that you provided and you run up your balance, chances are you will have a difficult time making the payments. So while you may be able to fly under the radar at the time you make your application, falling delinquent on your payments is likely to draw some attention.

This is particularly true if you have so much debt that you are considering bankruptcy. The point of bankruptcy is to have your debts discharged but if it is discovered that you lied on your credit application, that debt will remain with you. Finally, you should be aware that giving false information on any type of loan application is a crime. Should you get caught, you may be looking at serious punishment including fines and even jail time.

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