Wanting a New Credit Card with Shaky credit.. Child support arrears etc

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

I am 24 years old and have been lurking these boards for some time now.

I am seeking some advice on getting a new credit card.

Firstly, my Fico score is a 630.

I have ONE credit card (chase freedom) Have had this card for 6 years, with a $3300 Credit limit.

Never EVER been late on any payments over the past 6 years of ownership.

I do have one skeleton in my closet.

I have child support arrears. It appears on my credit report as a "Personal loan" which is odd to me..

It shows im 180 days late.. BUT My wages have been garnished for the past 2 years. So I have been making my payments 

every pay check like clockwork. However it still shows Im paying late.

I owe about $2700 in arrears plus the interest of $400. making my total arrears at about $3100.

Im assuming that this is the reason my score is so low.

If I were to apply for the "Discover more" credit card, what are the chances that i will be approved for it?

I have a part time job at a bank, and make roughly 12,000 a yr/ while i go to school part time as well.

Should I even attempt to apply for this card and take the "hard inquiry"?

My main reason for getting the card would be to give my credit report some padding.

hopefully increase my score in the future since im managing multiple accounts of revolving credit..

Any info would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[bahbahd]

The child support (CS) tradeline is something that could be brought up in a reconsideration conversation as long as you explain that it is arrears which you are making payments on. I don't think one hard inquiry would hurt anything, however, looking to raise your score by only adding another revolving tradeline is probably a fruitless effort.

I have a similar child support tradeline that I am now current on. I don't want to turn this into a child support topic or start up any emotional discussions here, but I would like to give a bit of advice.  Unless you are in a court ordered repayment schedule and are currently making monthly payments to the arrears, borrow money and pay those arrears off in full ASAP. Get a personal loan from a bank, borrow from your parents/family, have your parents help you get a loan by cosigning.

This will do three things:

1. Bring you current on CS so the lates stop reporting each month.
2. Give you a new installment tradeline which will report your positive payment history.
3. Get the child support enforcement for your state off your back.

You don't want to put off paying the arrears. CS enforcement are not nice. If there is not a judgment against you already, do your best to avoid a worse situation. The last thing you need is to wake up one day soon with a lien on your checking account and a huge negative balance leaving you broke and unable to pay bills. 

[rootpooty]

not with a 12k a year income and with arrears reporting you wont.

how much is your monthly payment reported?

who is reporting it the state?

fico scoring doesnt take a child support tradeline into affect so it wont hurt your score if reported properly however, with lates being reported with negative information and a past due balance will trigger an automatic denial through a system

[distantarray]

in school, child support and low income would really hurt your chances, but i guess if your utility is low on your Chase Freedom it can show responsibility even while living within your means. Although if I were you I would get an Amex before the year closes to lock in your membership start date for future backdating purposes hopefully when you finish school. If you apply for something like Amex green which is a charge card it should reflect better.  Worst they can do is deny you and since you haven't gone on app sprees lately or have big purchases coming up it really shouldn't matter.

Regardless Discover seems to really want business lately, I personally get 3 pre-approvals a week -_-;  I'm almost tempted to get the Discover IT just for 0% foreign transaction fees but meh gotta wait and see I already have enough cards for now.

[Anonymous]

This back child support thing is crazy.. Ihave been paying current on it for 2 years. They garnish my wages. And the order they gave me states that a partial amount will go to arrears and the rest will go to the current months support due. The interest is really bad too. I'm in Texas by the way and the oag office are really screwed up.

So the fact that I've had a credit card for over 6 years and have never been late wouldn't be considered to offset some of this child support mess?

[Jutz]

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@Anonymous wrote:
This back child support thing is crazy.. Ihave been paying current on it for 2 years. They garnish my wages. And the order they gave me states that a partial amount will go to arrears and the rest will go to the current months support due. The interest is really bad too. I'm in Texas by the way and the oag office are really screwed up.

So the fact that I've had a credit card for over 6 years and have never been late wouldn't be considered to offset some of this child support mess?

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As has been mentioned, the combination of low income, debt in arrears, and a low score is going to knock you out of contention.  I agree with the poster saying to pay the arrears by any means.  The Freedom is a great card, and considering, 3.3k is a good CL.  Just keep treating that well, boost your score and take care of the other stuff, and you'll get another great card soon.

[distantarray]

i would just try to get in with DCU imo, digital credit union, they're an amazing bank and even if it has to be secured they'll trust you in time. They also give you free Fico 04 scores which is a great thing =)

[bahbahd]

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@Anonymous wrote:
This back child support thing is crazy.. Ihave been paying current on it for 2 years. They garnish my wages. And the order they gave me states that a partial amount will go to arrears and the rest will go to the current months support due. The interest is really bad too. I'm in Texas by the way and the oag office are really screwed up.

So the fact that I've had a credit card for over 6 years and have never been late wouldn't be considered to offset some of this child support mess?

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I am in Texas also, very harsh CS enforcement office here. They don't care at all about the NCP. You most likely have a court ordered judgment against you already.

I would double check your garnishment to see how much they are taking out for arrears in addition to your current support garnishment. If it is $50 a month for arrears, you are getting no where fast. Texas interest rate is 6%. You are probably barely covering interest evident by the fact that you've been paying for two years and still owe $400 in interest. Do yourself a huge favor and get a loan and pay the arrears off ASAP. It is the best thing you can do. If your parents help cosign on a loan, you could probably get a better rate than the 6% and you will not have monthly lates anymore.

I'm not kidding around here. If you loose/quit your job and don't immediately send in payments to cover the lack of garnishment payments being made, you will be in a world of hurt. If anything about your employment changes, you notify the CS office immediately. They will try to seize everything you have (or don't have) and create a world of hurt for you.

Edit: If you had gotten a loan to pay off the arrears two years ago, you'd have a two year "positive" tradeline already. Paying each month and still having 180+ days late remarks is doing you no good at all. The State of Texas pretty much expects you to make money magically appear and pay these arrears off. I've been told to get a loan and pay off the arrears by court officials and legal advisers I know. Texas will keep punishing you till you do.

[bahbahd]

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@Anonymous wrote:
 the order they gave me states that a partial amount will go to arrears and the rest will go to the current months support due. You are slightly mistaken. Your garnishment  order is for 4 things:

1. Full CS payment
2. Full Medical Support payment (if you do not have a insurance policy covering the children.)
3. Some dollar amount to apply to CS arrears.
4. Some dollar amount to apply to MS arrears. 

These last two are probably extremely low like $20 - $50 when your child support payment is atleast $200.

So the fact that I've had a credit card for over 6 years and have never been late wouldn't be considered to offset some of this child support mess? Not at all. Recent negatives severely outweigh all positives.

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