Where to apply?

[Anonymous]

Greeting all! I have benefitted vastly from your contributions thus far. So far I have rebuilt from 515 down to 483 and back up to the low-mid 600s.

I have three cards:

Household Bank (HSBC) 300.00

HSBC                            320.00

Aspen                            940.00

My Scores

Experian FAKO 555

Equifax FICO 636

TU FICO 603 down today to 595 from hard pull by approved application to join First Class CU Lehigh valley PA (most research said they'd pull EQ)

TU State Tax lien from NJ (In the works as this was filed by state b/c our accountant never filed)

EX $3965 Judgement from a $700 CL Providian card around 2003 and a USAA V or MC that was my ex ex girlfriends account for which I never had a card, but apparently signed on as a co-maker. I am hoping they will allow me to reage and reopen this line as they never notified me of the delinquency and it only appeared on m y report after the ex ex filed BK.

EQ Clean report. 

Finally, all 3 cards have a 30 day late in Dec 2007.

I paid down all lines to under 28% 2 days ago  so all scores should get a little boost as they were all around 85%.

I called the HSBC back doors today and they wouldnt allow me to combine the two HSBC cards nor would they allow a CLI.

My question...Where can I get a decent (2K or so for starters)prime line with my current situation like it is?

My income is 65K.

Any strong suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for taking the time to review and I anxiously anticipate your suggestions...

[Anonymous]

Hi mfranklin!

In the current credit climate it's probably going to be a challenge to make the leap into prime cards. Are your tax lien and judgment paid, and if so, has it been paid for a couple of years? Public Records are dreadful... Recent and unpaid ones can be downright unforgiving for CC lenders.

I think that your best bet for getting the credit line that you want with a prime lender is to go the secured route. Establish a good payment history with a secured card, work on your baddies, let those 30 day lates age more, and then wait for it to unsecure. IF your PRs are unpaid, you may want to work on them before going after even a secured credit line for a prime lender.

Good luck!

Message Edited by LilMirth on 07-14-2009 07:50 AM

[Anonymous]

Thank you! Regarding the Tax lien, I am in negotiations with the state and they are being very decent because the number they listed is arbitrary. That appears on my TU only. The other (judgement) is on Ex only and I havent touched that one yet.

I thank you very much. I thought I was a little farther along than you seem to think I am. I will keep rowing upstream anyway! Lol...

[Anonymous]

What's holding down your EQ score?

If you can get that score up, you might get exactly what you're looking for through a credit union. Do you have any EQ baddies at all?  Can you PIF two of your three cards, and let one report a very small balance, between 1-9%? If you can do that, wait for the reporting to complete, you just might see a big EQ gain. Then, I'd suggest applying for a CC with a credit union that pulls EQ only.

[Anonymous]

I can absolutely do that. In fact I opened the account with the First Class Credit Union in Lehigh Vally PA. DEspite my research stating they used EQ exclusively, they pulled my TU to qualify my joining the CU. I wonder if upon application for a CC they'd use EQ rather than TU. One other question is would you apply for a card so soon after joining a CU? I'm just looking for a reference point for what's typical/normal/expected.

Kindly,

Thank you again!