Which Credit Cards to Apply for to Boost Score?

[Creditaddict]

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@cbo941 wrote:

Wow thank you guys for the great input!

Sorry for not providing this earlier but I will try to answer some of your questions:

1. I do not have the Rooms to Go or Best Buy cards but I may go today and apply because I need to do something

2. The Credit Union has not started to report yet as I just recently got the account with $5,000 Secured Credit Card. That will help according to Swapmeet.

3. My current scores:

EX: 639

EQ: 668

TU: 624

The have 4 negatives on my account, 3 of which are from my student loan being late a few years ago and 1 is a collection which I paid off back in August and currently working on removing (if I can).

So how do I get Capital One to increase my limit, just call them and ask? My limit is only $500 right now. Will they ding my score by asking?

I basically just want to figure out if the Rooms to Go and Best Buy cards are a good idea to help my credit along with the 2 secured credit cards I have? I don't mind the ding in my score because I feel that with the 2 revolving credit accounts + my low utilization that my score will move faster than before. Correct?

Thanks for the help!

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NO.

Don't apply for anything until the new Credit Union $5k card starts to report.

If you have no use for Rooms to Go or Best Buy don't apply for them today OR after the credit union card reports... you don't need them to build your credit.

Your credit should see a nice little jump after the credit union card reports most likely, at that point I would look at current scores and put together a new "possible apply to list"

[cbo941]

Thank you. Ok so the $5,000 Secured Credit Card from the Credit Union should give a nice little bump in my score then without the need for the Rooms to Go and/or Best Buy cards? I am weary of getting the Rooms to Go stuff but I wanted to improve my score quickly and I thought some new furniture might be nice at the same time... 

Thank you for help! Anybody else have an opinion on this?

[myjourney]

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@cbo941 wrote:

Ok, so don't ask for a bump in my secured card CL? That's fine. My goal score is 700 so I am very close but I just want to ensure that I will get there quickly and keep going, that's why I was wondering about getting these cards.

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Since your so close to 700's now you should just hold tight...

When new accounts report you'll usually see a scoring drop in most cases.

Showing history with a 5k TL will do wonders for you in 6 months 

Also unless a TL is something your going to use often or reward you for use you don't need it.

Not TL's that cost you HP's that will likely see no use and HP's that you have to live with for 2 years. IMHO

[user5387]

I would do whatever you can to remove negatives, for example by writing goodwill letters.  Given that you have a couple of TLs with low utilization, this area seems to be the sticking point.

Beyond that, if it was me, I wouldn't chase after store cards.  Adding another mainstream TL (like Barclay or Discover or something) seems like a good idea at some point.

You might also try to develop your SDFCU relationship further, for example by unsecuring the CC at some point.

[cbo941]

Great advice guys thank you! 

[cbo941]

I am currently paying Lexington Law Group to help me remove the negatives and they have removed 2 so far so I did have 6 about a month ago. However, the majority are from Sallie Mae (student loan) and they said they will not remove anything ever, no matter what, and that whatever is reported stays on my file. Lame.

[myjourney]

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@cbo941 wrote:

I am currently paying Lexington Law Group to help me remove the negatives and they have removed 2 so far so I did have 6 about a month ago. However, the majority are from Sallie Mae (student loan) and they said they will not remove anything ever, no matter what, and that whatever is reported stays on my file. Lame.

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The info your paying for can be done yourself for free here just an FYI

[twall06]

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@cbo941 wrote:

I am currently paying Lexington Law Group to help me remove the negatives and they have removed 2 so far so I did have 6 about a month ago. However, the majority are from Sallie Mae (student loan) and they said they will not remove anything ever, no matter what, and that whatever is reported stays on my file. Lame.

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+1 you can do it yourself and it might be more productive having something you typed or wrote may sway someone to help you instead of LL sending things out for you . Visit the student loans and rebuilding forums people have lots of good contacts for GWs there.

[cbo941]

Thanks for the help. I did do it myself at first but I don't have much time with my 18 month old daughter and a busy lifestyle so it was just easier to hire them to do it for me. However, I did send out dispute letters to each inquiry on my report to try to get things removed that I didn't think should be there - didn't work. I need to look up the Goodwill letters because I don't quite understand how to word them just yet. Could be worth a try.

Question, so the collection I paid off sent me a letter saying:

"You may use this letter to notify any creditors that the account is paid."

Do I use this to get it removed from my record? I guess I'm not sure what they mean.

Thanks

[twall06]

It just means you can show it has been paid and should show on your reports as paid the collection company would have to remove it from your reports that is where GWs come in. Inquiries are hard to get removed and do not affect your score that much . I would concentrate on finding all the contacts you can to send GWs and mail them out alot will say no but if you get the right person one time they may remove the baddies. I usually do mine after my kids are in bed so I can actually hear myself think.