Secumd scammed me into making new accounts which hurt my credit score

[Subexistence]

I only have 1 credit card from secumd yet it managed to establish 3 accounts all of which drop my score. Last month my score was 709 and now it dropped to 642 because of these new 'accounts'. I once declared my credit card compromised and asked for a new one but secumd stupidly made the replacement card a whole new account rather than being combined into the original account. Also when I went to my bank to get a new credit card, the bank teller aggressively advertised for me to get a student line of credit most likely because I just turned 18. My 500 dollar line of credit has not increased the credit limit by 500 so it didn't help my credit score but it added a new account which dropped it. I agreed to the line of credit because I thought it would increase my limit by 500. The bank teller did not mention it would simply add a new account without benefitting my credit score nor did the contract I signed say this. In other words there is no way the line of credit helps my score at all but can only hurt. If I were to ever use it, not only would I be paying interest, but possibly increasing utilization rate. If the line of credit didn't add an additional account or it added 500 additional credit, I'd be fine but I feel completely scammed. I'm looking for legal advice and laws that I could use for disputing my credit score. Oh yeah I for got to say adding new accounts hurt my score because I use vantage score.

[azguy13]

Hello and welcome to the forum. 

I feel like you may have some misconceptions about how credit reports and different scoring models work. Since you just turned 18 I would assume you have a very thin credit report. Therefore, any new lines of credit will drop your AAoA (average age of accounts) which is calculated into the various FICO scoring models. This can result in temporarily lowering your credit score but it will be quick to recover. 

Second, I would assume you took a HP (hard pull) for this line of credit which in turn will lower your score slightly but will rebound within the next couple of months. 

Unfortunately the bank teller is not responsible for educating customers on credit. In fact, I have found that a lot of tellers I have spoken to know very little about how credit works. 

Your line of credit will absolutely help your score, especially if you can grow it over time. Credit scores do not regularly jump hundreds of points with the addition of a new account, although it can if a major baddie is deleted. I would highly suggest that you read through the multiple threads of FICO scoring and really learn how it works. As nerdy as it sounds, it can be addicting and fun. 

As for the multiple accounts on your report from requesting a new card, I am sure you can easily dispute that with the CRAs under "duplicate account." 

Edit: I forgot to say Happy Thanksgiving! So... Happy Thanksgiving! 

[Subexistence]

Hello,

First off thank you for your response. I am aware that it might need to add a new account, but I'm not aware how could it not increase my total credit limit. I had 3000 credit before the line of credit, after getting it I still have 3000 when it should be 3500. Even if I became responsible and raised my line of credit from 500 to 1000, my credit limit would remain at 3000 rather than be raised to 4000. Btw I'm talking about Vantage scores, not FICO and with Vantage scores there is a section called New Accounts in the past 2 years whereas fico uses average age of accounts. This means the effects are 2 years rather than couple months. Also don't you think it's fraudulent for secumd to have not raised my credit limit for having the line of credit especially if they didn't say on their contract that it would not raise credit limit. 

I think secumd played fair with inquiries because secumd only used 1 inquiry to make those accounts.

As for reading about fico scores, I don't have a fico score yet because my history isn't the minimum 6 months to have a fico score.

Thank you for clarifying that bank tellers are not responsible as I thought they would have been otherwise I would have had an awkward conversation and also thank for you for telling me how to deal with the duplicate accounts.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

[austinguy907]

LOC through the bank is usually more of an overdraft type of coverage than a CC / Loan which would be reported.  The OD coverage isn't reportable since it's not really credit but covering your checks/debits if you happen to go beyond your balance.

It would help to list your accounts / limts / date opened to evaluate how to help further with your expansion of limits.  Don't worry about Vantage since lenders don't use it for giving out credit.  Most lenders take into account FICO but then run the info pulled from your report through their internal scoring system which is nothing like either scoring model.  Just that they take into account in a similar fashion where higher scores mean better chances of approval based on the info from your report.

[fullstackdev]

Hi Subexistence,

Sorry about your issues. I have a credit card and LOC from SECUMD. I'm having a similar problem where they pulled my credit twice in two days for two applications when their policy is that one credit report is valid for all credit applications for 30 days. I called up their customer service and someone submitted a request to have the second credit inquiry removed. This was Tuesday and it hasn't been removed yet, but I'm sure it's in the works.

My point is you should try giving them a call or visit and explaining your situation regarding the new account on your credit report as a result of them issuing a replacement card. Perhaps there is something they can do to combine the accounts. I'm not familiar with the SLOC, so I don't really have any suggestions there.

If talking with their representatives fails, I would suggest you write a nice letter to the Board explaining your situation. In my experience, this will almost guarantee an earnest attempt to resolve your problem.

Good luck!

[dragontears]

Austinguy you are wrong, LOC are frequently reported. Some banks they are reported as revolving credit and factor into your utilization other banks report them as a loan (my bank reports my checking LOC as "loan, other).
That being said, OP having 2 trade lines (cc and LOC) is not a bad thing with as thin as your file is.

[Subexistence]

Hello,

First off thank you for your response. If what you say about LOC is true, then I was scammed because I never withdrew from my secumd but rather always use capitalone checking account. It also is stupid of them that it would be added as a new account to my records on Vantage because it just drops my credit score while giving nothing in return.

This is what my score report looks like

• Discover credit card          2500 limit

  Balance $0 Reported Oct 19, 2016  

• SECU line of credit        500 limit

  Balance $0 Reported Oct 14, 2016

• SECU credit card           500 limit

  Balance $0 Reported Oct 14, 2016

• SECU credit card           500 limit

  Closed Account Balance $0 Reported Oct 14, 2016

What action do you recommend I take?

How will these extra accounts affect fico score?

[Subexistence]

Hello,

Thank you for your kind response. I'm sorry to hear about your issue and I hope it gets resolved. Please do keep me informed on what ends up happening so I can know what to expect.

I might arrange to meet with the bankteller to discuss how this secured line of credit works and see if I can get my accounts combined. If secumd won't resolve the issue, I will definietly follow your advice with the credit reporting agencies.

[Subexistence]

Hello,

Thank you for your response. Do you think my line of credit is considered revoloving credit or loan?

Could you clarify how this would help my score? If it does help, would it only affect my fico or does it also affect my Vantage. My vantage score definitely dropped from the new account being added.

[austinguy907]

Discover will grow with time and patience.  $2500 might not seem like much right now but, it could multiply several times that in a litle over a year.  When's the last time you tried for a CLI on this?

• Discover credit card          2500 limit

  Balance $0 Reported Oct 19, 2016

I'm thinking this might be more of a PLOC rather than the over draft I was thinking it might be earlier.  If you don't use it it may increase your scores due to 0% utilization.

• SECU line of credit        500 limit

  Balance $0 Reported Oct 14, 2016

These 2 accounts should show the same open date on your CR since it was a replacement card issued on the same account...... Sometimes CK shows it as a new account but the replacement card shouldn't effect the score since it's not really a new CC.

• SECU credit card           500 limit

  Balance $0 Reported Oct 14, 2016

• SECU credit card           500 limit
• Closed Account Balance $0 Reported Oct 14, 2016

So, I'm going to assume these are your only 3 TL's at this point?  I'm guessing your scores are going to be somewhere around 680-700 w/ the Discover limit.  

Do you have your scores from FICO at all?  If not then some pseudo sites like creditl.com / creditsesame.com / lendingtree.com / quizzle.com / creditscorecard.com would be helpful in pointing you in the right direction from here forward. I have some ideas but before throwing them out there some more data would be helpful.