Where to Begin??

[Anonymous]

Hello, all.  I'm new here and thought I would share and see if I can get some opinions as well.  Firstly, I'm working on improving my credit scores because I hope to buy a house in the next year or two.  I am fighting back from a previous marriage in which my credit was trashed.  I used to have two repos on my credit and several other bad debts. Alot of these things have finally fallen off after seven years and a couple more are scheduled to come off by the end of this year.  

Most recently, I have some medical bills on my credit and one credit card which went to collections last year.  I intend to pay the balance off on my credit card in the next couple of months.  I've been reading and would like to do a PFD with my credit card and the medical bills.  We will see what happens.

My problem is this:  I don't really have any positive lines of credit (don't have any current credit cards, do not have an auto loan, or any personal loans.)  Furthermore, I couldn't GET any of those things if I wanted to with the way my credit is.  My total debt is less than $3000 (yes you heard it right!)but I guess because my credit history is relatively short, I have no lines of credit and everything that IS on there is negative (other than my student loans which are currently deferred.) that is why I can't get anything on credit. 

Here are my plans so far:

1. I have asked my mom to list me as an AU on her credit card which has a $5000 limit and she has had for over ten years.

2. I am going to send PFD letters for the credit card and medical bills I owe on.

3. I plan to get a secured credit card so that I can start building some credit.

What else should I be doing?

Here are my current scores

TU: 516

EQ: 494

EX: 615

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[Tuscani]

Welcome.. Your plan sounds good. You shoud try for the HSBC Orchard card which is a great builder card.

[Anonymous]

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thatgrri3 wrote:

1. I have asked my mom to list me as an AU on her credit card which has a $5000 limit and she has had for over ten years.

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Do this, but understand the benefit of being an AU goes away on one of the CRAs in September. The other two will drop the benefit next year.

You still have a window of opportunity, so I encourage you to get AU on your Mom's CC. Once it reports in 30-60 days, re-check your FICOs.

Once you get the Orchard CC, use it and pay it almost in full each month. You want a util of between 1 and 9 percent to report.

Usually, a billing cycle will go like this. Example dates.

15th Payment Due

20th Statement Cycle Closes (and finance charges are tacked on)

23rd Balances get reported to the CRAs

If you have a $1000 CL, then you want a balance of between $10 (1 percent) and $90 (9 percent) to show on your CRs. To keep it simple, you can shoot for a balance of $50 (5 percent util). 5 percent is no more magical than either 1 or 9 percent. But 5 percent is dead center between 1 and 9. If you aim for 5 percent, but your calculations are a little off, you'll likely still be in the 1 to 9 percent range. If you aim for 9 percent and your calculations are off, you might bump up into 10 percent or more.

If your balance this month is $647, then pay $597 by the 15th to get a $50 balance on the card when the statement cycle closes on the 20th. If you forget and charge $30 in gas on the 19th, your CC will still be in the 1 to 9 percent range when it gets reported on the 23rd.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info.  I have another question about applying for cc's.  When you apply for a credit card, do they strictly look at your credit SCORE or do they pull your credit report?  If I get my score up to a certain number is that all I need or will I need to wait until I get the negatives off of my report?  What is a good credit score to shoot for before applying for the Orchard Card? 

[Boswd]

I agree with the others,  search diligently for secured and maybe even some unsecured sub-prime cards.   The safest is of course the secured card in terms of acceptance.  But shop around and look for the ones that has the least amount of fees attached, don't just grab the first one you see.   Many bad ones will have application fees, monthly fee's and annual fees.    Going subprime you are going to have to pay some sort of fee so shop around.   As mention  Orchard Bank has a good reputation and try Bank of America.   Bank of America only charges just a $29 Annual fee and is good for graduating up to a better card.   As far as secured cards I think it's the best deal out there.

[Tuscani]

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thatgrri3 wrote:

Thanks for the info.  I have another question about applying for cc's.  When you apply for a credit card, do they strictly look at your credit SCORE or do they pull your credit report?  If I get my score up to a certain number is that all I need or will I need to wait until I get the negatives off of my report?  What is a good credit score to shoot for before applying for the Orchard Card? 

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Score and report.

[Anonymous]

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thatgrri3 wrote:

What is a good credit score to shoot for before applying for the Orchard Card? 

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On http://www.whogavemecredit.com/index.php I saw Orchard issuing to folks with scores in the 400s. Were I you, I'd apply.

AMEX Green and Delta pulls EX, and with a 615 I think you could get one or both. On WGMC and CIC, some have reported getting Delta with high 500s.

Do you have an AMEX CC on which you defaulted in the past? Even the distant past going back 16 years. I know personally the memory of AMEX is elephant-like and they blacklist.

[Anonymous]

I got Orchard, WaMu, Hooters, and Amex Delta with score 573 (EX & TU)

[Anonymous]

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Irvin wrote:

I got Hooters

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Snicker.

[Anonymous]

I applied for the Orchard one and all I qualified for was the prepaid card.  I don't know what it is about my credit. Even with my score being in the 600's on EX, I can't get a card.