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A little over a year ago I applied for a Credit One card unsecured credit card and was surprisingly approved! Since I was not able to get approved by any other companies I figured it would be a good way to start rebuilding my credit. The initial limit on the card was $300 and after a couple of on time payments they raised my limit to $400. Since I have never been late, after a year they raised it to $550 and just recently to $800.
Last week I applied for the Barclays Rewards and Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards cards and was unfortunately denied by both! Lately I have read some negative things about Credit One here on the boards so I can't help but wonder if having the Credit One card is actually doing more harm than good. My fico is 593, TU is 664 and Exp. is 618. I haven't been late on student loan, mortgage or credit card, but I have a judgment from portfolio recovery that was filed in 2011. I need to purchase a new car soon and have no idea what I should do next to improve my credit.
I also haven't been able to refinance our house because of the judgment, but it's so high that i can't afford to pay it (not to mention the fact that PR bought this debt years ago for a credit card that I couldn't afford to pay); so any advice on getting rid of PR would be appreciated!
Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated!
The presence of Credit One is not going to hurt your scores.
However, individual lenders or underwriters may not like something on your report, including specific CCs, and decline you based on this.
As long as an account is in good standing, paid on time, and not utilized too highly, I would say it is HELPING your credit and not hurting it. Credit One is known for offering credit to those who may not qualify for the mainstream bank cards. So the scores and criteria they accept may be broader than others.
As for Barclays and Capital One denying your apps....perhaps your scores are not where they are comfortable offering credit? Did they give you a reason for the denial? How many inquiries do you have? A lot goes into play for approvals, but I don't think they are denying you because of your credit one card. I personally have 2 Capital One Cards along with a Credit One card that I got when I was in early stages of rebuilding.
I have seen success stories about recon-ing your applications by calling in. Maybe you can talk to a rep and they may approve you over the phone? At least you would have given it a try and not waste 2 hard pulls on your reports.
When it comes to score, FICO doesn't care if it's a CreditOne or a AMEX Centurion. It looks at age of account and util. But as said, certain lenders under manual review may raise an eyebrow with certain lenders.
@lynnc826 wrote:A little over a year ago I applied for a Credit One card unsecured credit card and was surprisingly approved! Since I was not able to get approved by any other companies I figured it would be a good way to start rebuilding my credit. The initial limit on the card was $300 and after a couple of on time payments they raised my limit to $400. Since I have never been late, after a year they raised it to $550 and just recently to $800.
Last week I applied for the Barclays Rewards and Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards cards and was unfortunately denied by both! Lately I have read some negative things about Credit One here on the boards so I can't help but wonder if having the Credit One card is actually doing more harm than good. My fico is 593, TU is 664 and Exp. is 618. I haven't been late on student loan, mortgage or credit card, but I have a judgment from portfolio recovery that was filed in 2011. I need to purchase a new car soon and have no idea what I should do next to improve my credit.
I also haven't been able to refinance our house because of the judgment, but it's so high that i can't afford to pay it (not to mention the fact that PR bought this debt years ago for a credit card that I couldn't afford to pay); so any advice on getting rid of PR would be appreciated!
Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated!
Credit One is the least of your worries. That judgment is going to scare off a lot of lenders. I don't really see how you're going to get anywhere in your credit journey without addressing that elephant in the room.
Did you try calling Barclays for reconsideration? They are very helpful and might approve you.
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I have not received letters from Barclay or Cap One so I don't know the exact reasons. However, I did call the Barclay recon number and spoke with a very nice guy. He explained that there were still unpaid credit accounts that should be taken care of before they would feel comfortable extending credit to me.
Posting here and speaking with him put things into perspective. I won't be applying for credit until these things are cleared up... even the judgment which is most definitely the elephant in the room that I have been avoiding. Since it isn't going to go away I need to figure out a plan so that this can be taken care of. Has anyone had any experience dealing with Portfolio (post-judgment) or their attorneys? I'm hoping they will settle for 20% since I can't afford much more than that at this time. Or hopefully they will allow me to be on a payment plan.
Thanks again!!!
@lynnc826 wrote:Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I have not received letters from Barclay or Cap One so I don't know the exact reasons. However, I did call the Barclay recon number and spoke with a very nice guy. He explained that there were still unpaid credit accounts that should be taken care of before they would feel comfortable extending credit to me.
Posting here and speaking with him put things into perspective. I won't be applying for credit until these things are cleared up... even the judgment which is most definitely the elephant in the room that I have been avoiding. Since it isn't going to go away I need to figure out a plan so that this can be taken care of. Has anyone had any experience dealing with Portfolio (post-judgment) or their attorneys? I'm hoping they will settle for 20% since I can't afford much more than that at this time. Or hopefully they will allow me to be on a payment plan.
Thanks again!!!
Most likely, you should be able to enter into a fixed payment plan with them, but they could be open to settlement, if it makes more financial sense to settle instead of seeking garnishment or liens. Most creditors will avoid seeking wage garnishment when possible. I think it's a good idea to call them and explore your options.
As for CreditOne, I was approved for my AMEX card when my CreditOne account was still open, so I can say that AMEX is more interested in how you used your credit over who's issuing it.
Good luck with the process!
(edited for typo)