My first UNSECURED card!! What's next?! :)

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone. I've been leaking around for a few months and finally decided the join the community. I need your help. I'm glad to be here.

So here's a little background on me. I'm in my late 20s and made credit mistakes in my early twenties. I have one charged off account on my credit report for about 1100 which comes off this August and a judgment on that same account that comes off a year later. 

Anyway, 13 months ago I decided to start to fix everything because my income is good and I want to start to build and have quality credit. My scores were 530 and 590 on TU and equfax. I applied for the open sky secured visa with a 225 dollar deposit and since then they raised me to 425 without adding another deposit. I have had no late payments and have paid everything off in full. 10 months ago I opened another account. The Merrick bank secured Visa card for 200. Also no late payments etc etc. Since then my scores have jumped to 610 TU and 687 equfax. 3 weeks ago, I went to the capital one pre approved site and was pre approved for the platinum card and the quicksilver one card. I opted for the platinum since I thought the quick silver one was harder to get. I was approved for 300! Not a lot at all but it's something and a start. 

Fast forward to to today and I went to see if the quicksilver one was still pre approved and now it's not.. My scores are exactly the same and I have a total of two inquiries on my report in the past year. I'm assuming it's because I just got approved for the card and I have to wait a little time for another. 

I wish i was getting higher limits and I don't know why I'm not lol. I do everything right and I don't know what's left. I want my scores to keep building and get better so I can finally get some real prime cards. 

So guys, what else should I be doing? I am not pre approved for anything else and being that my transunion score is still low,  I doubt I can get approved for another card.

should I try a store card? I just want one or two more accounts so I can keep building and growing. I will never miss a payment again. I LOVE having my credit in the right direction. It's an amazing feeling.

thank you so much 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forums! I am a new member myself and you will find that there are lots of other members with great information to offer.

I was also in a similar situation but I avoided the secured cards and started with my car loan (which I really needed at the time and it has certainly helped my scores).

Many members have recommended having at least 3 bank cards as I am told that it helps with the scoring, but almost every bit of research that I have found says that you need to have a good mix of accounts as well: installment loans (car note, bank loan etc), store cards, and regular bank cards.

I have a mix of all of the above. The greatest things for me has been to pay my accounts on time, every time, settling old debt, paying on time, paying more than the minimum amount BEFORE the credit card statement cuts and keeping utilization low. About two years ago, my high score was below 600 and now it's 653 (still waiting for all of my scores to update for this month)

The biggest thing really is patience (at least that is my finding). But I know more experienced members will be able to give you a wealth of knowledge! Best wishes on your journey!

[CYBERSAM]

Time, time and more time.... The only key for rebuilding, after you become responsible with your credit! Just let the CCs that you have report and in time your score goes up.

As you know keep UL low and keep paying on time, applying for more CC is not going to force your score to go up!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the family and congrats on your new card. 

The posters above gave some great advice, especially patience.  I am learning that the hard way, so we're in the same boat, lol.

Good luck to you.  

[Anonymous]

I was also just approved for the Cap One @ 500 Credit Limit.

I called in immediately to see if I could get a CLI before they opened the account.

The woman on the phone told me that they watch all new accounts - they're giving lower limits to put you on training wheels basically. She said after 5 months of on-time payments, put in for a CLI and it's pretty much guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Being my negatives hop off in a few months, is it possible I can get them deleted early? If those came off, I know my score would jump. Do I just call the Tu customer service number?

[Anonymous]

I was able to get early deletions from TU just by calling. Took 2 calls but eventually they just said, sure.

EQ and EX both said no. They just kept repeating the policy they have for 7 years with an automatic renewal. I actually referenced forums (didn't name names, but you know...) and said I read people had gotten things off early and they just repeated the policy over and over. Maybe would have had more luck if I kept calling but I didn't feel like pursuing it further. 

[gdale6]

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@Italiannyc17 wrote:
Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Being my negatives hop off in a few months, is it possible I can get them deleted early? If those came off, I know my score would jump. Do I just call the Tu customer service number?

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You can request the early exclusion from TU 6 months in advance, 2-3 months ahead of scheduled drop off with the other 2 bureaus, it may take several calls to find someone willing to help you. Your judgment is going to run for another year and you need to get it settled if its not paid already, just because it may leave your report doesnt mean its a dead horse judgments have a life of their own and can be renewed forever in quite a few states. Once the judgment has been paid they have to send a satisfaction to the court and thats the time to file a motion to vacate on grounds its been paid if the state the judgment is in allows one to file such a motion.

As far as more cards at this time I would halt and let the Cap-1 report and once the CO is gone and the judgment is paid then thats the time to begin looking for bigger and better cards. Keep your utilization that gets reported low as well.

Welcome to the my fico family

[Anonymous]

I can pay the judgement, I'm just worried that if I pay it, it's going to show up on two more reports. Right now, it's only showed on equfax for years, yet for some reason equfax has the highest credit score. And it's due to fall off next year. Maybe I should wait for it to fall and then pay it.

thanks for the advice, I'll follow up. I'll try and get the collection one taken off tomorrow, 

[Anonymous]

I would take the advice of others RE: the judgment. With regards to the collection that is falling off in a couple months, I wouldn't sweat it for now. I think you should give your new cards six months, then request a CLI. In that six months, your collection should fall off on its own; if it doesn't, you can ask for it to be removed. 

Once you get the CLI, it might be worth applying for 1-2 new cards. If you have an existing relationship with a credit union, that is likely to be your best bet. CUs tend to give decent credit limits and are willing to give cards to people with lower limits if they have an existing relationship. Otherwise, look for a moderately good card that you think you can get. As you get improved cards, you should close the lesser cards. The QS1, with its $39 AF, might stop being worth it for you. The Merrick Bank card probably will as well.