New Cards and/or raising limits?

[Anonymous]

So it's been a road that has taken several years but I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm from NOLA and ended up trashing my credit after Katrina.  Years, ago I finally took care of the debts and started gardening my credit.  I got a secured card from Orchid with $200 limit.  After some time I applied for a capital one card and was approved for a $500 limit.  After a few years, the Orchid secured card was converted to non-secured card with a $300 limit.  A year or so after that I applied for another Capital one card and got one with a $500 limit.  After a year or two, both of my Capitation limits were raised to $750 limits each.

Currently:

1 non-secured orchid card = $300 limit

2 Capital one cards with $750 limits each

=$1800 total all limits (100% on-time payments and $0 balances over the past 5 yrs).

At some point in the past few years I was denied for an AMEX and probably something else.  I know not to make it a habit of sending out apps for new cards.  I have done it a few times in the past few years and generally got denied.  I think it was about a yr ago when I got denied for an AMEX.

My credit scores have gotten better: 675 on Equifax and 678 on TU.

I still have several baddies on my report.  1 that's set to come off in about 3 weeks but there are still about 4 or 5 more that will melt off in the next year.

In about 12 months I will only have 2 medical collections that will supposedly come off of my report in 2014.

My questions is about getting a new card and/or raising my current limits.  I know that I have baddies on my reports but my scores are better and seems like they should warrant higher limits.  I have called and gone online to capital one and have repeatedly been rejected for limit increases.  Since my rejection from AMEX about a yr ago I have not applied for another card because I didn't want to worry about any hard inquiries messing up my score.

Does it seems normal to have such low limits with a credit score of 675?  Anyone have any idea as to what I can expect?  Any idea when I will be able to get some different cards --I would like some airline miles card(s).  Also my life would be a little more convenient with higher limits.

Just curious about what I can expect or why limits have not changes in the last 3-3 years even though I always pay on time and/or rarely carry a balance.

[sphinx313]

Do you have any type of installment loan helping your credit mix? You have 3 revolving accounts which is said to be the sweet spot and you should continue to maintain those as you have been. My guess is that you will start seeing great improvement as the last few baddies fall off. I wouldn't reach as high as an Amex card right now, but when these baddies fall off you can attempt another CLI increase with your current cards. I personally have 4 revolving accounts myself, but 2 of them were sort of a mistake as they don't process my payments in a timely manner. Since I am still in the mid-500's and have no hopes of car loans or home loans anytime soon, I am going to get another big bank secured card to garden until I can close the 2 cards I "shouldn't" have opened. The cards have helped my credit score and assisted me with building a solid payment history, but the only reason I applied is because the cards were on pretty much every top 5 secured card list and NO ONE will give me unsecured credit at this time.

I have a US Bank secured, Capital One Secured and 2 First Progress secured cards. First progress makes me wait 10 days if I pay anything over $100 which is just ridiculous. Capital one and US Bank update even before the money comes out of my checking account. So I am going to apply for a $1000 secured Bank of America card and garden all 5 until I am in a position where I can cancel the 2 First Progress cards, at which point if I still have secured cards, I will put the money I get back from these 2 into whatever secured cards I still have.

[Anonymous]

I do not have any other loans or debts at this time.

I do have an account at a credit union and was thinking about putting in some money and taking out a secured loan on those savings.  Was going to set up a free checking account with auto payments to pay back the loan to make the whole thing completely idiot-proof.  I realize that this will cost me interest and tie up the money, however if it really does have a significant impact on my score it might be worth it.  Is this type of loan really worth it?  Will it make a big enough of an impact to justify paying the interest and tying up my money?  How long does the loan have to be for?  Is 6 month long enough?  Is $1000.00 high enough?  Will $500 work?

So it sounds like I am stuck with my current limits until the baddies come off of my report?  At this point it seems like a loan might not have any impact?

Anyone?

[Anonymous]

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gainingground wrote:

I do not have any other loans or debts at this time.

I do have an account at a credit union and was thinking about putting in some money and taking out a secured loan on those savings.  Was going to set up a free checking account with auto payments to pay back the loan to make the whole thing completely idiot-proof.  I realize that this will cost me interest and tie up the money, however if it really does have a significant impact on my score it might be worth it.  Is this type of loan really worth it?  Will it make a big enough of an impact to justify paying the interest and tying up my money?  How long does the loan have to be for?  Is 6 month long enough?  Is $1000.00 high enough?  Will $500 work?

So it sounds like I am stuck with my current limits until the baddies come off of my report?  At this point it seems like a loan might not have any impact?

Anyone?

I just opened a secured loan with my credit union last week.. did $1000 for 36 months payments is something like $30/mo just to build credit history on installment as I want to get an auto loan in about 6 months... not sure how other credit unions work but the cool thing about mine is that I dont have to wait until i pay off the whole loan to get my money back. everyt time i make a payment the money becomes available from the initial amount for whatever payment amount i make.

BTW interest rate is only 3% over what interest i earn in my savings account so in my case my interest rate is 3.1%. for a total cost of like $49 for the three years... Ill take that to build solid history.. some cards charge as much as $75/year so its a win win

good luck!

[Anonymous]

That's good to know about the money becoming available after it gets paid.  Will check it out.

Did(is) the loan have any impact on your credit score?

[Swapmeet]

You might consider applying for a GE backed card. They are pretty easy to qualify for and generally easy to get limits raised. Also, they only soft pull so no hard inquiries to stress out about.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's good to know about the money becoming available after it gets paid.  Will check it out.

Did(is) the loan have any impact on your credit score?

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not sure yet... still waiting for it to show up on my credit report.. been checking daily... made the next 2 months payments in advance hoping they would post the future payments lol

still waiting on my secured cc account that i opened with them as well..

slow pokes! 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the info...

Swapmeet: what is a GE backed card?  I have not heard of this.

[rootpooty]

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@Anonymous wrote:

thanks for the info...

Swapmeet: what is a GE backed card?  I have not heard of this.

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GE money bank.  They back walmart amazon jcpenny and the list goes on.  They are excellent to build/rebuild with.  Do you shop at walmart or amazon?

Also dont worry about your scores so much.  They are irrelevant with a derog posted especially if you are seeking an increase or applying with a prime lender.  If you want results you have to tackle the derogs on your reports instead of letting them fall off.

On your cap one accounts I would do a search on a thread called Capital one executive office and read the 100 page thread.  It may or may not help you get an increase with them.

Your current income also warrants your eligibility for an increase as well

Also when seeking an increase make sure your reported util is less than 9%.  Ive had best results just letting all my cards report zero except for one and let it report a small lunch balance

[Jutz]

First, congrats on the progress you've made, I'm sure that was difficult.

Second, you're not that far off from getting approved for a decent card. 
A few questions...

1. What are the current balances of you cards?  Try to pay all of them to $0 except 1, keep that reporting around $50 or so.
2. I do think you'd benefit from adding to your credit mix, and  a credit builder secured loan would be perfect if you don't have a reason for a true installment loan.
3. Definitely check out the Executive Office thread, you 100% warrant an increase based on other peoples' experience with them.  PM me for the contact info for the EO
4. Are the baddies from 6 years ago paid or unpaid?  If they're paid, you may want to send a GW letter.  I think you have great basis. Katrina crushed a lot of people financially and I don't think any creditor wants to punish people forever for it.
5. A GE card like Walmart would be a great way to "sneak" into a high CL, and you may even qualify for the Discover, which would be able to be used anywhere.  However I think you're not that far off from getting something like a Chase Freedom, or maybe an AMEX Green or AMEX Delta.