Next steps

[Anonymous]

As a further note: I just logged in to Discover's Credit Scorecard and my Experian FICO has jumped from 662 to 675.

[Anonymous]

Latest events in my rebuilding:

1) I tried a "luv button" CLI with Capital One on my unsecured Platinum last week. I got the 2-3 business day reply message as well as 10 days for a reply in the mail, so I think this request has been declined, possibly due to utilization being too high on my Amazon store card (blasted annual Prime fee!). Not sure when my next attempt will be; I'm not clear on whether I can even make another attempt for 6 months, and anyway my Credit Steps increase is coming in August/September. I'm not even bothered by it anymore because...

2) On the other hand, I hit the jackpot last night. I had received a preapproved offer from Comenity for the Overstock Store Card several days previously in the email, and after discussing it with people here (and being reassured that it's a SP) I took the chance, and got approved for a $4,000 SL. That's the biggest line I've been granted on any card since I started rebuilding my credit portfolio 17 months ago, and it's going to dramatically boost my total revolving credit and available credit as well as significantly depressing the overall utilization.

I did have to step out of the garden to get the OS card, but I'm going right back in again, feeling more confident that when I come properly back out in four months or so I'll be in a decent position to get a nice rewards Visa and possibly Paypal Credit as well.

[Anonymous]

Rebuilding update:

1) I tried again for a CLI on my Amazon Store card, got turned down again, but now I have a better idea of what's going on - stipulating the reasons stated in the letter, I am now given to understand from other threads on the topic that Synchrony is looking first of all for at least a 650 TU score in order to consider granting CLI's, and if they don't see that they'll turn you down flat and give you the laundry list of denial reasons. I was still 10 short at 640 as of the last monthly readout, so I'm waiting for this month's retrieval. Looking to try again in July or August depending on when I can get TU over 650.

2) Received the auto-CLI on my Discover card, $500. I decided to take a chance on a "luv button" CLI and got another $300, so my Discover IT CL is now $3,300.

3) EX FICO 8 has gone up 4 points to 679, and my new Overstock tradeline has reported to EX. Signed up for a Lenny account last month to be able to get my EQ FICO, waiting for the retrieval cycle; EQ FICO 8 was 659 the last time I was able to get it in April, so hopefully it'll have gone up at least a few points since then. EQ NextGen 2 quarterly results have been retrieved at Penfed but won't be available to me for a few more weeks yet, until early July.

4) Got a prequalified mailer (paper mail) from Synchrony last week for the Walmart Store Card, one of the cards on my to-get list, .and decided to try for it yesterday. Approved. I don't know what the SL is yet, but I expect to get the physical card with that information by next Tuesday at latest. The HP was on TU so that'll impact the score for this month, hopefully Overstock will have reported to them as well to offset it.

Overall revolving-credit tradelines have now cracked the $12K mark and utilization continues to stay reasonably low though still higher than ideal. My planning going forward is to resume gardening, concentrating on paying down my secured Cap 1 to where I can transfer the remaining balance to Discover either Discover or unsecured Cap 1 without pushing either's utilization over the 30% redline, while establishing payment history on Overstock and Walmart. I'm starting to get worthwhile prequalification offers now, as opposed to junk from subprime issuers, so I'm hoping to see at least one good rewards Visa preapproval/prequal this summer.

[rmduhon]

Just want to point out you can't transfer a Cap1 balance to another Cap1 card

[Anonymous]

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@rmduhon wrote:
Just want to point out you can't transfer a Cap1 balance to another Cap1 card

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Right - Discover, then, or another card whenever I get it. I've been recommended to try for another CLI on Discover around this time next month, so we'll see if that works. The higher I get the CL, the easier it'll be for me to transfer any remaining balance from the secured Platinum while keeping utilization low.

[Anonymous]

Tested the Capital One upgrade link this morning and got the offer to upgrade to a Quicksilver, took it and now I've PC'ed my unsecured Plat to a QS. Another rebuilding step complete! I wonder, though - the product page for QS says it's for "excellent credit", so either my TU must have improved dramatically (I haven't seen my latest TU FICO yet), or Cap 1 must have pulled one of the other bureaus (I know my EX has gone up by 4 to 679). I attempted a CLI last month on the unsecured Plat but had no luck; maybe I should try again sometime this month on the new Quicksilver - I'm still expecting my Credit Steps auto-CLI in August.

[Anonymous]

I opened my account at Apple FCU as I've been planning for several months now, and decided to take the chance and apply for a Visa (see my thread in CC Applications). I found out in passing, as Apple pulled TU for the application, that my TU score has gone up to 646 now that my Overstock card is finally reporting to that CRA. Also, the problem with the closed-in-BK CC that was still reporting as open has been fixed, so I'm hoping to see my TU scores, which have heretofore been significantly lower than my EX and EQ FICO's, come more into line with the other two going forward.

Assuming I'm approved for the Apple Visa, I'll have accomplished most of my credit-portfolio objectives at this stage; the main major remaining objective is to get Paypal Credit, but that can probably wait for a couple months' gardening. Also, I need to decide between Comenity's Paypal Credit (hidden TL, only usable through Paypal-accepting merchants online) and Synchrony's new Paypal 2% MC (open TL, usable anywhere with rewards applicable to Paypal purchases).

And I tried for the CLI on my new Quicksilver, but no luck; I got back the "your payments are too low" boilerplate, which usually really means that the card hasn't been active long enough. I'll just have to try again later.

[Anonymous]

I've been approved for the "standard" Platinum Visa from Apple FCU, $2,000 SL; signed the paperwork today - Apple is kind of old-fashioned that way - and I expect to get my card by the end of next week. This will bring my total revolving-credit lines to $15,251 (four major credit cards - one of them secured - and three retail) plus my Penfed car loan and student loan; pretty good considering that seven months ago I had only $951 in one secured card and that student loan. My Walmart card will be arriving in today's mail as well.

At this point, I only have one more tradeline that I seriously want to get in the near future, Paypal Credit (though I'm thinking about the new Paypal 2% MC as well); I think the main question will be whether to apply for it soon or go into the garden for a few months to build account history and improve my scores, though I plan to do that in any case whether or not I apply for Paypal Credit.

UPDATE 6/21: I finally have my current EQ FICO, which has jumped from 659 in April to 677 now. This is just one point under EX (678). TU is still lagging behind at 646, but now that I've fixed the inaccurately reporting account on my report I hope it may catch up to the other two over the next few months. I got a preapproval offer in the mail for the new Ollo Platinum Mastercard yesterday but I don't see anything to really differentiate it from the unsecured Cap 1 Platinum that I upgraded to Quicksilver last week, so I'll likely just leave it on the table.

[Anonymous]

I received and activated my Apple FCU Platinum Visa yesterday, and with that, it's time to go back into the garden until at least September. I'm feeling a strong temptation to apply for just...one...more... right about now, but with 6 new cards and an auto loan opened over the past 7 months, I'd really be rolling the dice at this particular time to avoid the dreaded "too many new accounts" message. This is particularly important since I still want a Penfed PCR.

[Anonymous]

Got the Penfed Power Cash Rewards Visa, the card on top of my want list, today. I went to get my quarterly EQ NextGen score, checked to see if there were any offers, and discovered that I was preapproved - not just prequalified or preselected, but actually approved - for either the Power Cash Rewards (17.74% APR) or Promise (16.24% APR) at a $3000 SL. Chose the PCR, and it should be processed Monday. That pretty much leaves me with Paypal Credit or Paypal Cashback Mastercard as the only significant one left on my want list, and I think I need to call Comenity to fix an issue with a closed Bill Me Later account still linked to my Paypal account first. Synchrony's Marvel Mastercard is a possibility for later this year, as is one of the Amex cards (though Amex may be tougher to get due to my BK).

I am going back into the garden (for real this time, no fooling) for at least the next several months to start growing my new credit, unless I get a solid preapproval for a good card that I can't pass up...

UPDATE 7/2: My Penfed PCR application's status is now "transferred", which means approval is finalizing and the card should be mailed possibly as early as tomorrow (allowing for the Independence Day holiday).

UPDATE 7/4: Contacted Penfed yesterday to see when my new card will be sent. They answered today (that's what I call dedication, having people on-call on the holiday!) and say the card is in production now and I'll be getting it in 7-10 business days, as per usual business practice, so I hope to have it by early next week. The card activation link is now up and ready on my account page.