Rebuilding credit by getting a new credit card ,.please help!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I have been doing some research and have a few questions. I am wanting to improve my credit score 75-100 points within the next two.years. Is this possible? I currently have a fico score of 607. I have paid anything that I have ever had in collections, havent been late on anything in almost a year. I currently have my student loans which I am paying on and they are current. Also I have a substantial truck loan which I have never been late on. But I do not have a any credit cards. Should I get one? I get pre approvals every other day but have not applied.Would that help my score? Any personal.success stories with that? Thanks for any help!!!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have been doing some research and have a few questions. I am wanting to improve my credit score 75-100 points within the next two.years. Is this possible? I currently have a fico score of 607. I have paid anything that I have ever had in collections, havent been late on anything in almost a year. I currently have my student loans which I am paying on and they are current. Also I have a substantial truck loan which I have never been late on. But I do not have a any credit cards. Should I get one? I get pre approvals every other day but have not applied.Would that help my score? Any personal.success stories with that? Thanks for any help!!!!!

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Welcome to the forums.

Yes it's most definite that you can raise your scores 75-100 in two years if not sooner.  You definitely need to add crefit cards to your credit mix if you want your scores to go up.  Ideally you will want to end up with at least 3 of them in the future.

When you mention pre approvals please be careful with applying to sub prime creditors.  There are companies out there that are very predatory to people in your position and will off pre approvals for cards that are horrible to have with outrageous interest rates, low credit limits, and very high fees.  You should ask here about those pre approvals before applying.

Before applying for any of those Id suggest you getting a secure credit card or two.  They will improve your credit the same as  unsecured card and in very little time you can graduate to unsecured cards.

you stated that you haven't been late on anything in over a year.  If you want to improve your score you should let us know what 'bad' things you have on your credit score like late payments, collections, charge offs, etc.  There are a lot of very knowledgable people here that can help in your quest for higher scores.

[Anonymous]

Awesome thanks very much for the reply. The pre approvals have been with capitol one, visa and I think chase. As far as bad things, I have had a total of 9 late payments, one charge off and a a few things in collections. All the collections I paid off. I came across two things today actually that were only on my experian report. They were two.small medical collections which I have never recieved noticed for, but I went ahead and paid them so they are taken care of. Does that help? My score 2 months ago was 621 but when I checked it today it was 607, so im guessing those collections hurt it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Awesome thanks very much for the reply. The pre approvals have been with capitol one, visa and I think chase. As far as bad things, I have had a total of 9 late payments, one charge off and a a few things in collections. All the collections I paid off. I came across two things today actually that were only on my experian report. They were two.small medical collections which I have never recieved noticed for, but I went ahead and paid them so they are taken care of. Does that help? My score 2 months ago was 621 but when I checked it today it was 607, so im guessing those collections hurt it.

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Those pre approvals are pretty good.  I'd recheck the prequalification sites for a cap One and Chase to see what shows there currently..  To be honest, I'd be surprised if you could get approved with Chase with your current score and file.  Cap One on the other hand is definitely possible. Remember pre approvals are a misnomer and often people apply based on them and get declined.  The last thing you want to do is apply for tons of cards and get declined.  Your score will go down rapidly.

Paying off the medical collections didn't help your score.  Once a 'baddie' is on your report the damage is done whether you subsequently pay it off or not.

Depending on who the late payments are with Id look into what is known as Goodwill letters.  There's a lot of info on them in the sticky posts.

Overall because of the charge offs and late payments you may run into problems getting approved for those cards but please don't get discouraged and consider secured credit cards.  There are some very good ones out there that will help your credit immensely.

im about to call it a night so if you have additional questions post them and I'll do my best to answer thrm in the morning.  There are a lot of very knowledgable posters here when it comes to rebuilding your credit.  Take advantage of that expertise before you do anything else because once the damage is done it's hard to recover and often what you think is the best idea is exactly the opposite.

[Anonymous]

I gotcha, that sucks about the medical collections but it makes sense. I will definitely look into the secured cards. I checked capital one today on their website and it said I was pre approved for the quicksilver and one other one. But like you said I know they send those out to alot of people. So the secured cards are probably the better way to go. I am also going to be added to a family members card as a authorized user which has a perfect payment history. Thanks again for the information, it is definitely helpful!

[Imperfectfuture]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I gotcha, that sucks about the medical collections but it makes sense. I will definitely look into the secured cards. I checked capital one today on their website and it said I was pre approved for the quicksilver and one other one. But like you said I know they send those out to alot of people. So the secured cards are probably the better way to go. I am also going to be added to a family members card as a authorized user which has a perfect payment history. Thanks again for the information, it is definitely helpful!

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Again, welcome to the forums.

First, go ahead and apply for the capital one quicksilver.  The worst that will happen is you are offered a secured card, but I think you are good to go.

Then, find a credit union close by, and open up a secured card (you will need to deposit 500 in savings, and you might like their rates a lot better than other banks.  Then, get a secured card.

next, check online with Bank of America for their secured card.  While it may take awhile, that card does graduate,

when you have 3 credit cards, use and let 6% report one one, and 0 on the other two.  This will optimize your score.  Until you have 3, just let 6% report on one card.  You do this by paying everything off before the statement cut off date (this is the date before your next statement).  Let 6% report on one card! then pay it off after the statement generates.  The other cards should be paid to 0 before the cut off date.

The medical debts, try and dispute them off,  they may just go away.  Try that first, then goodwill.

the lates, search the forum for the creditors name, and see whom has had luck with good willing lates.  If it helps any, the sting from those is the least after 4 years,

[Anonymous]

So should I go ahead and apply now for either any of those cards, or should I wait till the collection has reported it to the credit bureau that it has been paid? Should I just apply online or actually call them?

[gdale6]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So should I go ahead and apply now for either any of those cards, or should I wait till the collection has reported it to the credit bureau that it has been paid? Should I just apply online or actually call them?

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I would wait till the CA updates to paid then app, I prefer to do my apps online, its personal preference. You can do whatever you feel comfortable with.