@DjVudoo wrote:
Hi, long time reader of the forums...decided to sign up.
when i was 20 i opened up a Cap 1 card...and lets say i screwed it up. everything fell off last year and never opened another credit card because i was in college. i just started working and have a decent paying job. talking to my brother (who also messed up with credit cards) told me to try again. i went to my credit union and they pulled my credit score for a credit card and i was declined. my EQ score was at 608. my debt to income ratio is to high (i owe 20k in student loans) they told me to do a secured loan to help boost credit. so i did a $300 secured loan and been paying it on time. my brother told me i need to get a credit card....so i did and i got a Cap 1 card with a 300 CL. nothing fancy but its a start. well this is where things went kinda wrong. talking to my brother, he said to make things better with credit history, i need to get a big name card (chase, citibank, BoA, wells fargo). i said ok i give it a shot. i applied to chase and i recieved "i will get a notice in 10 days". probably got hit with a hard inquiry on my credit. so the question i have here is i believe i applied for another credit card to soon (cap 1 is barely opened) and thats bad (right or wrong). the thing is he said he did the exact thing and he got approved at BoA for a $500 credit card a week after he got his capital one and he had a 615 EQ score. advice? opinions? Thanks!
Lol yes, stop listening to your brother! His advice is sound in a general way, but credit is personal. His score may be similar to yours and you may feel that you both have "bad" credit, but each person's credit file is very different. He may have more or less negatives. You said your only one fell off your report.. so it may be that you are considered to have "no credit" You said your debt to income ratio is high, and that is a factor when people issue credit cards. His might be lower. His account age might be older, and he might have active credit cards.
Getting the "credit builder loan" from your CU was probably a very good idea. Build that relationship with your CU. After 6 months of paying on time, and 6 months of history with paying that loan, maybe they will issue you a credit card. Credit Unions tend to have the best rates and higher credit limits on average than other credit card companies. They are sometimes also more willing to extend credit if you have a thinner file. Also once you have had that Cap One account for 6 months, see about getting a credit limit increase, but make sure you have the balance on it paid off or at least under 10% when you ask.
In 6 months, bring them an updated credit report and talk to them. See if you would be approved for a CC with them. If you are, keep that for another 6 months. By then the inquiries you accumulated should be older, and many of them should age to a year which will boost your score. In the mean time, pay your bills on time, and do what you can to get your DTI ratio in a more comfortable balance. You will also have more time in at your place of employment, which also helps. (You mentioned that you just started there)
Definitely call Chase and see if there is any information that they need in order to process your application and work hard to get them to reconsider if you are declined.
If you are declined... try again after doing the things mentioned above! Good luck to you!
(Also, don't apply for any thing else for at least 6 months no matter what your brother says to you, or even if you see others with similar scores getting approved for cards! It is a temptation but at this point, you're setting yourself up to get hard inquiries for no reason, or for cards with very low limits and bad terms)
625 EQ FICO Current Score: 660 DCU EQ FICO/ 645 Scorewatch EQ FICO , EX FICO 664, TU FICO 737 (08/2014)
Goal Score: 700 Seedling again as of 07/29/14
