Subprime auto loan to raise credit score?

[Anonymous]

I discharged my Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June of 2015.  My current score is 587 (it was 498ish pre bankruptcy).  I recently applied and received a Cap One secured credit card, only had it for one month.  Plan on charging about $30 per month on my $200 credit limit and pay it off in full every month.

So I applied for a new apartment lease this week and I was denied b/c of my credit.  Will getting a subprime auto loan thru someone like DriveTime, or Santander increase my credit score enough for me to successfully apply for another apartment in the next 6 months?  And how much of an increase should I expect?  Or will the hard pulls of the apartment and car loan applications decrease my score in the next 6 months?

Will just sticking with using and paying off my secured credit card raise my score to at least 650?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I discharged my Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June of 2015.  My current score is 587 (it was 498ish pre bankruptcy).  I recently applied and received a Cap One secured credit card, only had it for one month.  Plan on charging about $30 per month on my $200 credit limit and pay it off in full every month.

So I applied for a new apartment lease this week and I was denied b/c of my credit.  Will getting a subprime auto loan thru someone like DriveTime, or Santander increase my credit score enough for me to successfully apply for another apartment in the next 6 months?  And how much of an increase should I expect?  Or will the hard pulls of the apartment and car loan applications decrease my score in the next 6 months?

Will just sticking with using and paying off my secured credit card raise my score to at least 650?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

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1. Getting an installment loan and paying it down to 9% would help your score; any other new installment loan activity would hurt, rather than help, your score.

2. Yes taking care of the card you have + the passage time will help your score.

[Revelate]

You can solve the score portion with an installment loan but you can do it at a fraction of the cost of a subprime auto loan.

Sure if you need a car and you need financing (like I did when I started here) then you go take the 20% APR loan (19.35% in my case) or similar; however, if you just need an installment line go solve it with a share secured loan and pay even less than a yuppie food stamp if you wish and keeping it for the full term, instead of getting a high interest expensive loan that you absolutely want to pay off as quickly as possible.

Method:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Adding-an-installment-loan-the-Share-Secu...

Gory Theory:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Installment-tradeline-utilization-thread/...

[surferchris]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I discharged my Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June of 2015.  My current score is 587 (it was 498ish pre bankruptcy).  I recently applied and received a Cap One secured credit card, only had it for one month.  Plan on charging about $30 per month on my $200 credit limit and pay it off in full every month.

So I applied for a new apartment lease this week and I was denied b/c of my credit.  Will getting a subprime auto loan thru someone like DriveTime, or Santander increase my credit score enough for me to successfully apply for another apartment in the next 6 months?  And how much of an increase should I expect?  Or will the hard pulls of the apartment and car loan applications decrease my score in the next 6 months?

Will just sticking with using and paying off my secured credit card raise my score to at least 650?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

---

1. Getting an installment loan and paying it down to 9% would help your score; any other new installment loan activity would hurt, rather than help, your score.

2. Yes taking care of the card you have + the passage time will help your score.

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Agreed.

[surferchris]

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@Revelate wrote:

You can solve the score portion with an installment loan but you can do it at a fraction of the cost of a subprime auto loan.

Sure if you need a car and you need financing (like I did when I started here) then you go take the 20% APR loan (19.35% in my case) or similar; however, if you just need an installment line go solve it with a share secured loan and pay even less than a yuppie food stamp if you wish and keeping it for the full term, instead of getting a high interest expensive loan that you absolutely want to pay off as quickly as possible.

Method:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Adding-an-installment-loan-the-Share-Secu...

Gory Theory:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Installment-tradeline-utilization-thread/...

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Good advice.

[RonM21]

Welcome OP. Very good suggestions by Rev & SouthJ. I'd consider those options. I wanted to add that if for some reason you decide to take on a subprime car loan, I'd first look deeply into the lender before pulling the trigger. It's already enough it will be a high rate, but you also want someone with good reviews.