CreditCowboy wrote:Hey Speeding Wheels,
I see you have a cap 1 card as well. Was that your first card on the road back? Was the Cap 1 cash rewards hard to qualify for?
Cap1 secured was my first acct.
I started with a $200 CL and did 2 very small deposits to increase the CL a few months apart.
At the 1 year mark they offered a verrrrry small unsecured CLI ($100).
All that being said, keeping that card in good standing did wonders for my scores.
You just have to be patient.. it takes time. And you can boost your score by increasing your limit with an additional deposit (I sound like a broken record here, but it's true)
Starting Score: 634
What you really need to do is visit the "Rebuilding Credit" forum on this website.
You need to learn how to get the baddies REMOVED from your report. You do this by arranging PFDs (Pay for Delete) with the lenders. You can also do GW (Good Will) letters to plead your case with lenders.
If you don't get the bad stuff removed it will take years for your scores to recover. The bad stuff will stay on your report for 7 years and your scores will take that long to recover. You probably won't qualify for a mortgage this year unless you are successful in having most of the bad stuff removed.
You need scores of around 650 to start qualifying for some of the easier credit cards. Even some of the better secured cards won't touch you right now with your low scores and history.
It is not really too difficult to have the baddies removed. Like anything else, the first one is the hardest.
