topic Re: why is orchard so bad? in Credit Cards

why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 01:17:29 GMT

i just applied for a orchard credit card and got aproved with a $300 limit. I was happy to get approved since my credit score is 449 and have a steap hill to climb to fix my credit. But all I read on these phorums is how bad orchard is. Sgould I get another card, should I get more than one?

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 01:25:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
i just applied for a orchard credit card and got aproved with a $300 limit. I was happy to get approved since my credit score is 449 and have a steap hill to climb to fix my credit. But all I read on these phorums is how bad orchard is. Sgould I get another card, should I get more than one?

There is nothing wrong with Orchard for a rebuilder card IMO.

Besides with your scores being so low I wouldn't be thinking about applying for additional credit just yet unless I was going to apply for a secured card and open it with a decent limit of 2k-5k.

Let the card you have now age a little.

Good luck

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 01:49:15 GMT

thank you. I know it will be a long process to fix my credit, but I am excited about it. quick question, will getting a secured cc with a 500 to 1000 limit not do much for my credit

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:09:55 GMT

Congratulations, Orchard is a very good card for your score. There are much worse out there, but not much better that you can get. Treat it well for over 6 months and then add another card. Capital One would be a good choice, especially the secured one so you can build a higher CL on your report. A $500 to $1000 secured card is good for your credit, but the higher you can grow it the easier it will be to get higher limits in the future.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:18:23 GMT

the higher I can grow it?

what does that mean. Can you start off putting down $500 and lets say add 100 each month. I feel like there should be a section in communtiy for people that have 400 scores and are clueless. lol

I've been sitting here reading trying to figure out if I should pay off accounts that are in collection that are over 2 yrs old, if I should settle? pay full? some post say it will hurt my score and not help

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:27:40 GMT

I like the Capital One secured the best of the major banks. You can start with a $200 deposit and that would be your limit. You can add more deposit in $100 increments whenever you want. It is very easy to do on their website. Your CL will then be increased by that amount ( takes 2 weeks to show up however). Capital One will also review your account every 6 months and may add additional unsecured CL to your account. You still have to qualify for most secured cards, so I would still wait until I had at least 6 months of good reporting on Orchard before I applied.,

Re: why is orchard so bad?

vish1 — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:29:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
the higher I can grow it?
what does that mean. Can you start off putting down $500 and lets say add 100 each month. I feel like there should be a section in communtiy for people that have 400 scores and are clueless. lol
I've been sitting here reading trying to figure out if I should pay off accounts that are in collection that are over 2 yrs old, if I should settle? pay full? some post say it will hurt my score and not help

If you were to get a secure card, I will first talk to a local credit union. They are generally flexible and are willing to look at unsecuring in less than a year and give a good CL after that.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:47:04 GMT

With a $300 limit, should I spend $20 a month and pay it off every month

I will wait 6 months to apply for the capital one. Now with capital one, I had a car back from 2003 to march 2006, It got repo. Would me applying for a cc mess with it falling off after the 7yr mark, which should be 2013

Re: why is orchard so bad?

vish1 — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:58:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
With a $300 limit, should I spend $20 a month and pay it off every month
I will wait 6 months to apply for the capital one. Now with capital one, I had a car back from 2003 to march 2006, It got repo. Would me applying for a cc mess with it falling off after the 7yr mark, which should be 2013

You can spend whatever you want on the card. I will pay many times a month (every time a purchase posts) to keep utilization low. Don't apply for capital one unless you try a pre approval. You may end up piling too many cards with an AF.

The best bet will be to see if a local credit union will give you a secured card.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 03:35:54 GMT

how often does utilization get checked, I assumed if I spend $20 and pay it off once a month then my utilization should be close to 0%

Re: why is orchard so bad?

vish1 — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 03:38:57 GMT

Around 7%

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 04:05:03 GMT

So if I pay it off each month it should be below 7%, right?

Is that a bad thing for your credit. I remember a long time ago someone told me that if you have a credit card, that making small payments on them was better than paying off in full.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

vish1 — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 04:09:24 GMT

The best thing to do if you have low limits is to keep paying as soon as the transaction posts. At any time, keep your balance low. PIF or making small payment will have no difference as long as the balances are low.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

JayRizzo — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 09:59:24 GMT

For those rebuilding credit, I would "not" suggest going to their local credit union where, more than likely, you keep your money, unless you've opened an account for $20 just for the sake of opening a secured card.

My reason is... if it's one of your primary accounts where you actually do your everyday banking, the prying eyes of the CAs will notice the key words "Credit Union" when your secured card starts to report and will quickly zone-in on the garnishment process in hopes of collecting a debt - they're watching. Also, check the forums for the "Opt-Out" feature on your report -- this may help give you a shield while building.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:54:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
i just applied for a orchard credit card and got aproved with a $300 limit. I was happy to get approved since my credit score is 449 and have a steap hill to climb to fix my credit. But all I read on these phorums is how bad orchard is. Sgould I get another card, should I get more than one?

I'd suggest that you not apply for any more credit for the time being, secured or unsecured. I think that you should focus your efforts on repairing. Repair 1st, rebuild after! You've still got unpaid collections within the SOL. I think that's where you need to focus your efforts, and your money. Reducing your risk of getting sued should be a top priority. Opening fee harvester cards & secured cards (at this time) might detract from your ability to pay (unless you've got the cash to PIF immediately) & negotiate those bad debts off your credit reports. New credit accounts while you have active collections is asking for trouble.

Please, do yourself a favor and opt-out (you can use the link in my siggy), and work on your baddies first. Believe me when I say that a great many of us, myself included, wrangled the bad credit, and survived to tell the tale with 700+ & even some 800+ scores today. And, many other forum members well on their way. It can be done & it will be done-- just do it with the least amount of risk & pain possible.

Good luck!

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:49:44 GMT

How does the PFD work, is there a standard letter, can I send emails, can I call and request this. I have the money to pay probably 4 out of 6 collection in full. But if I can't get them removed won't it be pointless. also, when I call them, the always try to negotiate a price, most of the time at 60% but then they will report it as settled and not take it off and remove it. Doesn't a settlement look as bad as not paid

once again thanks for every once help, i want to get the hang of this, and learn the tricks of the trade so that I can help people as well, and give them a great real life story.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

JayRizzo — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:20:15 GMT

Do Not Send Emails to negotiate a settlement with a CA, this must be done via certified mail to CYA. Check out the stickies in the "Rebuilding your credit" forum which will guide you through the process as well as give you information on how things are to be reported, etc.

To be honest, you can't do any worse but to have your score go up from your current state by doing some due-diligence, therefore, being concerned how anything looks in reporting is not an option at this time. As long as a debt is taken care of, it's a good thing. Doing nothing will be a slow crawl with the one good card that you have.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 02:45:26 GMT

that's why i was wondering if I should just forget about the pdf and just try to settle with all my collections. All together its only around $1500 so if I settle it probably will just be around $750

Re: why is orchard so bad?

danisgods — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 07:42:54 GMT

i believe if you pay in full,is better than settling , for lenders to view on your report, not sure though.

Re: why is orchard so bad?

JayRizzo — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:41:50 GMT

Again, I strongly urge you to go to "Rebuilding your credit" and learn all you can before handing over $1500. There are things that you're not aware of. Paid in full doesn't necessarily mean everything is now good. You'll need to learn how to pick and choose your battle plan in order to have more advantages on your side or you "will" have your money taken with no improvement to your credit score. In fact, it may be negatively impacted for an additional 7 years, if you don't know what you're doing.

The stickies are very informative and the members are helpful. They will walk you through each step if you're stuck or have additional questions. They will even tell you what sneaky tricks to watchout for. Most of all, how to cover yourself legally.

I stress visiting that forum because many people "think" paying off an account in full is the end of the story just to find out the debt was purchased by another CA (happens often) and your paid $1500 doesn't mean JACK to them, if you didn't properly cover yourself with all of the necessary documentation.

Just check it out.