topic Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down? in Credit Cards

Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:54:32 GMT

I have 3 collections, granted each from over 4 years ago....

My FICOs are 647 TU 673 EQ 677 EX

I have a CO card that I pay off in full each and every month (granted its only got a $500CL)

Why am I getting turned down for each and every card?

Is there anything out there where I can get a card (Lowes; Sears; HD) thats easy enough that I can get a decent CL and purchase some stuff and keep a low balance to raise my score?

The Capital One card raised my scores from the 630 range back when I had the collections, BUT w/ a 500 CL it can only do so much for me, as to keep it below the threshhold, I would only be able to put $50 on it.

HELP!!

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

wmarat — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:58:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 3 collections That's why, granted each from over 4 years ago....

My FICOs are 647 TU 673 EQ 677 EX

I have a CO card that I pay off in full each and every month (granted its only got a $500CL)

Why am I getting turned down for each and every card?

Is there anything out there where I can get a card (Lowes; Sears; HD) thats easy enough that I can get a decent CL and purchase some stuff and keep a low balance to raise my score?

The Capital One card raised my scores from the 630 range back when I had the collections, BUT w/ a 500 CL it can only do so much for me, as to keep it below the threshhold, I would only be able to put $50 on it.

HELP!!

Go to your local CU and talk to loan officer.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

MS00000000 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:58:42 GMT

My guess is that the multiple collections might be more of a red flag to potential creditors than if there was only one, but I might suggest either a secured card or if you belong to a credit union or have the opportunity to belong to one, they are often more generous to their members than say a major bank might be. Also, have you asked Capital One for an increase on your current card?

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

trumpet-205 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:00:31 GMT

No matter how old a collection may be, a collection is a collection. Lenders look down on collection, lates and BK.

Go talk to your local credit union. I imagine you have a lot of inquiries on your reports too.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

IowaGuy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:08:14 GMT

Stop applying, all those apps will hurt as well. Fill out only 1 more app...for a good secured card. In 3 years those collections will drop off from report and your secured card will have aged. You should then have a great score and be in position to shop for prime cards.

Do not let those collections sue, you do not want a judgment! Also note the difference between a legally reportable debt and a legally sueable one. Research your state laws and seek professional advice if a lawsuit is on the horizon.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:17:27 GMT

At this point, I am not concerned about the collections....I could easily pay them off if I can figure out how to send bills to the 2 agencies that have them in hand... as I have a great job now...so those would not be a problem.

I have 5 inquiries on my record....2 are for home loans that I was preapproved for last week and 3 are for various cards....

I have the CO card as I said and an AMEX Zync card...no issues there....

Problem is, I would like to apply for a card to get some appliances once I am in my new home....

IF I can get the info and pay off the collections, how likely am I to get them to take them off my credit report?

Will this greatly affect my scores and the way lenders look at me? How about if I use the Zync card and keep my fairly worthless CO card under 10%?

Also, which secured cards would you recommend? Anything have a higher limit or is as good as what I hear about the Naval card that I cant get (non military)?

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

IowaGuy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:26:45 GMT

A secured card isn't in your best interest, if you need the credit for large ticket items and have a zync. I know you won't like this, but if your jobs good I would honestly just save and pay. Or get those collections off your record and then get a no payment for x months store card.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

unlucky_hove — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:38:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
At this point, I am not concerned about the collections....I could easily pay them off if I can figure out how to send bills to the 2 agencies that have them in hand... as I have a great job now...so those would not be a problem.

I have 5 inquiries on my record....2 are for home loans that I was preapproved for last week and 3 are for various cards....

I have the CO card as I said and an AMEX Zync card...no issues there....

Problem is, I would like to apply for a card to get some appliances once I am in my new home....

IF I can get the info and pay off the collections, how likely am I to get them to take them off my credit report?

Will this greatly affect my scores and the way lenders look at me? How about if I use the Zync card and keep my fairly worthless CO card under 10%?

Also, which secured cards would you recommend? Anything have a higher limit or is as good as what I hear about the Naval card that I cant get (non military)?

A credit union wont touch you unless those collections are paid off. One question i do have is how long has it been since you opened the Zync and Cap one accounts? I have two paid collections and a charge off still showing and was able to get approve for a 2K Barclays apple,

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:48:22 GMT

@unlucky_hove wrote:

A credit union wont touch you unless those collections are paid off. One question i do have is how long has it been since you opened the Zync and Cap one accounts? I have two paid collections and a charge off still showing and was able to get approve for a 2K Barclays apple,

The Zync I just got not more than a month or so ago....

The Cap One card I got last August....

ALL collections are over 4 years old....

For everyone, IF I pay them ASAP, can I ask the company to have them removed, and does anyone have any experience w/ that.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

fot1 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:04:09 GMT

You can offer a PFD ( pay for delete) to each one.. Some CA's are good with this others stubborn.. research the CA's on the rebuilding board and see if others have had success. Might be able to get a good E-mail, or contact to help. Be carefull adding to many new accounts right before a mortgage, reading on the mortgage board that has cost a few people homes.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

unlucky_hove — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:15:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@unlucky_hove wrote:

A credit union wont touch you unless those collections are paid off. One question i do have is how long has it been since you opened the Zync and Cap one accounts? I have two paid collections and a charge off still showing and was able to get approve for a 2K Barclays apple,

The Zync I just got not more than a month or so ago....

The Cap One card I got last August....

ALL collections are over 4 years old....

For everyone, IF I pay them ASAP, can I ask the company to have them removed, and does anyone have any experience w/ that.

Before you pay them outright you need to send a DV letter, then once thats complete send a PFD letter to each company. There are no guarantees it will work though, check in the "Rebuilding your credit forum" for more help on that. If you are a member of a CU you can just pay the collections off, then wait for your report to update. I believe most CU's will work with you as long as they are marked as paid and you wont have to plunk down a few thousand for a secured card. For now just leave the Sears and HD cards alone as they are back by Citi, chances of you being approved with those showing are slim to none. If you cant get them removed and they are just marked as paid, it possible to get in with Lowes as they are backed by GE money but not a guarantee. Good luck!

Edit: Fot1 beat me to the punch, i type way to slow lol

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

kjm79 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:23:25 GMT

With the collections being 4 years old, you have good chances of getting them to accept PFD's. There are SOME CA's that will not delete for anything, but most are willing to work with you. Anytime I ever did a PFD I offered the full amount of what was owed as I felt it was a stronger stance to take and would make the CA more agreeable to delete.

You say you pif your CO card every month, just to be sure, are you paying it prior to the balance being reported to the credit bureaus so the balance reported is zero? If so, try leaving a small balance equal to 1%-9% of your limit to get more points. A zero balance can actually hurt your score as it "appears" as though you are not actively and responsibility utilizing credit. If you are not paying it to zero and a balance is reporting, how much of a balance are you letting report? Utilization could be a problem with a low limit card. Even a small balance looks big unfortunately.

Also, where did you get your scores from? I ask because my husband had 3 collections and a BK from 2004 on his reports and received 2 barclays card, 2 HSBC (unsecured) cards, and a Firestone card (auto repair credit card) all with scores in the mid 600's. When you get denials, what are the letters stating as reasons for denial?

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:51:38 GMT

It also sounds like you're looking at FAKO scores, and not FICO. Since you stated your EX score in your scores, I have to assume you're looking at FAKO's from a credit monitoring service. Get your real scores to start with. Then we can advise you further. The scores you are looking at could be dramatically different.

For instance, my FAKO EQ score through USAA jumped up 80 points in a bit over a week. I had my new $7k NFCU CC start reporting and had a baddie deleted. When I got my updated FICO today, the difference was actually an increase of only 11 points. My FAKO was 660, but FICO was 597. While it's possible for there to be a smaller gap between the two, it's also possible for there to be a larger gap. FAKO's do not use FICO's proprietary scoring method, and since over 90% of lending decisions are based on FICO-based models, FAKO scores are pointless.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

GregB — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:17:23 GMT

Those score must be FAKOs with 4 collections and scores in the 600s.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 01:34:58 GMT

Nope they're FICO numbers from this site...

I said 3 collections and all are prior to 2008 and less than $50 and I have established good positive credit w two cards and a student loan always paid on time....

Thanks everyone for all the advice...I'm gonna try to take care of the collections and see where I'm at after a few house payments...

Oh and pretty much ditching the C1 card bc keeping it under 10% isn't even worth it based on the limit.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Walt_K — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 01:40:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It also sounds like you're looking at FAKO scores, and not FICO. Since you stated your EX score in your scores, I have to assume you're looking at FAKO's from a credit monitoring service. Get your real scores to start with. Then we can advise you further. The scores you are looking at could be dramatically different.

For instance, my FAKO EQ score through USAA jumped up 80 points in a bit over a week. I had my new $7k NFCU CC start reporting and had a baddie deleted. When I got my updated FICO today, the difference was actually an increase of only 11 points. My FAKO was 660, but FICO was 597. While it's possible for there to be a smaller gap between the two, it's also possible for there to be a larger gap. FAKO's do not use FICO's proprietary scoring method, and since over 90% of lending decisions are based on FICO-based models, FAKO scores are pointless.

He just applied for a mortgage. That's probably where he got the EX FICO.

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:31:31 GMT

He just applied for a mortgage. That's probably where he got the EX FICO.

^^ Correct....as the lender had to send me a letter explaining the reason for pulling the credit reports and what they said and everything....

AND I just found out today that TransUnion is missing some information off my CR that could possibly help me....

- 1 older CC acct not listed
- 1 student loan not listed as paid in full

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:46:58 GMT

Are you getting denial letters? You're supposed to get a letter stating why you were turned down, plus a link for a free report, depending on which bureau was pulled.

What are the negative factors on the denial letters?

Also, you're paying off your CO card every month, which is good. But with a $500 limit, how much of a balance is reporting? If you pay the balance after the statement posts, as any normal person would do, it could be that you have high reported utilization (util.)

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:48:23 GMT

I'd go to the rebuilding board for more advice on DVs and PFDs and all that.

And you got some really good advice about utilization - you want your REPORTED balance on your Capital One card to be $49 or less, so make sure you pay it down to that or lower BEFORE YOUR DUE DATE.

If you're applying for mortgages, you must have some money saved for a down payment - consider putting in an offer with a seller assist and using your down payment money for appliances IF YOU NEED THEM. Do you have a house without appliances in mind?

Re: Why Is Everyone Turning Me Down?

p- — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:39:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 3 collections, granted each from over 4 years ago....

My FICOs are 647 TU 673 EQ 677 EX

I have a CO card that I pay off in full each and every month (granted its only got a $500CL)

Why am I getting turned down for each and every card?

Is there anything out there where I can get a card (Lowes; Sears; HD) thats easy enough that I can get a decent CL and purchase some stuff and keep a low balance to raise my score?

The Capital One card raised my scores from the 630 range back when I had the collections, BUT w/ a 500 CL it can only do so much for me, as to keep it below the threshhold, I would only be able to put $50 on it.

HELP!!

You need to spend about a week solid lurking on the boards here; read all you can about PFD and look at some of the personal stories that other people have posted. If you can clear the CA's off your report with a PFD then you will be in much better shape. On your revolving 500 card, make sure you are paying before the statement cutoff. If your statement shows the card is always maxed, the report won't know that it is paid in full each month. That will affect your utilization. Leave about 5% (25.00) on the card at statement cutoff.

If you can get the PFD done, consider contacting those that denied you and ask for reconsideration. Also, with your history, you should qualify for the HSBC Orchard Bank card. That one will start small, but it's unsecured and you can ask for a CLI every 6 months. If you're using it alot and paying it consistently they are pretty good about CLI.

I logged everything I did here, and my biggest jumps came from eliminating CA's on my report. Start with the most recent, and aggressively push for PFD. If you find you can't get it done, just PIF. At least then you can explain it to the credit union.

Good luck!