topic Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ???? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 05:15:17 GMT

Hi, I went through a major illness in 2013. Defaulted on 2 small credit cards and my school loan. Tried to "make it" through to the Affordable Care Act in 2014 without health insurance but didn't make it, credit was "dinged" with 9 seperate medical bills from ER visits. Fast forward - all medical Dings payed down, disputed off of all beureaus. School loan rehabbed, being payed down again. Only 2 dings remain from 2013, the 2 small credit cards of 600 limit each. These cards have been paid off to the collection agencies and show a zero balance but are still on the reports. Credit score is now 705 on all 3 beureaus. New secured CC, limit 1000.

Went to TJ Maxx, applied for a Store Card. Got Denied. Will appeal when the letter arrives stating the reason but want to know why? Is it due to the 2 dings that still show from 5 years ago??? Can I have those removed due to the fact that they were caused by an illness?

Thanks in advance for your information.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

cyrusvalentino — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 15:51:09 GMT

If the two 2 ding's are paid, I would send GW letters to the OC to ask that the accounts be removed due to medical hardship and mention the payment to try to correct the wrong now that you are doing better. Remember to humbly ask and not demand, they are not legally required to remove the accounts. But if you request removal through GW letter many people have had success.

Your denial could have been from a number of factors I'm sure the 2 dings factored in but with the limited information provided, it is hard to say. But the denial letter will tell you why and give you a good starting point on what to work on to get approval in the future.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Miner — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 17:05:17 GMT

People tend to over-emphasize scores rather than the other information that can have a bigger impact on approvals. You mentioned your negatives, but what about your positives? What open accounts do you currently have and when were they opened?

You mentioned a new secured CC. If that is all you have open, then that is likely the issue as your existing credit is too new. Let it age to be at least 6 months with all positive history before trying again. Given your current scores, you don't need the small credit score bump you'd get for having 3 opened CCs. A second CC might be helpful, but you really don't need to get a sub-prime CC just to get one as you'll hate it in 6 to 9 months when you qualify for better. I think with your scores, if you had some positive history for awhile, you'd have no trouble getting a few good cards even with the negatives.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 18:42:41 GMT

Hi, thanks for your replies. You are correct - since 2013 I was very upset about what happened to me financially as a result of my illness, and I had decided to be on the Dave Ramsey financial plan and to not participate in credit. It was only last year in the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017 that I decided to get off the Dave Ramsey plan which advocates just doing everything in cash and cutting out credit beureaus completely, and start to rebuild my credit. I payed down and disputed off each medical bill over the course of 2017 from all 3 Beureaus, rehabbed my school loan of $7,000 at the end of 2017 using a company called ConServ (it now shows as a current account), and then got the secured CC in January of 2018 (Skypass Visa which lets me earn flyer miles) limit $1000 which popped my score into the 700s. I used a credit simulator on the app CreditWise to figure out how to do this. So I have a high score BUT - my credit is still "too new" for stores to take a chance on me. I now realize that thanks to your advice. I will wait till around August or September of this year to try to get a store card. It's a shame because I always shop at TJ Maxx to get deep discounts on things I need, but still can't get a card there. I was advised by a friend that store cards are a good way to churn points to your credit rating - if you buy something and then pay it down immediately, you can get extra points.

Thanks for the info re: the Good Will letters. I will get on that pronto. The 2 dings are an HSBC card and a Capital One card each with a limit of 600 which were taken over by the collection agency "Portfolio Recovery". The rest of the dings could be disputed off because they were Medical. These dings happend AS A RESULT of a Medical situation but are not Medical in nature so I needed some extra info to figure out how to get them off. Thank You!

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

cyrusvalentino — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 19:02:25 GMT

Store cards are easier to get but only specific ones, for example some store cards are Visa or MasterCard and can be used anywhere and are harder to get.

Your best bet for store cards right now based on age of your credit would to try the shopping cart trick cards “SCT”, search the forums and you’ll find topics on how to do this. The easiest is Victoria Secret, Wayfair, and/or quite a few others but there is a large list of Comenity cards that work with SCT and I’d advise doing that so you don’t take a hard hit for just getting an unsecured line of credit for a store card to establish a positive payment history.

Edit: Wanted to add a link with more info: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/shopping-cart-trick-get-credit-cards-without-the-hard-pull/

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 19:06:43 GMT

Wow, wish I had checked this forum before attempting to get the TJ Maxx store card and subjecting my newly minted credit to a hard pull. I even thought of the Victorias Secret card but it was farther away from my home so I went to TJ Maxx first. GREAT info, Thank You!

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 19:45:33 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
Wow, wish I had checked this forum before attempting to get the TJ Maxx store card and subjecting my newly minted credit to a hard pull. I even thought of the Victorias Secret card but it was farther away from my home so I went to TJ Maxx first. GREAT info, Thank You!

Have you heard of the Shopping Cart Trick? Victoria's Secret is one of the cards that may offer you a pre-approved card when you have something in your cart on their website. This is a soft pull, not a hard pull. It's not encouraged to have too many store cards, but if this is one you would benefit from, this is a way to get it without a hard pull.

EDIT: LOL just now seeing the post about SCT. Sorry!!!

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 21:27:14 GMT

Do NOT do the SCT since it no longer works with soft pulls. Most of the time it will result in a hard pull on your Experian report. It's really not worth it just to get a store card with very limited use.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

cyrusvalentino — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 21:34:59 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
Do NOT do the SCT since it no longer works with soft pulls. Most of the time it will result in a hard pull on your Experian report. It's really not worth it just to get a store card with very limited use.

Joe I would disagree with your assessment, you do not have to click apply to get the popup for preapproval and 99.99% of the time if you get a pop-up saying you are preapproved you are approved. Do they pull your credit? Yes, but you will actually get a card. Versus hoping and praying or blind applying. The same could be said of any prequal from Capital One or any other major credit card, you can be prequal but they still pull your credit. The only difference is where with major credit cards you still have a good chance of being not qualified after receiving a prequal, with the SCT you are approved I've not heard of anyone getting the popup and not being approved. As far as the limited use arguement, I feel it is a horrible view with someone just starting to build their credit.

If they shop a lot at the retailer the discounts could help them save money, and help their credit. How you ask? While the card may start with low CL, on store cards the CLI's come rather quickly and for example with Victoria Secret I've seen cards with over $20,000 in CL. If you show you can use and manage a store card it does carry weight. It can also help keep your utilization low. The only negative is it'll lower the AAoA, however with the OP's AAoA already low as they are just now building credit I don't see how it would hurt them at this time. But that's my thoughts.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 03:30:48 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
Hi, I went through a major illness in 2013. Defaulted on 2 small credit cards and my school loan. Tried to "make it" through to the Affordable Care Act in 2014 without health insurance but didn't make it, credit was "dinged" with 9 seperate medical bills from ER visits. Fast forward - all medical Dings payed down, disputed off of all beureaus. School loan rehabbed, being payed down again. Only 2 dings remain from 2013, the 2 small credit cards of 600 limit each. These cards have been paid off to the collection agencies and show a zero balance but are still on the reports. Credit score is now 705 on all 3 beureaus. New secured CC, limit 1000.

Went to TJ Maxx, applied for a Store Card. Got Denied. Will appeal when the letter arrives stating the reason but want to know why? Is it due to the 2 dings that still show from 5 years ago??? Can I have those removed due to the fact that they were caused by an illness?

Thanks in advance for your information.

Where are you getting your credit score from?

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 03:32:56 GMT

Hi, I used the CreditWise app to get my Transunion. I then used the CreditKarma app to get my Equifax. I couldn't find a free app to get my Experian so I payed Experian $8 to get my Experian score 2 days ago - it was 705. They're sending my report in the mail.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 03:38:39 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
Hi, I used the CreditWise app to get my Transunion. I then used the CreditKarma app to get my Equifax. I couldn't find a free app to get my Experian so I payed Experian $8 to get my Experian score 2 days ago - it was 705. They're sending my report in the mail.

CreditWise and Credit Karma are not Fico scores, which is what most lenders use. The Experian score may be a Fico score.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 03:41:41 GMT

Hmmm, ok that could explain more of the problem. I went in there believing my score was definitely 705 on all beureaus. I'm sure the Experian is correct because I actually paid for it. Ughhhhh

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 04:12:25 GMT

Hey, just wanted to let you all know that I clicked the Shopping Cart Trick link that was posted in the thread for Victorias Secret. I followed the instructions and was offered a card with a $350 limit. I clicked that I wanted it and was approved! Awesome! Thanks for showing me how to do that. This is the first time I've ever owned a store card. It will be a good excuse for me to buy things from VS too, "to improve my credit ;D"

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:53:13 GMT

People need to understand something and its that dave ramsey is a multi-millionaire with syndicated talk show. He has millions in the bank. He can live without credit or a credit score. He has great advice, but please think before you follow it as gospel. You're one of millions who felt you didnt need obama care but got sick and now you're in a worse spot than you would have been if you would have got a cheaper plan. Whats that old saying? Sh*t happens!

In this credit based climate we live in, unless you have massive savings or big time investments, keep your credit intact and up to date. Regardless of what somebody is telling you!

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 15:53:13 GMT

Hi! I definitely think there is a time and place for Dave Ramsey. When you feel down and out, abused by the credit system, the Dave Ramsey plan can help you bootstrap yourself out of the hole. I used it to pay off all my debt to zero EXCEPT my school loan, then shouldered the burden of credit again when it wouldn't be SUCH a huge burden any more and when I was done having a fit about what had happened.

Re: health insurance - I only found out about Dave Ramsey AFTER the disaster had happened. I knew Obamacare would kick in 2014. Previous to that, the cheapest good plan I could find was 300/month. I had never been sick before and I decided it was a good bet to wait. I had good credit and was trying to save a downpayment for a mortgage. The sickness wiped out that savings AND I couldn't work for a few months, causing me to default on my school loan and 2 CCs. So I definitely learned to ALWAYS have some form of Health Insurance. So then after this happened, I was around $14,000 in debt total, no savings. I was so angry that this could happen in a civilized society. I found out about Dave Ramsey, and his plan actually works - I saved money AND payed every bit of my debt down using his plan (except the school loan which i needed to rehab). Being on the Dave Ramsey plan taught me self sufficiency and taught me that there was an entire world that existed outside of Credit, you can buy a house and everything with a mortgage company that does Manual Underwriting who only looks at your salary and amount of savings. And you really can pay for everything in cash - it's a secure feeling to know that no montly minimums are due EVER and there is a pile of cash in the bank. It's healing for your nerves. Because of all the work I did on the Dave Ramsey plan, when I DID decide to step back into the Credit World, it only took me 15 months to raise my score up to 705. I could have got it up there sooner if I had understood right away how to dispute Medical debt off your credit rating if it's not coming off faster, and how to send a GoodWill Letter. Dave Ramsey isn't wrong, it's just that his plan is not right for EVERYONE. I needed to get my CR back because I decided I don't want to be a homeowner, I want to stay renting and just bank/invest my money, so I need to have a credit score that allows me to get a rental in the area that I want to be in, since my rental might be sold from under me at some point. So basically, I needed my CR so i could move and be in a descent place with a normal rental company or landlord instead of a scary place LOL Boy you should have seen me after I recovered from being ill and was in all that debt. I was cursing, waving my fist at the sky and I even made a big bonfire in my back yard and burned all my medical bills up in a fire. Of course that did not make the debt go away LOL only work and saving money made that happen

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

cyrusvalentino — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 19:43:17 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
Hey, just wanted to let you all know that I clicked the Shopping Cart Trick link that was posted in the thread for Victorias Secret. I followed the instructions and was offered a card with a $350 limit. I clicked that I wanted it and was approved! Awesome! Thanks for showing me how to do that. This is the first time I've ever owned a store card. It will be a good excuse for me to buy things from VS too, "to improve my credit ;D"

Congrats on the Approval, if you pay it on time and use it correctly you should see an auto CLI in no time. If not wait until around 3-6 months after having the card and try to-do a CLI request. That CLI request is a SP, and not a HP. Also important to know is after 6 months, you will be able to get any of the other comenity cards without any issue so long as payments are always on time with the VS card.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:47:05 GMT

New problem guys - first the good news - I used the CreditKarma app to check my credit today and it's 705 with Transunion and 719 with Equifax according to them. I recently purchased my score for $8 from Experian and it was 705.

BUT

I tried to get a TJ Maxx store card and got denied - bummer! And this was a "hard pull" so I don't know what that's gong to do to these scores when the "hard pull" is reported. Maybe loss of a couple points ;/

IN ADDITON ------> Oh, No. I used the Simulator on the Creditwise app which uses info from Transunion to factor in my new Victorias Secret store card that I just gained with the Shopping Cart Trick, limit $350. It projected that my score would drop 99 points!!!! Whaaaaat???! This simulator was correct in predicting that my score would rise into the 700s from gaining a $1000 limit secured card. Soooo.....is there any reason to believe it would be incorrect about my score plunging 99 points from the addition of the VS store card? Should I call VS and cancel before this disaster can occur??? I've done SO much work on my credit....please say it isn't so.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 16:50:07 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
New problem guys - first the good news - I used the CreditKarma app to check my credit today and it's 705 with Transunion and 719 with Equifax according to them. I recently purchased my score for $8 from Experian and it was 705.

BUT

I tried to get a TJ Maxx store card and got denied - bummer! And this was a "hard pull" so I don't know what that's gong to do to these scores when the "hard pull" is reported. Maybe loss of a couple points ;/

IN ADDITON ------> Oh, No. I used the Simulator on the Creditwise app which uses info from Transunion to factor in my new Victorias Secret store card that I just gained with the Shopping Cart Trick, limit $350. It projected that my score would drop 99 points!!!! Whaaaaat???! This simulator was correct in predicting that my score would rise into the 700s from gaining a $1000 limit secured card. Soooo.....is there any reason to believe it would be incorrect about my score plunging 99 points from the addition of the VS store card? Should I call VS and cancel before this disaster can occur??? I've done SO much work on my credit....please say it isn't so.

As I've stated before, please ignore Credwise and Credit Karma scores, virtually no one uses them.

Re: Denied a TJ Maxx Store Card, Credit Score of 705 - ????

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 16:54:13 GMT

Hey Treasure,

I would ignore it except for that...it actually worked. When I paid for my score on Experian, it was as the Simulator predicted....