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Hello! Be patient with me, it's lengthy.
Filed For Ch. 7 BK- 9/2017.
Discharged- 1/2018.
1) Was added as an authorized user to a family member's Living Spaces (Synchrony) account 9/2018 and paid off $2400 balance over 5 months (by 2/19).
2) Opened a Credit 1 Bank Visa 10/2018 with a $500 limit. Made first payment ($38 AF) and the next month it went up to $700. Currently have a balance and am paying it off.
3) During BK, did NOT sign an affirmation to an Auto Title Loan, thus it was discharged. Have been paying it on time with no issues and owe less than $4500 on it.
All 3 credit scores pulled 9/18 directly from each site:
Experian 596
Equifax 539
Transunion 496
CK shows scores as of today as:
Equifax 683
Transunion 653
Experian N/A
Decided to look into a CK "personal loan" offer and scores came back as:
From Avant (Pulled Transunion) 570
From BestEgg (Pulled Experian) 600
Now, I know Credit Karma is meant to be taken with heaps of salt, but curious on what you think:
Why is CK showing my TU score as 653, but Avant did a inquiry and reported that Transunion shows as 570?
That's a huge discrepancy!
Credit 1 Bank Shows my score as 621...although it does not say who it pulled it from?
These are the accounts I burned in BK sadly
Amazon Store card
Babies R Us Mastercard
BofA Visa CC
BofA MC (formerly EBay MC)
Barclay's Visa
Best Buy Store card
Care Credit
Check N Go (payday lender installment loan)
Gap, Inc Visa
JC Penney's Store card
Kohl's Store card
LAFCU Auto Tile loan
Lenscrafters Store card
Macy's Store card
Macy's Am Ex
Paypal Store card
QVC Store card
Speedy Cash (payday lender installment loan)
Target store card
Ulta Store card
That's a long list....and I feel horrible. I was ON TIME with everything. Just had zero money left after bills were paid and the payday loans and Auto title loan I took out for family were killing me. They fell behind and were unable to pay them back so I had to take over. Fooish, lesson learned. I had no choice but to file BK or starve. My credit scores were higher even then, even though I was broke. BUT, starting over. So, as an Authorized user on 1 account and only having 1 Visa CC, what should I do next? I Have that %90 preapproval odds recommendation from CK for the Ollo Mastercard tempting me...should I avoid it or give it a shot? Will it make my sad scores go even lower?
Help? Guidance? Words of Wisdom? Encouragement? Anything?
Please and thank you.
Do not go by any websites approval odds. Check pre-qual sites from the lenders directly. CK and FICO can be higher on one and lower on the other at this time for you. Or vice versa. I noticed you didnt burn Cap1. You can try their pre-qual site and grab the Plat, not the QS1. Too hard to upgrade or do anything else with it. No reason to pay $39 a year when you can upgrade the Plat a few months after approval for the cash back QS. Since the car loan isnt reporting. You could grab a Self lender loan for the credit mix. Give it some time and let things grow. Then go for more down the road.
You can get all 3 FICO score for a buck on Credit Check Total for $1 and cancel before the trial ends. Report back what ya got.
@FireMedic1 wrote:Do not go by any websites approval odds. Check pre-qual sites from the lenders directly. CK and FICO can be higher on one and lower on the other at this time for you. Or vice versa. I noticed you didnt burn Cap1. You can try their pre-qual site and grab the Plat, not the QS1. Too hard to upgrade or do anything else with it. No reason to pay $39 a year when you can upgrade the Plat a few months after approval for the cash back QS. Since the car loan isnt reporting. You could grab a Self lender loan for the credit mix. Give it some time and let things grow. Then go for more down the road.
You can get all 3 FICO score for a buck on Credit Check Total for $1 and cancel before the trial ends. Report back what ya got.
Probably want a Discover secured too.
Thanks for your reply!
I am trying to avoid doing so. I'm thankful I got the Credit 1, but that took me a couple months of mulling over before I took the plunge.
So here's the thing with pre-quals. I have tried all the companies I didn't burn/never had accounts with. They all come back negative. Idk if it's because my credit still sucks, or because of the credit block I had place on my credit reports a few years ago after being the victim of identity theft for years. Stolen wallet=unauthorized accounts sents to collections with people using my name, DL and social. Several hours spent filing police reports, fighting collections and clearing my name.
Will def look into the credit reports! Thank you and will update.
Thanks for your reply!
I did not think of NFC! My brother was in the navy so I applied through him this morning. Let's see how it goes.
Amazon is one I'm ok with not having again. Never had Walmart, just knew it was too dangerous. I hate walmart and avoid shopping there like the plague, but I can see how it would be too tempting to "buy my monthly list and pay it off after."
Like I mentioned in a previous response, checking prequals has been tough. I have been getting negative replies, and IDK if it's becaus my credit still sucks, or because of the credit holds I've placed on my credit reports due to being a victim of identity theft. Unauthorized accounts opened, fighting with collections, filing police reports etc....Have always been able to fight them with success, but credit bureaus all recommended I place an alert on my file and I think that might be affecting my chances for pre-qualifies.
Thanks for your reply!
IDK why I've been hesitant to get a secured card......but maybe I should go for it.
A word of my experience with OLLO.....they sent me a letter/envelope every week for last two months (I am six months post discharge) telling me I was preapproved for their no fee card! WHOOHOOO! I went to their website with their "acceptance" code and BOOM. FLAT DENIED. So, don't believe that "prequalified bs" they are slinging. I did and now, I have a hard inquiry on my credit report