Hi!
First post here, although I've been lurking for awhile. I tend to ramble a bit (even when writing) but I'll try to get to the point.
Almost four years ago, bad stuff happened. My fiance had a major medical issue, and all the wonderful things that come with that - increased medical expenses, loss of income, all that jazz. The end result was three charged off cards (one BoA and two Chase). It took some major adjustment in lifestyle, but I've gotten back on track financially, and I'm focusing on credit. I've had a Capital One Platinum (secured with $49) for about 18 months (currently $500, which I'm given to understand will never increase). I also somehow got approved last November for a $600 credit line with Synchrony/Amazon, so right around a year on that.
My charge-offs are still in unpaid status. I have a plan that I'm working towards to fix that, but I would also like to start establishing new, good credit relationships while working on addressing my old, bad ones. I had, at one point, a credit line with Capital One that I closed due to high interest, but had a perfect payment record on. My scores are currently hovering around 626. On Capital One's pre-approval site, it recommends I apply for the QuicksilverOne or Platinum.
So, I'd kind of like to apply for the QS1, which could actually grow and develop with responsible usage whereas my Secured will not. I feel I've got a better chance of getting a proper card with Capital One vs another bank, given my good past and current history with them.
My problem is that I didn't PIF my balance back in August, so my September statement (which cuts on the 5th every month) reads a balance of $448 (90% usage). It has since been dropped to zero, but they haven't reported an updated balance for my last two statements. I tried calling Capital One earlier to inquire and the agent literally asked me to hold and then hung up (bad day, I guess).
Christmas is coming up, and if I'm perfectly honest, I'm probably going to do what I did last year, which is run up a balance on my cards and pay them off sometime between January and March. I'd like to shoot for this new card before then, so that I can sock-drawer the secured and maybe get some nice cash-back benefits, but I'd also rather not bother taking the hit if my chances of approval are low, although I've read that Capital One's preapproval is pretty spot on. However, with around 50% overall utilization showing on my credit report, I'm skeptical that they'll take into account that it's their own, unreported balances that are driving that up.
I'll give them a few more days and hopefully there's just some sort of reporting delay, but I'm not really hopeful that it'll be updated before December, and I'm far too neurotic to wait that long to start Christmas shopping (I'm usually done with it by now). Should I go ahead and pull the trigger before I start my Christmas shopping? Or should I wait another several months until all my balances return to zero?
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm sure I failed in my anti-rambling attempts!
