Going through an accident need help with a balance transfer card

[harveyc7890]

Had an accident a few months ago that has kept me out of work for a few months and while I will recover the loss of income down the line, currently bills have racked up. I had been building the credit for a while but its nowhere near good enough that it buys me a few months while I deal with this. 

Current Fico (all pulled through experian website) 

Experian - 658 - 6 Inquiries Chase and Cap one over last 1 year

Equifax - 664 - 2 Inquiries from Cap One Jun 2023

Transunion - 674 - 2 Inquiries from Cap One Jun 2023

1 Car Loan - 38% paid off - All paid as agreed. - Original balance - $24,097
1 Authorized User Charge Card  - From April 2023  to Current - Balance - $2643
Another AU charge card - October 2023 to Current - Balance $3627
Cap One - From July 2023 - $24/$1500 - less than 2% utilization 

Chime - 4 Year old - $0 balance reported
Deserve - 43 negative months. Charged off in 2019. Paid in 2023. No data reported since July 2023. 

 Wife still works but her income alone isn't enough to keep us afloat until a settlement is reached. Need to offset $1500-$2000/month for 3 months until I am fully cleared to work. I have looked into personal loans but the APR I have seen are upwards of 30% from bankrate and I am currently not considering it. Wife may qualify for an Amex personal loan at 14% but we want to try not to get personal loans unless we have to. 

According to Bankrate prequalification tool I have fair chance with following cards: 

Citi Diamond Preferred
Wells Fargo Reflect

Barclays Advantage Aviator

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Capital one venture x

What is our best course of action?

[Traveler101]

Sorry to hear you are having troubles. It happens to all of us at some point.

I could be wrong, but I suspect that the bankrate referrals, if like most sites, are a marketing gimmick. I wouldn't hold much to it.

Last I knew, PenFed had a pre-qualified for personal loans. Perhaps check that and reach out to Kinecta fcu. They have proven to be successful for some and posting far better rates. Wouldn't hurt to call them. You have nothing to loose.

Best of luck to you.

[harveyc7890]

Thank you. I will try both and report progress. 

[CreditPoor]

Credit is not meant to serve as supplemental income. I'd urge you to avoid that and consider other options like assistance programs and if need be a personal loan or a loan from a family member or friend. Remember there is no guarantee of a settlement from this accident and right now as you have stated your income is zero at this point. 

[youngandcreditwrthy]

be sure you only app for cards that consider household income or HHI considering that it seems you have zero income. 

another topic but qorth the question: do you have STD (short term disbility ) or a way to get unemployment income or UI?

your scores would be okay to get the citi double cash maybe..

good thing you have low inquiries and it seems low new accounts. My scores are a little higher rebuilding but I have so many inquiries. heh

Id consider also Chase Freedom. Your scores arent good enough to get most of those cards unless you can recon. I am just being honest. 

Id go look at the barclay card website and look at the co branded cards that all offer 0% for 15 mos with a 5% bt fee (like the barclays barnes and nobles card). I say this bc barclay's will let you recon and you could recon easily with your scores. My first big boy card was a barclay card with a 6500 limit that allowed me to BT and genuinely helped my credit. barclay's was the easiest recon I ever did and they asked me exactly what limit I needed and also had a 650 FICO at that time. 
Good luck.

[harveyc7890]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:

be sure you only app for cards that consider household income or HHI considering that it seems you have zero income. 

another topic but qorth the question: do you have STD (short term disbility ) or a way to get unemployment income or UI?

your scores would be okay to get the citi double cash maybe..

good thing you have low inquiries and it seems low new accounts. My scores are a little higher rebuilding but I have so many inquiries. heh

Id consider also Chase Freedom. Your scores arent good enough to get most of those cards unless you can recon. I am just being honest. 

Id go look at the barclay card website and look at the co branded cards that all offer 0% for 15 mos with a 5% bt fee (like the barclays barnes and nobles card). I say this bc barclay's will let you recon and you could recon easily with your scores. My first big boy card was a barclay card with a 6500 limit that allowed me to BT and genuinely helped my credit. barclay's was the easiest recon I ever did and they asked me exactly what limit I needed and also had a 650 FICO at that time. 
Good luck.

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That's genuinely good advise. Thank You. I have tried Chase in the past but it hasn't exactly worked for me before. I do like the Barclay aviator card since I could always use the american airlines miles I imagine getting approved might be in the same range otherwise I could seriously opt for barnes and noble. 
I wish Citi did the preapproval because I dont want too many inquiries but I think I can go either Citi or barclay. If you were me which would you gamble with?

[harveyc7890]

Update: Applied for Barclay Aviator, rejected for the revolving card being only 9 months and they didnt consider AU even if I am responsible for them. 

Applied for Citi Diamond preferred and rejected for the credit file being too thin. 

Recon failed in both. 

Luckily I borrowed some money from friends and family and I am able to start working again soon so for now I put all the balance on Amex's plan it feature so while the interest is heavy it gives me some breathing room for the next month or two. 

[harveyc7890]

Update 2: Another round of recon and Barclay actually approved a $1500 limit on the aviator card. Wondering if its possible to get higher starting limit. 

Citi refused Reconsideration.