@Anonymous wrote:I get what you're saying, but actually running an application twice in a year can't be that harmful, can it? I'm learning sorry.
That combined with 30 "random" credit checks for a car loan does appear to be harmful.
@Anonymous wrote:
@FishingGuy wrote:I agree with everyone here, and believe you should wait and let everything age. What I don't understand is how did "random" car lots run your credit 30 or so times when you were not in the market for a vehicle..... can you please explain how that happened?
That's what I don't understand. They're not even located near me, all 1 hour plus away from where I live. And they're all low level car lots and not actual dealerships.
These all happened in Dec 2020. I never even went in to look at a vehicle until Feb 2021, and I knew where I was going (long time friend works at a Ford dealership) and what loan agency I was going to use. So when I got my car in Feb, only one company ran my credit, and that's who I have it financed through. And this is indicated on my credit report as they were the only company to run my credit in 2021 until Capital One ran my information last week.
Have you pulled all your credit reports through annualcreditreport? If not, I would recommend doing that immediately and making sure that there is no other activity that you do not recognize. If you truly did not visit any car lots and give them your information to pull credit, it sounds like this was an attempt at identity theft.
I would also recommend that you freeze all your credit reports NOW so that no additional inquiries can be made without you knowing about it. It is a little more hassle when you truly are ready to apply for credit but it is MUCH MUCH MUCH less of a hassle than trying to undo the damage of identity theft.
Good luck.
@Anonymous wrote:On the road to rebuild and I've read on numerous places that I really need more for card on my profile. The problem is, I keep getting denied for anything I apply for.
Currently have two Navy Federal Secured cards. 3% utilization on one, 0% on the other.
I've applied for: discover secured, BOA secured, Cap one secured, Cap One WalMart, Cap One Platinum. All to no avail. Sorry to provide context, I went through pre-approval for most of these and were denied so I didn't bother applying and taking the hit. The only two cards I've appliedfor were the Cap 1 Platinum after I was pre-approved, and the NFCU Cash Rewards cause I've been a member for 6 years so took a shot in the dark in hopes it would work out in my favor.
Everything I've read says to also stay away from the likes of Merrick Bank, Capital Bank, and all those sub primes.
any suggestions or is it best to just wait it out during my rebuild?
You absolutely should not be applying for anything at this point. You're just digging your hole deeper.
@Anonymous wrote:Absolutely can do that. I only have two letters in front of me currently, so I'll provide those. This is from C1:
- too many recent inquiries...working on this. I had some random car lots running my information last year which accounted for probably 30 credit checks when I was not looking for a vehicle in any capacity. So that 100% makes sense, but something I'm working on.
Normally, fixing excessive inquiries would be a low priority, because they age off on their own, but Cap1 seems to be putting it at the top of the list of reasons for your denial. Is it possible your friend at the Ford dealership ran the inquiries on your behalf last December so you would know which finance company to deal with once you were ready to purchase a car? If so, you may have more difficulty disputing these inquiries at the CBs, because your friend could have used all the correct info needed to verify that the inquiries are legit.
- credit limits are too low (2K and 1K currently on my two cards, those are the original opening balances)
(Ha! Cap1 is one to talk!) Navy Fed nRewards cards don't report as secured, so it could be that Cap1 expects you to have higher CLs on unsecured CCs, given your income and the length of your credit history. While you're eligible to increase your CLs on your nRewards cards at $50 increments on each card, I don't think that's the best use of your money right now.
- too many chaged-off past or present credit obligations (1, paid in full, but of course doesn't go away).
- too many charged-off past or present revolving credit obligations (1, paid in full, but of course doesn't go away).
The COs are going to be a problem.
This is from NFCU for unsecured:
Since your Navy Fed financial relationship has the most potential, this is where you should concentrate your efforts to get into Navy Fed's good graces.
- not enough debt management or property owner experience (not a clue on this)
I'm guessing, but I think it's an internal Navy Fed assessment, not a CR assessment, meaning you don't have enough transactional credit history with Navy Fed for them to give you a "passes minimum requirements" rating.
- high interest rate loan application (my financed vehicle...sh*t credit = sh*t interest rate, go figure)
You used a "lender of last resort." History shows that people who use lenders of last resort are in the highest risk category: in imminent danger of default.
- # of alternative credit lenders too high
Again, "lenders of last resort." Other, more experienced folks can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you may be able to fix these two negative reasons by refinancing your vehicle with a reputable lender. However, your current CRs will probably prevent that in the near term. Is it possible to pay off the loan or else sell the car, pay the loan in full, and replace the vehicle with a cheaper, used car that you buy with your own savings?
If you do pay off the auto loan and all your SLs are already paid back, you will no longer have an open installment loan. Get a Navy Fed SSL to replace the auto loan and pay it down to 9.4% or less to get the most FICO points for credit mix and aggregate installment loan utilization. The Navy Fed SSL is superior to almost all self-lender loans, because there are no HPs, no fees, it's very low interest, you don't have to wait till the end of the loan to get your secured deposit back, and you can pay it down immediately to a low balance and still retain the length of the loan term to maximize your FICO score for the entire length of the loan. About 4 days after you make each Navy Fed SSL payment, an equal secured amount is released from hold, and you can immediately spend that money any way you wish.
- insufficient short-term/small dollar lending data.
I remember reading your thread the other day in the "Rebuilding Your Credit" forum. (Your FICO scores have come a long way in the last four months, so you should be congratulated!) In addition to the two nRewards cards, you have two closed pledge loans. How old are each of the nRewards cards and have you been using both CCs multiple times each month with significant dollar amounts? (It doesn't have to be 30% to 50% of your CL, but $10 once per month doesn't cut it when you have a trunk full of baddies on your CR to overcome.) Are you paying each nRewards card in full every month, preferably more than once per month to increase your Navy Fed positive transaction history? What were the term lengths and dollar amounts of your two pledge loans?
I know I'm being nosy, but it helps to know how close you are to reaching the "sufficient positive lending data" stage when you apply for your next Navy Fed CC or refinance your auto loan, so we can make recommendations to help you and future credit rebuilders get there successfully.
"any suggestions or is it best to just wait it out during my rebuild?"
Using the AZEO method with 3 CCs instead of 2 CCs would yield a few more points on your scores, but it's not enough to overcome the baddies on your CRs. Your FICO scores will still be low, and your 3rd CC would most likely be from a sub-prime lender and bucketed with a low CL. For now, concentrate on cleaning up your CRs and aging your current credit accounts with perfect payment histories.
