How do I know what to do next...CITI Secured, NFCU Secured/Unsecured, CFNA Recon or something else?

[ocdcreditmonkey]

I am trying to decide if I should apply for the NFCU Secured or Unsecured. OR maybe Citi Secured. I have not had active credit in many years because my husband and I were victims of Id Fraud. After we got it handled (took years!!!), we did everything in cash for a long time because we were just sort of over it!

On 7/16/2018 I opened a Discover Secured card for $200, which when it reports again on 10/4/18 will have a limit of $500 because I increased it. So far, it has reported 2 months of on time payments (1 month $0 balance & 1 month $29 balance). Two weeks later I opened a SelfLender account and a Fingerhut account. As of the end of 9/18 they will both have also reported 2 on time payments. As of this week my current SelfLender balance is $832 and Fingerhut is $100.

Last week I applied for a CFNA Firestone card, but was denied because they "couldn't verify information provided". I am not surprised given that my identity has been in question for years, but all bureaus are actively reporting my info correctly so I was thinking of calling to recon, but thought I should get some advice first. FYI...CFNA HP'd EQ & TU.

I do not have any FICO scores, because my credit profile was dormant for so long and may not generate one for up to 6 months (or so I am told).
My vantagescore 3.0 for TU & EQ are 645 and 643 respectively. Experian has me at 553 because a medical collection for $1200 just landed on me (not mine) and is only listed on Experian. I have already disputed the medical collection as not being mine so hopefully it will be removed quickly when they process my evidence, but having been down this road before I am not holding my breath!!!
Any and all suggestions and comments welcome...What should I do next? What is the best way to successfully recon CFNA?

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU IN ADVANCE 😁

[CreditInspired]

IMHO, don’t apply for any more retail cards.

Also, let the cards you’ve recently gotten age to 12 months. There’s no need to get a lot of cards right now.

Also during this time, the medical dispute will hopefully be resolved in your favor.

Remember, building good credit is a marathon, not a sprint—slow and steady wins the race.

GL2U

[spiritcraft1]

If you are a member of NFCU, their secured card is what you want next.  You may or may not want to have a score reporting but their card will unsecure at some point with responsible use and on time payments.  You want that relationship going forward.

[ocdcreditmonkey]

My concern is if I wait I will not have enough of a credit mix to generate a higher score. Right now, I have 3 open accounts, but only one of them is a card. So, under 5 accounts with an AAoA being 2 months doesn't seem sufficient to generate a good score since even the credit bueaus say to have at least 5 accounts. Shouldn't I open at least 2 more and then garden...especially since SelfLender will show closed in 10 months?

[ocdcreditmonkey]

Husband and I quit our jobs and joined the military right after 9/11. We have been members of USAA, Penfed, AFFCU & NFCU since on or after 2001, we have just never used them for anything other than banking and insurance because we paid for everything in cash all the time. I saw on here that NFCU had the best credit offerings and were pretty generous with their credit lines, so that is why I picked them. I also picked the Citi Secured because they seem generous with credit lines upon graduation and I thought it would be good to have a large civilian bank/card in the mix from a profile standpoint. Until July 2018 I was credit invisible. I literally could not even get my reports online because I couldn't verify enough info to prove my identity. Anything else you think I should know going forward?

[Anonymous]

I’d definitely go for a NFCU card. My gf just got approved for the CashRewards, 562 FICO and a pretty thin file. You already have the relationship there and expanding upon that relationship won’t hurt. I have the citi secured card and that thing was a process in itself to get, took weeks just to know if I was approved or not. And with the issues you’re having with identity verification, they might not want to approve you. Seems like NFCU is the way to go on this one. Whatever you end up doing, GOOD LUCK and ease keep us posted.

[ocdcreditmonkey]

Thanks for the help. I think I will sign up for the NFCU Secured this week, but I still can't help but feel I need to also open one more account to add to my numbers. How long was your gf a member before applying for the unsecured NFCU and do you mind telling me her AAoA and what she was approved for?

[Anonymous]

No problem! She was approved for $500 to start. I understand what you mean. She was a member for literally about 5 minutes. She obtained membership through me. This past Friday night, started her membership and setup online banking. Then we logged in and applied for the CashRewards. Ended up getting the review message, let us know a decision will be made within 24hours. Received an email 20 minutes later, “congrats, youve been approved.”

Her Data Points

AAoA - 1yr 10 months

Lates - 9
Collections - 6

[Pikaboo-icu]

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@ocdcreditmonkey wrote:
Husband and I quit our jobs and joined the military right after 9/11. We have been members of USAA, Penfed, AFFCU & NFCU since on or after 2001, we have just never used them for anything other than banking and insurance because we paid for everything in cash all the time. I saw on here that NFCU had the best credit offerings and were pretty generous with their credit lines, so that is why I picked them. I also picked the Citi Secured because they seem generous with credit lines upon graduation and I thought it would be good to have a large civilian bank/card in the mix from a profile standpoint. Until July 2018 I was credit invisible. I literally could not even get my reports online because I couldn't verify enough info to prove my identity. Anything else you think I should know going forward?

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Thank you so much for your service! Both you and your husband.

I can't even begin to imagine the sacrifices you made. As the wife, daughter, granddaughter of Veterans I am forever grateful.

I will NEVER FORGET! 

  

[ocdcreditmonkey]

Thanks for the info! I might wait 3 to 4 months and apply unsecured instead when I have a longer AAoA. Especially since I have absolutely 0 negatives reporting on EQ & TU and that medical collection on EX that isn't mine should be deleted really soon too! OR...do you think an AAoA of 6 months is still too young for something unsecured? Will they pull me twice if I get denied for unsecured and then subsequently apply for secured? What bureau did they pull for your gf and do you know if it is the same no matter where you live? Thanks so much for answering all my questions, it is so helpful!