Looking for Suggestions of What Card to Apply for Next

[CreditFun]

Below is a summary of my credit.  I am basically looking to replace my 2 secured cards with unsecured cards.

As you can see, Equifax is near perfect.  However, Experian is what AMEX looks at.  So I am handcuffed until late next year when most of these chargeoffs/collections fall off.

Any suggestions?  I am in Florida.

Credit Score

approximately 675 FICO 8 (waiting for balances to update)

Credit Active:

Cap1 secured 2 years old

Disco Secured 2 years old

Bestbuy MC unsecured 2 years old

Amex Plat and BlueCash Authorized User

Car Loan 3 years old

Student Loan balance exceeds initial loan amount

Closed accounts

thick file 25 years worth

Negative accounts 

(TransUnion and Experian)

last late payment - closed account 3 years ago

3 collections 6+ years old

8 chargeoffs 6+ years old

(Equifax)

1 collection 6+ years old

[Aim_High]

Welcome to My Fico Forums!

Unfortunately, your "25-year thick" file won't do you much good with secured cards, collections, late payments, and charge-offs.  But I might have a few suggestions.

(1)  You're "in" with Discover and Capital One, both of which also have unsecured cards and are generally easier to get approvals from with thin or negative files.

(2)  Who do you bank with?  Credit Unions and banks tend to be little more lenient with applicant's who are existing customers if their account history is good.

(3)  BB&T is a major bank that is in the Florida market (Southeast U.S.)  It appears they are trying to grow and have been promoting their cards.  I believe they have easier underwriting than a lot of banks.  Moreover, word on the street is they are doing SOFT PULLS and that they use EQUIFAX, so that might be a great fit for you.  They have:

    * a "BRIGHT Low APR" card with no AF and 0% introductory APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers

    * a "SPECTRUM Cash Rewards" card with no AF, 0% introductory Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, and 3% cash back on gas, 2% cash back on utilities and groceries, and 1% cash back on all other qualifying purchases

    * a "SPECTRUM Travel Rewards" card with $89 AF waived year one, $200 SUB, Credits for airline fees ($50 annually) and TSA Global Entry/Pre-Check ($85 every 4 years), 2x miles on air/hotel/car rentals and 1x miles on all other qualifying purchases, no FTF, and miles are worth 75% more in value when redeemed for hotel stays. 

[Anonymous]

OP, who is on your credit reports? Who owns your chargeoffs and collections? Some of them may delete in exchange for payment. Could you list them out?

[CreditFun]

The alleged debts are so high that I'd rather wait 6-12 months for them to fall off then to pay for delete.

[CreditFun]

Thanks, I am going to give BB&T a shot!  Just gonna wait two weeks for balance to report $0 and a dispute with a collection agency to hopefully delete.

Collection agency keeps deleting only to reappear after the debt collector sells the entire company to another collector.

:fingerscrossed:

[Aim_High]

---

@CreditFun wrote:

Thanks, I am going to give BB&T a shot!  Just gonna wait two weeks for

balance to report $0 and a dispute with a collection agency to hopefully delete.

Collection agency keeps deleting only to reappear after the debt collector sells

the entire company to another collector.   :fingerscrossed:

---

You're welcome!  Let us know how it turns out! 

It would be good data points to see if your profile flies with them. 

Hopefully, they'll be easy on the derogs. 

[randomguy1]

What are your FICO scores? 

What months do your 6+ year derogatories fall off? Look up early exclusions as you may qualify but YMMV.

[CreditFun]

paid off my credit card debt a couple weeks ago, but still reporting a balance.

according to myfico simulator, early next month my scores will be

FICO 8

EQ 725  TU 665  EX 637

EQ is my cleanest report right now with 1 collection. 

TU 3 collection / 6 chargeoffs  

EX  3 collection / 10 chargeoffs 

I sent in some obsolete/early exclusion dispute just to see what happens, but according to the credit reports and my readings on the forum, I have to wait until 3Q of next year before most will fall off.

My next step would be to do blanket (jack attack) dispute followed by a MOV letter.

With a 725 EQ FICO 8 score with 1 collection showing, any suggestions for apping?  I am looking to replace my discover and capital one, since they seem to not graduating anytime soon. (note, CAP1 and DISCO are appearing on my EX and TU as chargeoffs)

I was thinking BB&T, PNC and maybe another CITI card (however, CITI is also a chargeoff reporting on EX and TU, not sure if just because they allow BestBuy visa, they will allow their own branded card).

Any other suggestions?

[Anonymous]

What exactly is the basis for disputing these accounts? Are they not yours or are they incorrect?

Blindly disputing everything the way credit “repair” companies and the uninformed on the internet recommend and do is not smart. Yeah you may get lucky if someone doesn’t validate, but more often than not the accounts will come back validated, and that’ll update them on your reports, making them look fresh and hurting your score even more than they are now.

Bottom line - unless the accounts aren’t yours or they’re reporting incorrect info that you can prove to be wrong, don’t dispute them. That’s not what it’s for and it usually does more damage than good.

[elixerin]

cant relate to the history length but i wouldn’t shoot down AMEX or disco so fast here, with exactly 1 year history length at 19 here are some DP’s that might help in your deciding factor, also in florida (assuming the old chargeoffs can kinda relate to a really thin file)

I had Disco cash back at $500 secured and was unsecured and increased after 6th statement, you may be getting your luv from disco real soon if you’ve had it secured for 2 years and if waiting is an option(assuming responsible use ofcourse).

if not check AMEX, Chase, BOFA, CITI prequals(also if you have an iphone and you’re interested the Apple Card is free to apply and wont result in a hard pull if you’re denied or reject offer). AMEX approved me with a fairly thin file (as soon as i hit 1 year history) and a generous limit to get me started (i checked prequals on all the above sites and amex was the only one that came back, YMMV), i bit at 714 EXP with 14 HP’s so i looked kinda ugly and still got an in

whatever you go for i would check prequals when your reports are looking the prettiest and if you get a lot of offers through there i would feel fairly confident to jump off the secured bandwagon, also hoping that the replacing in your question means adding to the mix i would be wary with relying on 1 bureau to look at when applying, i have a lot of inquiries so from my experience some big banks at times pull more than just from one bureau (cap one pulled two, chase pulled two), however the AMEX and my apple card approvals pulled only 1(although early in my history a denial from AMEX resulted in 2 bureau HP’s), approvals pulled 1, EXP and Transunion respectively, a denial a couple months back from BOFA pulled only EXP. Definitely a YMMV situation but i hope the DP’s help, best wishes!