@HeavenOhio wrote:Interesting response, @Anonymous. You're able to pull reports and Discover can't. One thing I'd do for sure is try again in eight to ten days to see if anything has changed. I'd also see if other pre-qual tools yield similar results. Other than that, I'm not sure how to handle a situation like this. Maybe either @K-in-Boston or @Remedios has an idea.
Another idea is to check out credit unions. Tell them exactly what you told us, i.e. about the old charge off, the previous lates on your student loans, and the response you got from Discover. NFCU is a very popular option around here. You're eligible to join if you have a military connection, e.g. a parent, grandparent, sibling, or maybe an aunt or uncle.
Thanks! I called Navy Federal and spoke with a credit card program rep. He advised me to get a shared pledge loan to build of my payment history and also build up a relationship with the bank. Fortunately I'm a member already so I think ill go that route. I'm really worried about the charge off and late payments hurting my chances.
I think the main thing that @Anonymous needs is something that'll start making his credit report visible to lenders. 
I'm still trying to figure out why he can pull his reports and get scores but Discover can't.
If there's one thing we've learned about Navy, it's that they figure out how to make things work. People with much bigger "messes" than the OP have done will with them. I think he can position himself to move into an unsecured card sooner than later.
I like the loan idea, and I like the idea of applying for a card right way. I'd ask if you can apply for an unsecured card and fall back on a secured card if denied.
As far as the loan goes, ask if paying ahead pushes your payments into the future vs. having to make a payment every month. The idea would be to implement the Share Secure Loan technique. That's where you get a loan, pay most of it off, and drag out what's left as long as you can. The low balance vs. original loan amount will result in a nice kickstart to one's FICO 8 scores.
Check out the first few posts of this thread:
Adding an installment loan -- the Share Secure technique
Also try searching the forum for navy share secure loan and nfcu share secure loan.
@Anonymous, that's a good point about @Anonymous already having loans. There isn't likely to be a direct scoring benefit to adding another. But he'd thicken his file and add something that's recent. And there'd still be a financial benefit of paying most of it down early. He'd save on interest, and his funds would become available to him again.
I agree with checking AMEX, although even if he's pre-qualified, I don't think AMEX would result in a great approval at this time. I envision one of those $500 or $1,000 limits that don't grow. The reason I see for checking AMEX is to determine if they have the same issue finding his credit report that Discover did.
Checking to make sure reports aren't frozen is a good call, too. We all should have thought of that.
@FishingGuy, I wouldn't suggest applying for a Discover card until the OP is sure that they can find his report.
@HeavenOhio wrote:I think the main thing that @Anonymous needs is something that'll start making his credit report visible to lenders.
If there's one thing we've learned about Navy, it's that they figure out how to make things work. People with much bigger "messes" than the OP have done will with them. I think he can position himself to move into an unsecured card sooner than later.
I like the loan idea, and I like the idea of applying for a card right way. I'd ask if you can apply for an unsecured card and fall back on a secured card if denied.
As far as the loan goes, ask if paying ahead pushes your payments into the future vs. having to make a payment every month. The idea would be to implement the Share Secure Loan technique. That's where you get a loan, pay most of it off, and drag out what's left as long as you can. The low balance vs. original loan amount will result in a nice kickstart to one's FICO 8 scores.
Check out the first few posts of this thread:
Adding an installment loan -- the Share Secure technique
Also try searching the forum for navy share secure loan and nfcu share secure loan.
I called Equifax to figure out why Discover couldn't pull my file. I answered all the security questions about my credit file and they said they still couldn't access my account. The rep advised me to fax or mail a letter with two forms of ID stating that I wanted to know whether anything was stopping my account from being pulled and to free my account for viewing by companies.