Applying for CC at my local CU doesn't go by score **update

[mt2va]

I mailed my letter and application off today so let's see how convincing I can be.  For a small credit union I think a Visa for 9.89% with no annual fee isn't too bad for someone with a score in the low 500s if I can get it.  I was successful one other time getting a fee overturned even though I was told no repetedly they wouldn't overturn it. 

I'll post back and let you know what happens.  Thanks to everyone for your kind words.  It's a wonderful feeling to continue to knock down my debt and also watch my savings/retirement grow at the same time.  My divorce attorney recommended bankruptcy but I didn't want to go that route.

[370Z]

You've done a great job so far. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[mt2va]

One of the executives called to discuss my application today and I had to go over nearly everything on my credit report again that I had already addressed in my letter.  She said she is presenting it to their committee tomorrow.  I'm guessing they are kind of conservative.  I can't imagine for $500 having to present to a committee.  But then again they said they don't just go by credit score.  I even had to go over the positive things on my credit report as well.

She said she would call me back tomorrow.  One thing that makes me thing I may not get it though is she said she recommends people only have one credit card.  I'm guessing your typical bank/credit union person isn't going to understand why so many of us have multiple cards.  I had to explain to her why I had 3 credit cards.  They all serve different purposes and it works better for me just like I have multiple savings accounts that also serve different purposes.  Hey if it helps me keep my finances straight that's all that should matter. 

Edit to add one more thing I forgot about.  Apparently they are pretty inquiry sensitive because she said something about me having 4 inquiries this year.  (they pull EQ)  Well 3 are just from my car lease because the dealer pulled me twice :-( and Chase who financed also pulled.  And then I had one from USAA for opening a secure MC.  (kind of dumb when they just pulled me a few months ago to open a secured AmEx)

[mt2va]

Wanted to post and let everyone know I wasted a HP on that one.  She said no way they could offer me a CC because of having collections etc  Which is sort of why I called them first to discuss and basically told them my whole situation ahead of time before I even applied and she's the one that said oh we don't just look at score we will consider income, length of time at job, how long at same address, etc 

Her wonderful credit recommendation was to take out a personal loan (at around 17.5%) to pay off my 2 NFCU CC (which I currently have at 6%), Fingerhut (which is frozen on interest currently), and both my USAA secured CC (which are at 9.9%).  And that I would need a co-signer to do this.  So I'm thinking despite her 30+ years in the financial industry that she has some really bad advice about how to work on one's credit.  But hey I figured it was worth a shot and seems like they don't want to work with me so I'm switching my primary savings account over to Barclays now since they actually pay a somewhat decent rate on savings. 

Thanks for everyone's support.  I'm going to continue to work on my CR and continue to pay my debt down and just continue with my 3 secured CC for now even if I do have to pay AF.  It's just the price I have to pay for re-building my credit at this point.  Some day I won't have to but I'm not quite there yet. 

[Simply827]

Sorry it didn't work out for you, but you've come a long way so far and you will get there. Keep building.

[09Lexie]

That's a little disheartening. Waiting for a denial is hard. However, you are doing so much. Enter with your credit. This time next year this will be a blip in your memory.