Assistance with getting Prime CCs

[Anonymous]

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@kimmiller112 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I called the direct EO line and spoke to someone. Do you think they will get mad if I e-mail them since I already called twice and they seemed to be getting annoyed already?

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When you email the EO, a new case is generated and someone gets assigned to it and contacts you.  When you call the EO, you are speaking to people who are in the middle of working on cases and tend not to be enthusiastic about helping someone new.  I don't think it matters that you tried calling in twice.  Email them and someone will call you back, sometimes same day, sometimes day after.  When I emailed them, I did so in the evening and got a phone call the next day.  My suggestion is to make sure you do it at a time when you are available to answer your phone.  Once they talk to you, they will tell you that they will need a couple of days and will call you back.  They called me back two days later and I went from $1500 to $5000, which is what I had asked for - I had the card for just over a year.

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Thanks for the advice kimmiller112. I sent you a PM. I'll give it a shot.

If the Cap1 efforts doesn't end well, does anyone else have any advice outside of getting a CU account and applying for a CC?

[Anonymous]

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@zerobacan wrote:

Try DCU.org is a great bank, they will listen to you

and keep up the good work... and dont get marry again!! lol Im jk

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I'll check out DCU tonight. Thanks for the advice.

Marriage is bitter sweet to me. I miss it, but I don't. lol. I'm concentrating on my own life for now, and my daughter of course. Once I get my life to where I want it to be, then I'll be more inclined to share it with somneone if the right person comes along.

[09Lexie]

DCU may do a secured cc but idk about unsecured. Bk, foreclosure and repo is a lot for them to look past even with your CS

[Anonymous]

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@09Lexie wrote:
DCU may do a secured cc but idk about unsecured. Bk, foreclosure and repo is a lot for them to look past even with your CS

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I agree. That's how I feel about any bank even if it is a CU. Getting turned down is so painful. I never do get used to it.

[ztnjpv]

Question to the OP:

Just curious about the other mechanics of your credit report. Trying to get a feel for possible options.

What derogs do you have besides the BK?

How many INQ's on each report? How many are less than 1 year old? less than 3 months old? How many will hit the 2 year mark soon? 

What's your Average Age of Accounts on each report?

Finally, do you PIF before or after your statement generates? This last question is to see if your reported utilization can be improved by paying sooner and thus lowering your utilization and improving your score with a little better timing of payments.

[Anonymous]

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@ztnjpv wrote:

Question to the OP:

Just curious about the other mechanics of your credit report. Trying to get a feel for possible options.

What derogs do you have besides the BK?

How many INQ's on each report? How many are less than 1 year old? less than 3 months old? How many will hit the 2 year mark soon? 

What's your Average Age of Accounts on each report?

Finally, do you PIF before or after your statement generates? This last question is to see if your reported utilization can be improved by paying sooner and thus lowering your utilization and improving your score with a little better timing of payments.

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I have a BK in 2008 that included a FC and also a Repo. I've been good standing since  that and I have never been late again. I got a new house last year and then I app'd for the Barclay card last month, so I should have only 3-4 Inqs within the recent 1 year. My AAOA is 5 Years old as per myFico report.

I only recently understood how the statement dates worked, so I believe for the past 1-2 years I was not PIF before my statement cut. I always paid in full after I got the "Due date" notice. Going forward, I plan to PIF before the statement date. DO you think that is the key to getting a higher score each month?

[boomhower]

Your BK is going to eliminate a lot of prime cards right off the bat.  If memory serves Discover is BK friendly.  I also suggest DCU, a 680 is certainly good enough for an unsecured but not 100% sure how they will treat the BK.  Visit the BK section to find some BK friendly lenders. 

[ztnjpv]

OP,

Yeah, as to the PIF issue, I was going to suggest controling how your balances "look" on your credit report. In my own experience, the sweet spot seems to be having less than half of my accounts (including loans) report any balance at all and keeping the reported balances around 1% or less of my available revolving credit. I personally have noticed that when more than half of my cards report a balance, I seem to suffer a small reduction in points.

Likewise, when my total utlization goes well above 1%, my score drops as well. I know the running logic is to show 1%-15% but honestly, these percentages are not treated equally in my experience. I accidentally showed a super high balance on my US Bank card in early April and my score dropped. I was more prepared next month and showed no balance and score increased. Granted, other factors in play as well so it's hard to attribute it all to that one thing. But still, seems to to matter. 

Now, what this will do for you remains to be seen. I would suggest preparing yourself and showing a couple cards with small balances and the rest at zero, After you do this and are sure the balances have been reported (CreditKarma is a free way to check TU and they are usually the last ones to update IMHO), see if your score was affected. That could be a small way to get you closer to 700. 

As for inquiries, I was curious if you maybe had any falling at the 2 year mark. Also, after 12 months, they supposedly have no scoring effect at all. They also diminish every few months from the orginal date. Time is all you can do there. Moreover, the inquiries are probably not spread evenly. The report with the fewest inquiries...all other things equal...will probably yield a better score. Likewise, if the report with the highest AAoA is also the one with the fewest inquiries, that will probably be your best score and, thus, may be the report you want to use to get a better card. Knwoing who will pull that report can help influence a possible card candidate. It also allows you to plan ahead. Knowing when your inqs will fall off or pass the one year mark can allow to plan on a certain month seeing a score increase. You can then be ready with your balances being super low to coincide with that month. 

Your BK and Repo still have some time but the effects drop as time goes on.

[Anonymous]

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@ztnjpv wrote:

OP,

Yeah, as to the PIF issue, I was going to suggest controling how your balances "look" on your credit report. In my own experience, the sweet spot seems to be having less than half of my accounts (including loans) report any balance at all and keeping the reported balances around 1% or less of my available revolving credit. I personally have noticed that when more than half of my cards report a balance, I seem to suffer a small reduction in points.

Likewise, when my total utlization goes well above 1%, my score drops as well. I know the running logic is to show 1%-15% but honestly, these percentages are not treated equally in my experience. I accidentally showed a super high balance on my US Bank card in early April and my score dropped. I was more prepared next month and showed no balance and score increased. Granted, other factors in play as well so it's hard to attribute it all to that one thing. But still, seems to to matter. 

Now, what this will do for you remains to be seen. I would suggest preparing yourself and showing a couple cards with small balances and the rest at zero, After you do this and are sure the balances have been reported (CreditKarma is a free way to check TU and they are usually the last ones to update IMHO), see if your score was affected. That could be a small way to get you closer to 700. 

As for inquiries, I was curious if you maybe had any falling at the 2 year mark. Also, after 12 months, they supposedly have no scoring effect at all. They also diminish every few months from the orginal date. Time is all you can do there. Moreover, the inquiries are probably not spread evenly. The report with the fewest inquiries...all other things equal...will probably yield a better score. Likewise, if the report with the highest AAoA is also the one with the fewest inquiries, that will probably be your best score and, thus, may be the report you want to use to get a better card. Knwoing who will pull that report can help influence a possible card candidate. It also allows you to plan ahead. Knowing when your inqs will fall off or pass the one year mark can allow to plan on a certain month seeing a score increase. You can then be ready with your balances being super low to coincide with that month. 

Your BK and Repo still have some time but the effects drop as time goes on.

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I actually did notice this month that when I decided to carry a small balance (<6%) but I had a balance on most of my CCs, it managed to bring my score down a few points. For this next statement, 'm going to try what you suggested and only carry a small balance on just 1 card and PIF everything else. Thanks for tip, ztnjpv.

[Anonymous]

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@kimmiller112 wrote:

First, if I were you, I would email the executive office for Capital One (you can do a Google search for the email address) and ask for increases on both of your Capital One cards and your Orchard card.  They will call you back and ask you some questions, including what kind of a limit you would like.  They will also ask you if you would accept a lower limit if they can't approve the limit you want, so you may want to ask for $2000 for each of the Capital One cards since you are sitting at $750 on those and $1500 for the Orchard card since you are sitting at $300 on that one.  They should be soft pulls.  Then, let those report.  Once they have reported, I would go ahead and app for Discover and Chase Freedom.  Then garden everything for at least 6 months or even a year and you should see an increase in your score.

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Cap1 called and gave me a CLI on only one card but the declined the other 2 cards for a CLI. They said it was because I do not have enough experience with high limits. So my one card is going to be $1500.00, which I am very happy and grateful for. Do you think that is enough for Discover and Chase or do I need higher limits still?