At what point (credit score) can I expect to begin getting approved for prime credit cards? Currently I have a Capital One ($1,000 limit), Orchard Bank (soon to be converted to Capital One - $1,000 limit), Credit On ($650 limit), and then various store cards (Comenity Bank - Buckle ($500), Victoria's Secret ($250), Maurices ($250), Justice ($250)), Kohls ($600), Firestone (CFNA) ($900), and Care Credit ($1500 (was $3000 last year and now they reduced limit to $1500). My scores are in the low 600's. Credit Sesame - 609; Credit Karma - 613; Credit One gives score of 646. I'm just tired of having cards with ridiculous interest rates, monthly and yearly fees and would like to know if prime credit cards are in my near future or distant future.... Thanks!
Starting Score: 609
There are other factors that affect what kinds of cards you qualify for. Utilization, AAoA, Negative TL's, etc. Can you post that information here so someone can help you?
Currently my utiliziation isn't that great. I have a few cards that have no balance at all, but then some my util is rather high... 70%. I should have quite a bit paid down next month though. My AAoa - my oldest credit card (Orchard Bank) is 2 1/2 years old (I'm rebuilding). Care Credit was opened 1 1/2 years ago, as was the capital one and Credit One. the rest were opened in march of this year except for the Buckle which was opened just recently. As far as negative tradelines goes, there are quite a few baddies... I believe I have 2 more things to get rid of THAT I CAN, the rest are Sallie Mae lates that will not be removed. The problem with that is my one single late payment took 7 hits, so 3 lates = 21 lates becasue my one payment was comprised of seven individual loans! My last late was 3 years ago... maybe a little longer.
You'll get there in time Cheyenne!
At this point, you can't control your score much because of those baddies, but you can control your utilization. Keep that low with responsible spending to show lenders that you aren't a risk of default again. It doesn't get mentioned here a lot, but the presence of lates AND high credit usage on a credit report are compounding factors in the eyes of many lenders. Credit scores don't necessarily take them into account on a combined basis, but internal scores often do. Which means if you have lates on your reports but low balances, your scores might be in the mid-range of bad, lets use 55th percentile as an example. If you have high balances and no baddies, your scores might be a little higher, say 65th percentile. But once you have them combined, you fall down to the 20th percentile or lower, and no one wants to touch you because one little "life hiccup" (illness, unemployment, divorce, etc.) and your account will be late again. So it is really important as an individual with baddies on your report to show lenders that you aren't dependent on credit to live (whether you are or aren't) by showing a low utilization. It's not just about the scores you can see (FICO), but also the scores you can't see that use predictive behavior models.
At this point, you can't control your score much because of those baddies, but you can control your utilization. Keep that low with responsible spending to show lenders that you aren't a risk of default again. It doesn't get mentioned here a lot, but the presence of lates AND high credit usage on a credit report are compounding factors in the eyes of many lenders. Credit scores don't necessarily take them into account on a combined basis, but internal scores often do. Which means if you have lates on your reports but low balances, your scores might be in the mid-range of bad, lets use 55th percentile as an example. If you have high balances and no baddies, your scores might be a little higher, say 65th percentile. But once you have them combined, you fall down to the 20th percentile or lower, and no one wants to touch you because one little "life hiccup" (illness, unemployment, divorce, etc.) and your account will be late again. So it is really important as an individual with baddies on your report to show lenders that you aren't dependent on credit to live (whether you are or aren't) by showing a low utilization. It's not just about the scores you can see (FICO), but also the scores you can't see that use predictive behavior models.
@SnackTrader wrote:
You'll get there in time Cheyenne!
At this point, you can't control your score much because of those baddies, but you can control your utilization. Keep that low with responsible spending to show lenders that you aren't a risk of default again. It doesn't get mentioned here a lot, but the presence of lates AND high credit usage on a credit report are compounding factors in the eyes of many lenders. Credit scores don't necessarily take them into account on a combined basis, but internal scores often do. Which means if you have lates on your reports but low balances, your scores might be in the mid-range of bad, lets use 55th percentile as an example. If you have high balances and no baddies, your scores might be a little higher, say 65th percentile. But once you have them combined, you fall down to the 20th percentile or lower, and no one wants to touch you because one little "life hiccup" (illness, unemployment, divorce, etc.) and your account will be late again. So it is really important as an individual with baddies on your report to show lenders that you aren't dependent on credit to live (whether you are or aren't) by showing a low utilization. It's not just about the scores you can see (FICO), but also the scores you can't see that use predictive behavior models.
Yes definitely ditto on this. The best thing that the OP can do is work on getting the past cleaned up with for example GW letters and work on all of the stated above. Until then nothing but time will put you into prime because those baddies need to age. Perhaps OP could benefit from the rebuilder forum to help lay out a method of attack.
You have to get your utils down and keep them down so your scores can rise and remain there consistently. when the baddies age a little more, you'll be in position for a prime to give you another chance... Good luck you can do it!!!!
Starting Score: TU 595 EX 600 EQ 585
When did those lates occur? I think if you sculpt util correctly, you might be able to qualify for better cards. Can you give me more details on credit file.
LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS