Help for Newbie

[autofly]

Ok, When I first joined this board a few weeks ago all I had was my Orchard bank secured card.  $200 limit.  I didn't think I could get anything else.  Since then I have gotten a card from my bank, an AMEX delta gold thats in the process of being transfered to a Blue, and I got approved for a Capitol one card that I have not activated yet.

A few questions:

on my credit report the Orchard card shows my limit as 200 and my high balance at about 350 where I went over one month.  Is this hurting me?  Would it be better for me to give them more money on this secured card and raise my limit to say $500 so it looks like I haven't been over the limit?

I had a CO from Cap1 from about 2001 that I just finally paid in Feb. of this year.  In those six years of oweing them money, they never once sold my account or treated me badly.  They always were wiling to work with me.  Now I have applied and been approved for a new card.  Should I activate this card and sock drawer it until the start reporting limits?  Also would it help me 6-12 months down the road if I have this account to write them a GW letter?

How many cards do I need to make my credit go up while keeping utilazitation down?  As I've said 2 weeks ago I had 1 now I have 4.  I know "you shouldn't apply for cards unless you really need them", but I have had the orchard bank card for 3 years and it hasn't done any good.

During the past couple of weeks I have only been denied for one card.  I want to thank everyone here for the wonderful advice that will soon start to get my credit on track.

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[autofly]

Bump

[Anonymous]

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autofly wrote:

Ok, When I first joined this board a few weeks ago all I had was my Orchard bank secured card.  $200 limit.  I didn't think I could get anything else.  Since then I have gotten a card from my bank, an AMEX delta gold thats in the process of being transfered to a Blue, and I got approved for a Capitol one card that I have not activated yet.

A few questions:

on my credit report the Orchard card shows my limit as 200 and my high balance at about 350 where I went over one month.  Is this hurting me?  Would it be better for me to give them more money on this secured card and raise my limit to say $500 so it looks like I haven't been over the limit?

Auto

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As far as FICO scoring goes - It is not hurting you as long as you have paid back down to within the limit... The impact is nullified after the balance has been brought back down.

A manual review may bring up a question or two, but should be no big deal.

It is always better to increase credit availablility... My suggestion is to increase Secured Savings to more than the reported high balance. After it reports, close the secured account and move on. The Hx will remain from the Orchard card as positive TL for AT LEAST 10 years.

No worries!

BTW - The shorter your posts the more likely you are to get a fast answer.

Rob

[Anonymous]

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autofly wrote:

on my credit report the Orchard card shows my limit as 200 and my high balance at about 350 where I went over one month.  Is this hurting me?

...

Should I activate this card [Cap 1] and sock drawer it until the start reporting limits?

...

would it help me 6-12 months down the road if I have this account to write them a GW letter?

...

How many cards do I need to make my credit go up while keeping utilazitation down?

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The Orchard CC, showing a past overlimit, would only hurt you on a manual review, and then it would only be slight. If you want to bump it up to $400, that will help, and it will remove any chance of that EVER hurting you on a manual review.

You can cheat Cap 1 before they start reporting limits, if you like. Cash one of their convenience checks and max out your card, but don't go overlimit. A few days later PIF the card. This will get a high balance equal to your limit reported.

On your 2001 CO, it's going to drop next year. I'd go ahead and send 'em a GW letter. Might as well try. 41 cents is cheap for a chance to get a score bump.

Anytime you add more CCs or get a CLI, you lower your overall util. I'm not a great believer in the time heals all things waiting game. In my experience, adding CCs gives one an immediate gain. CLIs tend to incur an INQ anyway, one may as well apply for a better CC now, the INQ goes away after a year and doesn't hurt all that much, and the CC will be older sooner if one applies now.

DW and I went from 2 CCs (with $5500 total CL) to 14 CCs (with $34K total CL) and our median FICOs climbed over 50 points since about April.

[autofly]

They didn't send me any checks with the card.  I can just activate it and put it in the SD or not activate it at all.  At least if I activate it it will help with my GW letter and also maybe prove to EQ that I don't owe CAP1 the money on that collection account that they won't show as paid.

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