Too many (CC's) to choose from... Help please!

ajburt22 · ‎07-28-2009

Ok, before anyone gets mad at me for the common question, I searched for hours through all the previous posts on the best CC's for rebuilding, however many of the threads were over 2 years old and I know a lot has changed since then. I know there is good advice to be given, so I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

I want a "long-term" CC that can, as stated, grow with me. I've already done what I can to repair, so I am very much so in the rebuild phase. Can anyone recommend me what CC's I should apply for, in hopes that they will actually approve me? I'm looking for unsecured if possible, but will go secured if necessary. My scores and other info is as follows:

FICO TU: 662

FICO EQ: 635

FAKO EXP: 563

I used to be up around 800 across the board until I lost my job and had about 6 months of non-payments. A home foreclosure, and a bank repo (Auto). No charge off's or collections... this bad string of luck occured between June and Dec of 2007. I have been since, and am currently current on all payments. I do not have 1 "active/open" CC, but I'm still paying on 2. My Lowe's card may still be open though. Lastly, I make $190,000 a year and I'm not sure if this is something banks factor in.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Aaron

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2009

Hi...

Have you tried applying for a Capital One card? when I was rebuilding my credit (it was in May 2008 with a 584ish score) I got a Capital One card with credit steps they grew from 250 - 500 - 750 and now the Credit limit is stuck at 750 but it did what it was supposed to, gave me credit to rebuild my profile on.

All the best to you!

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2009

Hi Aaron,

Can you give us a little more detail? Do you have a bankruptcy? Are your PRs paid? You noted that you have two closed cards (although Lowe's may still be open) with a balance. Can you afford to PIF those closed cards?

I think you might have some difficulty with some of your baddies being less than two years old, and cards closed with a balance. You might want to consider a secured card, with a credit union, that will unsecure within 9-12 months. Are you eligible for NFCU? If so, they have a great secured card.

ajburt22 · ‎07-28-2009

I haven't applied for any credit whatsoever in over a year and a half. So i haven't tried Cap One yet, but thanks for the tip... I will try them first!

As far as the background goes, I do NOT have a bankruptcy. I have a Pentagon FCU Visa that I owe $10,500 on, a BofA Visa I owe $3,000 on and a loan I owe $3,000 on. That's pretty much all (and the only) debt that I have. I have no mortgage, no open cards (Lowes?) and no other loans. I can afford to pay the BofA card in full, but even though it's closed it reports a CL of like $9,800 so I wasn't sure if it was helping my credit or not.

Which one is NFCU? I'd like to go unsecured, but whatever will help my credit I'll do. With my scores, do you think I would get approved for the BofA Secured if I put down $5,000 and paid my current Visa first?

Thanks so much for the help!

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2009

hi ajburt22,

NFCU stands for Navy Federal Credit Union...

That's about all I can help with...

I dont know if BOA will give you a secured card... maybe the others can chime in on that...

ajburt22 · ‎07-28-2009

Thanks, I should be able to get one with them since I am a Veteran. I can't wait to start applying... I just hope it's not all for nothing. Maybe I'll try Capital One first... do you know what scores they pull from, or is it all three?

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2009

well I have heard awesome things about NFCU... unfortunately I dont qualify

I dont really remember what they had pulled. Coming to think of it, it was a pre-approval offer letter in the mail because I had an auto loan with them... I think they had pulled Equifax for my auto loan...

I hope that helps

They made enough money off me (this was before I was credit savvy unfortunately...)

I was paying 18.99% APR on my auto loan

thankfully, the APR for my credit card is at 8.9%V and hasnt changed in the current tough economic times so I am very grateful.

creditwherecreditisdue · ‎07-28-2009

@ajburt22 wrote:
I haven't applied for any credit whatsoever in over a year and a half. So i haven't tried Cap One yet, but thanks for the tip... I will try them first!

As far as the background goes, I do NOT have a bankruptcy. I have a Pentagon FCU Visa that I owe $10,500 on, a BofA Visa I owe $3,000 on and a loan I owe $3,000 on. That's pretty much all (and the only) debt that I have. I have no mortgage, no open cards (Lowes?) and no other loans. I can afford to pay the BofA card in full, but even though it's closed it reports a CL of like $9,800 so I wasn't sure if it was helping my credit or not.

Which one is NFCU? I'd like to go unsecured, but whatever will help my credit I'll do. With my scores, do you think I would get approved for the BofA Secured if I put down $5,000 and paid my current Visa first?

Thanks so much for the help!

The CL on closed TL's may not help your UTIL so you may as well pay this one off. Try to get yourself down to one closed TL with a balance ASAP and then proceed to pay that one down. I would not app for credit until you have done a little more house cleaning. Be patient - you will get better results.

Message Edited by creditwherecreditisdue on 07-28-2009 01:46 PM

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2009

Get added as an authorized user to a friend or family members cards that are old, clean, little utilized and have decent credit limits. This will help get your utilization in check for scoring purposes. I'd skip Cap One unless you wanted the card specifically for the no FETF. Not much use otherwise IMO.

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2009

@ajburt22 wrote:
Thanks, I should be able to get one with them since I am a Veteran. I can't wait to start applying... I just hope it's not all for nothing. Maybe I'll try Capital One first... do you know what scores they pull from, or is it all three?

"Veteran" status does not qualify unless you are "retired" in some manner (paid) or directly related to someone who is a member (Parent, Grandparent, Sibling, Child or Household member).

But if you can get in, NFCU is by far the best "credit" source that I have come across.

Message Edited by txjohn on 07-28-2009 09:05 AM