What to Do, What to Do?

[Anonymous]

Hello All- As you can see I'm new here, I've learned quite a bit from all the great info. Of course I'd really appreciate to have some personalized feedback on my situation. Like many, I was an absolute weasel in college and throughout my early twenties and just didn't care to much about my credit cards until I went into collections. I settled that about 4 years ago (Cap1, Disc, Citi to the tune of about 3500). I'm a homeowner now, cr scores of 689,687,667. I have a Macys card and that's it. The only debt I have is my home. The delinq's on my cr wont be gone for another 2-3yrs. So I'm guessing since I have charge offs/paid in fulls for less than full balance w/ the Citi/Disc/Cap1 people I probably shouldn't apply with them again? Thought about going w Chase- but the 3 baddy questions scare me. I was seriously delinq w/ cap1/citi/disc and there still on my cr- albeit quite some time ago. Still thinking of giving it a go. yay or nay? I really need to get some revolving credit going to pump these scores up, and I think w/ my current scores I can achieve that. I'm at the point where I've done so much research I've found ways to talk myself out of applying. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

so none of your baddies are within the last 1 or 2 years? right off hand a credit union comes to mind. nasa, justice, patelco, addison, penfed, or a local one.

[Anonymous]

no there all at least 4 years old. still on the cr tho. what are the chances of one of the majors approving?

Message Edited by chexter on 01-21-2008 08:27 PM

[Anonymous]

try the boa soft pull pre approval link. good scores and 4 year old baddies should be ok. i still wouldn't give up an the cu's though. boa and amex pull ex. amex gave me a plat delta skymiles w/4 baddies and an ex in the 620's.

[Anonymous]

will do, appreciate the info. i thought about amex but the f/r freaks me out a bit. i just cant see myself handing over tax returns and such if asked.

[Anonymous]

chexter, welcome to the forum. There's a wealth of information at your fingertips.

For now...imo, leave AMEX alone, and go for other prime cards. Your scores are good enough to qualify for others, with good offers.

Good luck to you.

[heirophant]

I think if you want to try Cap1 again, it is pretty much a sure thing.  I had a CO with them from 2005.  They sent me a pre-approval in September stating that they wanted me back as a customer and now I have 2 Cap1 cards.  Beware, they pull all 3 reports.

Message Edited by heirophant on 01-21-2008 08:54 PM

[Anonymous]

Well I did the soft pull w/ BoA- was preapproved for 3 cards, each @ $1500. App'd for 1, and got the 10 days response. A little disappointed w/ the cl, but I'll ask for more if approved. If this goes through I'd like to have one more card. So now I have this hard pull, and a Macys back in Aug. I think I'll wait and see if I'm approved and then figure out what's next. Thanks for the info.

[haulingthescoreup]

One of your earlier posts struck me --a Visa, MC, AmEx, or Discover from a credit union is still a major. A lot of people think that CU cards aren't as good as those from the commercial banks, but in fact, they are often superior, especially in terms of customer service, and their credit lines are often great. I have an AmEx from USAA, which is sort of like a CU, and it has a CL of $30K, the regular AmEx buyer protection features, and hands down the best customer service I have encountered.

It is possible to get a card from a financial institution that doesn't treat you like a bloated dead possum on the road! I would keep CU-issued cards on your list of cards to check out.

[Anonymous]

i'll definitely check out the cu in the future. i was thinking it was more of a substandard card, so thanks for setgting the record straight.