@mgs2010 wrote:I am helping my mom re-establish her credit, she had chapter 7 bankruptcy discharged 5/2009...
we have a new car loan opened 6/2009 with toyota financial
a credit card with capital one opened 9/2009 with a 300.00 limit
a store card at fashion bug opened 7/2009 with a 300.00 limit
a fingerhut account opened 12/2008 (wasn't closed in bk) with a 200.00 limit
We are looking to get at least 1 more credit card opened for her to have a good mix. she owns her home outright so there is no mortgage reporting...but I need to build her the best credit as FAST as possible (I had to co-sign a car loan for her and I need to have her refi that loan ASAP to get it off my name) SI handle her finances so I'm not at ALL worried about whether or not the payments will be made, I just want to purchase a home and would not be able to as I would appear to be over-extended with this co-signed loan.
any suggestions on what credit cards would be a good bet? First Premier, HSBC and Credit One are out of the question...HSBC blacklisted her (IIB some accts with them) credit one bank we just PIF and closed (we had this until she was able to get a capital one, then closed it) and First Premier is the worst of all and I won't let her get one of those lol.
She's had four loans opened within the last 11 months. If it were me I'd wait a year to apply for anymore credit but I also don't have that co-signed loan to worry about. 
She just needs to make sure she pays everything on time and uses her CC utilization correctly for maximum help on her score.
Optimal credit utilization for FICO scoring purposes seems to be:
Total revolving utilization > 0 and < 9%, the lower the better, and
Reporting a balance on less than half of your revolving TL's, and
Reporting a balance on half or less of all TL's.
All this is just my opinion. Which may not be worth much.
Good luck to her.
(myfico)
7/09 TU-742 EQ- 779
8/09 TU-765 EQ- 783
9/09 EX pulled by lender 802
CC interest free as of 8/09
Time can heal all wounds and a low FICO.
"Hello my name is Sandy and I'm a recovering crediholic".