Not approved for secured cards. Advice?

[Anonymous]

I will start with a small back story. An ex of mine used my credit card and racked up $25,000! My card ended up getting closed and of course, I haven't been able to pay off that large amount of money. I am trying to find a secured credit card to try and rebuild my credit but I wasn't approved for the two I applied for, Discover It and one from Capital One. I have two credit cards open right now and I do pay the bill on time each month, but it hasn't highered my score. My score went from a 780 to 450 within 10 months and seems to just keep going down. Any advice on secured cards I can get or any other advice to higher my score? I'm 30 years old with one child and one on the way within the next month, and I don't have a car so I would hate to file bankruptcy.

[Anonymous]

How old is the 25k debt? When did it become delinquent? Is it past SOL?

If you currently have two cards, I'm not sure how much an additional card is going to help your score if any at all.. with that big CO hanging around.

And honestly, because you're still young it may not be a bad idea to file BK if you cant settle the debt. That much $ in bad debt isnt going to simply go away. They will come after you for it. Better to be on your terms instead of having your wages garnished or something..

[Jnbmom]

Is that 25K on one card? How old is the debt? 25K is alot for a lender to let go you may be sued and receive a garnishment.

What 2 cards do you have? Open sky does not do a credit check.

Not sure with not having a car has to do with a BK? Do you have any other debts besides the 25K? I know some may think 25K isn't enough to file but for some it's enormous.

[Anonymous]

My card was closed in September 2017 with the $25,000 debt on it. I am a stay at home mother, therefore I don't work and don't have an income to garnish. I have gotten letters stating I can pay $11,000 and settle, but obviously I don't have that $11,000 or else I would have paid. I am just not sure what I am supposed to do now.

[Anonymous]

They have other ways if you have no income to garnish. They can also take your tax refunds. The debt is still fresh and several years left to take legal action against you.

Personally, I would go to work and repay my debt or file BK if I was unable to work.

[Anonymous]

I don't get tax refunds, so I guess that is also out of the picture. I don't have transportation and with two kids, well soon two, I'm not even sure how working will work. Is it possible to contact the credit company and see what other options I have?

[19eighty5]

To answer your question and also reiterating a comment one of the earlier replies mentioned, OpenSky does not perform a credit check and would be a good bet for a new secured card. This was my first secured card when I started my rebuild back in February. I hope this helps and good luck as you navigate this.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Did you give him permission to use the card?

If so, you can try calling them to set up a payment plan, but with that amount and not even including interest, it would have to be a high payment to keep them from sending you to collections or suing you. You're not judgement proof for life. Once the judgement is in place, it can be renewed every 10 years and anything you make or purchase in the future will be fair game to them. So, unless you can stay unemployed until you receive social security, it will hang over your head for the rest of your life.

If not, why didn't you file a police report and report the fraud to the bank and credit bureaus?