What is holding me back?

[Anonymous]

Hello, first-time poster, just signed up to hopefully get some insight as to what is holding me back.

I have been working on my credit for the last year, started at under 600, up to 690-700 depending on the source. I track it with CK, which I know is not the best source, but it is free. Currently have 5 credit cards, all with low limits. Fingerhut is the highest at 2350 (3.5 years), cap 1 at 500 (1 year), and credit one at 750 (2.5 years), home depot (1.5 years), and care credit (1.5 years). 

My credit score has risen as I paid off all these cards and removed all but 1 negatives. I have one neg left, which is a charge off from Ford from 6 years ago. I do have several inquiries, 12, most of which were where I bought a car and got a personal loan in July. Another thing that may be hurting my AAoA is my school disburses student loans every 2 months, which shows up as a new account every time, lowering my age of accounts. I would also love to close the credit one since it charges $8.25 a month, but I do not want my score to drop even more.

Applied for Cap 1 Savor, Verizon Visa, and BoA Cash Back rewards, all with denials today. I only did the BoA because they pre-qualified it, only to be denied. I only prequalify for the Discover secured, which I don't really want as I have a couple unsecured. Any suggestions on what to do get a card with a decent limit? I can't figure out why I keep getting denied with an ok score and only one really old negative on my report.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello, first-time poster, just signed up to hopefully get some insight as to what is holding me back.

I have been working on my credit for the last year, started at under 600, up to 690-700 depending on the source. I track it with CK, which I know is not the best source, but it is free. Currently have 5 credit cards, all with low limits. Fingerhut is the highest at 2350 (3.5 years), cap 1 at 500 (1 year), and credit one at 750 (2.5 years), home depot (1.5 years), and care credit (1.5 years). 

My credit score has risen as I paid off all these cards and removed all but 1 negatives. I have one neg left, which is a charge off from Ford from 6 years ago. I do have several inquiries, 12, most of which were where I bought a car and got a personal loan in July. Another thing that may be hurting my AAoA is my school disburses student loans every 2 months, which shows up as a new account every time, lowering my age of accounts. I would also love to close the credit one since it charges $8.25 a month, but I do not want my score to drop even more.

Applied for Cap 1 Savor, Verizon Visa, and BoA Cash Back rewards, all with denials today. I only did the BoA because they pre-qualified it, only to be denied. I only prequalify for the Discover secured, which I don't really want as I have a couple unsecured. Any suggestions on what to do get a card with a decent limit? I can't figure out why I keep getting denied with an ok score and only one really old negative on my report.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

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We would need the full picture

CK scores have zero bearing on 99% of creditors decisions, as they go by FICO scores. Only Synchrony bank I know of uses Vantage scores and they use version 4.0, not 3.0 that is on CK.

My Credit Karma/Vantage scores are much higher than my actual fico scores.

I would at least find out your fico scores via the Experian app for free (EX scores)

Discover scorecard also gives free Experian fico scores.

When you did the prequal for BoA, it actually is not prequal at all, it is merely marketing. It is too bad they make it sound like prequalifying.

Discover has an *excellent" secured CC that graduates in as little 7 months and usuallt comes with a CLI.

Lastly, we need to know about all these baddies holding you down. You aren't going to get approved for large limit and unsecured cards at this time from the sounds of it.

You said you have a repo from 6 years ago. You may qualify to request EE (early exclusion) from Transunion and possibly EX already. I stringly suggest you pull all 3 of your credit reports for free (no scores) from annual credit report. Use that website specifically, as they have the most comprehemsive credit reports around. You should comb through them and see what baddies are holding you down and when the old ones should age off. Get back to us if there are any that are very close to aging off and we can help you try to get them removed. If you have other baddies that have balances, that is probably holding you down. If you simply have high utilization on your CCs, you need to learn how to control what reports to the bureaus to your advantage. Use AZEO.

Get back to us with more info and we will be glad to guide you to bettering your CR and scores.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I know this isn't a comfort to hear right NOW, but it will get better and better over time.  It's a slow thing to get started.  Personally, I didn't have my first credit limit over 2k until I was 29, then all the sudden I got approved for 5k, then 9k, then 14k (I'm 40 now).  Just gotta start pushing that boulder and build momentum.

First thing I'd do is apply for credit limit increase with Capital One (soft pull).  Do it every month until you get approved and ask for $1500-$2k.  You probably should NOT apply for anything else until you're down to 5 inquiries in the past 24mo.  Can you get on as an "Authorized User" on a card of your parents or a sibbling?  Maybe even an Aunt/Uncle or Grandma?  This would immediately boost your score by giving you the positive payment history and account age of their card.

That BoA "pre qualified" thing is misleading, it gives EVERYONE a "recommended Card".

Good luck, don't get discouraged.

[Anonymous]

Sure, I typed the initial post kinda quickly and very annoyed.

I pull all 3 reports weekly, since they are free, I also use Experian which had me at a 695 Fico8, and now a 690 after my HP from today. 

I had 3 neg several months ago, 2 of which were removed by PFD. The only one left is Ford, which TU says will age off in Feb 2021, and Experian says Dec 2020. There are no other negatives listed on my reports as of 9/18. I would love to have Ford removed, but didn't want to do anything that may reset the clock on it or anything.

My utilization of my cards is currently 1%. I usually pay off every card, and really only use the Cap 1 quicksilver since it at least has small rewards.

I guess maybe my only option is to wait, pay more on my car and personal loan and let more HP fall off. I have been offered a different card by credit one, which would swap the 8.25 per month to a flat $39 per year, but I would rather get rid of them altogether at some point. I am considering the Discover secured but I am not sure whether it is worth it and it seems like going in the wrong direction. I appreciate all assistance, I thought I knew a decent amount about credit, but everything I do seems to have the opposite effect I think it should have.

[Girlzilla88]

@Anonymous    If you want in with Discover which I think would be a good direction why not go for that but your best best bet will be until March 2021 when that Ford drops off everything that will help with a boost but if you do get the DISCO now it will be around 6 months by then too which will help with aging as well

[Anonymous]

Tried calling TU a few times to ask for early exclusion. No luck with 3 different supervisors. They stated everything from "we do not do that anymore" to "the creditors don't like when we do that" and the third guy just wanted me to dispute. I guess I am stuck waiting until Feb. Called Experian and they put me on hold for an endless time twice and disconnected me a few times. At least that one falls off in December.

Is it normal for a charge-off from 6.5 years ago to still have this negative of an effect? 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Tried calling TU a few times to ask for early exclusion. No luck with 3 different supervisors. They stated everything from "we do not do that anymore" to "the creditors don't like when we do that" and the third guy just wanted me to dispute. I guess I am stuck waiting until Feb. Called Experian and they put me on hold for an endless time twice and disconnected me a few times. At least that one falls off in December.

Is it normal for a charge-off from 6.5 years ago to still have this negative of an effect? 

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HUCA. You are definitely within the time frame to request it.

It is too early to request from EX. They build in 2 of the 3 months of EE into the "on record until" date, and that is why it is different from TU and EQ. You can only request it one month prior to the "on record until" date, so in Nov you can try it.

Yes, derog of this nature do not fade with age, they sting until the day they drop off.

[Anonymous]

Thought I would update this thread since a few things have happened.

As of February 7, the only derog I had (Ford charge-off) dropped off all 3 reports. It put me up to a 748 Ex Fico8, and similar on Eq and TU, although I didn't get to see them until after I had done a few apps.

I first applied yet again for the Apple Card and got approved for $1500, my highest limit yet, albeit at their highest interest. Doesn't really matter as I pay off every month anyway. I then went a little crazy and applied for a few others.

Discover IT Student - Approved $1500. 

Verizon Visa - Approved $1000

My Best Buy Platinum Visa (Citi) - Approved $4000

Chase Amazon Rewards - Denied (Tried a recon, they just couldn't make it happen)

I am expecting a score drop due to this activity, but I plan to leave it all alone for a year or so, and hopefully, the limits will rise. I wanted to say thanks for the advice here, it really was just that one derog that held me back, and I have learned so much and will continue to practice good habits.

One question: I still have a credit one card open with a $750 limit and a $9 a month fee. I want to close it since I really don't need it at this point, but was wondering how much this would affect my AAoA. It is my second oldest credit account, but I hate paying a fee every month for a card I will not use.

[thornback]

Congrats on your success with the rebuild and your new accounts. 

Credit One - close it.  Closed accounts remain on your reports for ~10 years after the date of closure during which time they continue to age and factor into your age of accounts.  The only immediate effect is the loss of the credit limit if it affects your util. Long term effect is when it finally falls off years down the road, you lose the age -- but since it's not your oldest account,  it likely will not have a significant effect on your scores at that time. 

Just make sure you check the final statement after closure to make sure the balance is $0 and no additional fees have been charged. 

Enjoy your new credit!

[tnhomestead]

You may want to call credit one and try to get the annual fee removed. I haven't been charged in 2 years now. Good luck