I have been lurking here for a while now. After feeling embarrased about filing BK, it was nice to see some people who dont look at you as a bum. We were discharged in Oct. 05. Until I read the post here I hadn't applied for any cards and honestly didn't have a clue how to rebuild. We bought a car thru Chase about 6 months ago and that is in good standing. I still didn't have confidence to try any CC's. We did try to get a house about 6 months ago and the guy said we needed to pay on the car on time for a year and open another line of credit somewhere. I honestly felt like we were doomed. I got a letter in the mail about a month ago from Credit One Bank saying we were pre approved for a Visa. I did the online thing and she got a card with 200 dollar limit and 59 dollar fee. As bad as that sucks I was so happy you would of thought we won the lottery. All the while I was reading here about the different things we needed to do to rebuild, so I pulled our credit reports. Just like everything I had read here there were lots of errors. I was suprised to see our scores were actually better than I thought. TU 650 EX 633 EQ 601.
And that was with 3 medical bills totaling 30000 dollars still showing as open and in collections and another bill in collections that shouldnt have been there. So I write my disputes to the CB's but in the meantime feel like I want to go on one of these app sprees I had been hearing about. I went in this order.
Cap One Platinum Mastercard......Instant Approval 750 CL 29 dollar fee 14.00% and a letter with my first statement saying the CL will increase 500 more in 3 months as long as we dont go overlimit and pay on time.
Now I have some confidence so I go to HSBC and get approved for a Platinum MC with 300 dollar limit and 59 dollar fee 9.00%
Then I go for HSBC Visa and get approved but when I get the card its Orchard Bank Visa 300 dollar limit same fee and interest rate as the other.
I then try for the Target card and get my first taste of rejection. Brings my confidence level down a bit but I am not done.
Next on my list is WaMu. Did the online thing and got a we will get back to you message. 7 days later we are holding a card with 1500 dollar limit and all the good things that come with WaMu.
I then try for Hooters card and my wife gets rejected but I get approved for 1000 and an insane 29.99% or something. Actually thought I was rejected like my wife was and forgot about it. But it came in the mail today.
Credit One approved 200
Cap One approved 750
HSBC approved 300
Orchard approved 300
Target rejected
WaMu approved 1500
Hooters approved 1000
I am overwhelmed with happiness now. It's so much better to be going to your mailbox and getting good things instead of a letter from someone threatening you. Just an unreal feeling.
I have sent my letters to the CB's and expect all the things I mentioned to be reporting correctly soon.
As far as advice I could give anyone else all I can say is go for it. Our FICO took a little hit of 10 points but I think that can be improved over some time. Matter of fact I used one of there simulator things and it said if we pay all our bills on time for 18 more months and just keep doing what we have been doing our scores will be at 714 to 722. Thats awesome because thats exactly when we plan to purchase our first home. At that time we will be three years discharged and there will be no stopping us then. One thing I have learned is that the credit game is a crazy game. My wife makes more than me and has better FICO's yet got turned down for cards I got approved for and vice versa. There really is no sense to it all. Also depending on where you get them from your credit reports and scores can vary wildly. And I do mean wildly. Another thing is that sometimes the CC companies will do a hard inquiry on one person and not another and sometimes even no inquiry. It really is something that you can not measure.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have about me and my situation. I will do my best to help but like I said before. It's a crazy game and there are no rules.
I would love to know what you folks opinions are on what I should do with the cards that are from the known subprime lenders like Credit One and Orchard. I actually prefer to keep Cap One, HSBC, WaMu, and Hooters just because they are not looked at as bad credit CC's. I am scared to close them though. Anyone with expertise on this I would love to hear from.
Sorry for makiing this so long but I have been waiting for this for a long time and wanted to share it all with the people I feel helped me accomplish it.
Thanks a Ton
Gary
And that was with 3 medical bills totaling 30000 dollars still showing as open and in collections and another bill in collections that shouldnt have been there. So I write my disputes to the CB's but in the meantime feel like I want to go on one of these app sprees I had been hearing about. I went in this order.
Cap One Platinum Mastercard......Instant Approval 750 CL 29 dollar fee 14.00% and a letter with my first statement saying the CL will increase 500 more in 3 months as long as we dont go overlimit and pay on time.
Now I have some confidence so I go to HSBC and get approved for a Platinum MC with 300 dollar limit and 59 dollar fee 9.00%
Then I go for HSBC Visa and get approved but when I get the card its Orchard Bank Visa 300 dollar limit same fee and interest rate as the other.
I then try for the Target card and get my first taste of rejection. Brings my confidence level down a bit but I am not done.
Next on my list is WaMu. Did the online thing and got a we will get back to you message. 7 days later we are holding a card with 1500 dollar limit and all the good things that come with WaMu.
I then try for Hooters card and my wife gets rejected but I get approved for 1000 and an insane 29.99% or something. Actually thought I was rejected like my wife was and forgot about it. But it came in the mail today.
Credit One approved 200
Cap One approved 750
HSBC approved 300
Orchard approved 300
Target rejected
WaMu approved 1500
Hooters approved 1000
I am overwhelmed with happiness now. It's so much better to be going to your mailbox and getting good things instead of a letter from someone threatening you. Just an unreal feeling.
I have sent my letters to the CB's and expect all the things I mentioned to be reporting correctly soon.
As far as advice I could give anyone else all I can say is go for it. Our FICO took a little hit of 10 points but I think that can be improved over some time. Matter of fact I used one of there simulator things and it said if we pay all our bills on time for 18 more months and just keep doing what we have been doing our scores will be at 714 to 722. Thats awesome because thats exactly when we plan to purchase our first home. At that time we will be three years discharged and there will be no stopping us then. One thing I have learned is that the credit game is a crazy game. My wife makes more than me and has better FICO's yet got turned down for cards I got approved for and vice versa. There really is no sense to it all. Also depending on where you get them from your credit reports and scores can vary wildly. And I do mean wildly. Another thing is that sometimes the CC companies will do a hard inquiry on one person and not another and sometimes even no inquiry. It really is something that you can not measure.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have about me and my situation. I will do my best to help but like I said before. It's a crazy game and there are no rules.
I would love to know what you folks opinions are on what I should do with the cards that are from the known subprime lenders like Credit One and Orchard. I actually prefer to keep Cap One, HSBC, WaMu, and Hooters just because they are not looked at as bad credit CC's. I am scared to close them though. Anyone with expertise on this I would love to hear from.
Sorry for makiing this so long but I have been waiting for this for a long time and wanted to share it all with the people I feel helped me accomplish it.
Thanks a Ton
Gary
Comment