Poor Credit/no Credit
11-30-2007, 08:14 AM
#11
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glad to have some personal experience mentioned on Capital One. I've heard of horror stories and rumors of deception and high fees, but never any details. Thanks java.
Good post Jon, you summed it up well. Not a book, but more like a chapter - short and precise. Very good information. Just want to clarify:
Late blemishes (30,60,90,120) stay on your credit for 7 years?
Getting a Target card will boost your credit after a year, assuming no other bad marks?
One problem I have with Citibank, is that their credit cards are "no limit" meaning you can get cash advances and actually charge more than your limit, which isn't entirely true, but they don't report my credit limit to Experian... it shows up as blank, so it doesn't seem to be calculated when I view my utilization of debt. It might show I had a $2,000 balance on the last credit card statement, but my $20,000 limit is nowhere to be found. Though it irritates me, I still get a lot of benefit from using the card, so I'm not going to stop using it.
Good post Jon, you summed it up well. Not a book, but more like a chapter - short and precise. Very good information. Just want to clarify:
Late blemishes (30,60,90,120) stay on your credit for 7 years?
Getting a Target card will boost your credit after a year, assuming no other bad marks?
One problem I have with Citibank, is that their credit cards are "no limit" meaning you can get cash advances and actually charge more than your limit, which isn't entirely true, but they don't report my credit limit to Experian... it shows up as blank, so it doesn't seem to be calculated when I view my utilization of debt. It might show I had a $2,000 balance on the last credit card statement, but my $20,000 limit is nowhere to be found. Though it irritates me, I still get a lot of benefit from using the card, so I'm not going to stop using it.
11-30-2007, 10:03 AM
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I saw Jon mentioned storecards. That's what I was going to recommend after reading the first post.
Store cards (Future Shop, The Brick, etc) will RAPE you in interest, but they are more forgiving of poor/no credit when you apply for one.
I suggest getting one of their cards if you can't get approved for a major card, to start building credit. I had to do that when I first began building credit. I still have that old Future Shop credit card, but with a 29.8% interest, I never use it anymore.
TC: Pay attention to which group your student loan is with, and check your credit info. I know for a fact that (at least in Canada) there are some student loan lenders which DO NOT effect your credit in any way. If you are late, miss payment, pay it all off in one sum, it won't effect your credit at all, and you will not gain any credit from having a loan with them.
Of course, if that loan goes to collections because you miss payments, then the collections agency will negatively effect your credit.
Only reason I mention that, is that there is no point in rushing to pay off that loan and putting yourself in a tight spot for awhile, if it's not going to help you in the long run.
Store cards (Future Shop, The Brick, etc) will RAPE you in interest, but they are more forgiving of poor/no credit when you apply for one.
I suggest getting one of their cards if you can't get approved for a major card, to start building credit. I had to do that when I first began building credit. I still have that old Future Shop credit card, but with a 29.8% interest, I never use it anymore.
TC: Pay attention to which group your student loan is with, and check your credit info. I know for a fact that (at least in Canada) there are some student loan lenders which DO NOT effect your credit in any way. If you are late, miss payment, pay it all off in one sum, it won't effect your credit at all, and you will not gain any credit from having a loan with them.
Of course, if that loan goes to collections because you miss payments, then the collections agency will negatively effect your credit.
Only reason I mention that, is that there is no point in rushing to pay off that loan and putting yourself in a tight spot for awhile, if it's not going to help you in the long run.
11-30-2007, 12:35 PM
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I have my credit card for almost 4 years now. I got it when i was 18 and Im turning 23 in a month. I use the card on a regular basis, but I always pay off the entire statement. So Im curious if I should only be paying the minimum (or a little over the minimum) or pay off the whole thing like I have been doing.
Which is better for building good credit. I would like to purchase a home in a year or so.
Thanks.
Which is better for building good credit. I would like to purchase a home in a year or so.
Thanks.
11-30-2007, 12:42 PM
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whiplash - PAY IT ALL OFF!! As long as the statement has a balance, that balance should be reported to the credit agencies. At that point, you can pay it all off. I would stress that you NEVER pay the minimum required payment, it'll take you forever to pay it off and the remaining balance will accrue interest, and you'll be paying extra when there's no need.
Since you're looking at buying a house one year from now, go ahead and look up your credit score for free. Just cancel it within 29 days or so and you won't get charged.
www.FreeCreditReport.com - Experian's website (one of the three agencies)
Since you're looking at buying a house one year from now, go ahead and look up your credit score for free. Just cancel it within 29 days or so and you won't get charged.
www.FreeCreditReport.com - Experian's website (one of the three agencies)
11-30-2007, 02:35 PM
#16
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With Capital One, you forgot that they will also ratejack you when you go over the limit. And these days, many other companies have done this. They monitor your credit every once in a while, which you can see in your soft inquiry list. If say, you default on Crap1, but have perfect history with Chase, then there may be a day when Chase checks your credit, sees the lates from Crap1, and ratejacks you just because you were late on another account.
This is becoming very common. Just do a google search on ratejacking.
There is NO point in having a balance or paying things off slowly. You will get the "ok" mark on your credit report from that company either way.
Although, there does seem to be an increase in your scores with a 10% balance over a 0% balance. The assumption is that it shows you can do the juggling act with several accounts, and not just have a ton of empty, non-used accounts. Just keep them below 20% for the best score.
While Alex seemed to have trouble with TrueCredit.com, they're not a 3rd party credit report company. They are actually a division of Trans Union just as freecreditreport.com is a division of Experian. That's not to say that people haven't gotten the "oops we forgot to close your account and stop billing you" treatment like Alex. It's actually quite common. You just need to make sure you get the confirmation. Personally, I liked True Credit's monitoring reports better than Experians reports. It was organized better IMO. And Experian is always about 3-4 days late in showing things that had entered your reports.
Even though you use the credit monitoring from either EX or TU, you can still pull all 3 reports from either one. You're not limited to joining all 3 services to get all 3 reports. Just use one service.
I personally use True Credit a lot. I used to use it every day. tee heee. cool.gif Lemme clip what I posted in Alex's thread about "bumping" your inquiries off your credit reports:
Remember, it will only allow you to pull your report once every 24hrs. So start at 7am, then pull your report again at 7:01am the next day, and then 7:02.......
This is becoming very common. Just do a google search on ratejacking.
There is NO point in having a balance or paying things off slowly. You will get the "ok" mark on your credit report from that company either way.
Although, there does seem to be an increase in your scores with a 10% balance over a 0% balance. The assumption is that it shows you can do the juggling act with several accounts, and not just have a ton of empty, non-used accounts. Just keep them below 20% for the best score.
While Alex seemed to have trouble with TrueCredit.com, they're not a 3rd party credit report company. They are actually a division of Trans Union just as freecreditreport.com is a division of Experian. That's not to say that people haven't gotten the "oops we forgot to close your account and stop billing you" treatment like Alex. It's actually quite common. You just need to make sure you get the confirmation. Personally, I liked True Credit's monitoring reports better than Experians reports. It was organized better IMO. And Experian is always about 3-4 days late in showing things that had entered your reports.
Even though you use the credit monitoring from either EX or TU, you can still pull all 3 reports from either one. You're not limited to joining all 3 services to get all 3 reports. Just use one service.
I personally use True Credit a lot. I used to use it every day. tee heee. cool.gif Lemme clip what I posted in Alex's thread about "bumping" your inquiries off your credit reports:
QUOTE
Now, since this board isn't monitored by credit agencies, I'm gonna let you in on a very big secret.
The credit agencies use computer programs to store your credit history. Now, just like every hard drive, there is a limited amount of space available for your data. When you go to check your own credit, a "soft" inquiry gets put on your file. These are inquiries that are shown to you in your file, but don't count against you or are shown to anyone else.
Well, it seems that Equifax and Trans Union both have very small spaces to hold your inquiries. So, when you use a "daily monitoring" system such as True Credit, and update/check your own credit, you put a soft inquiry on your own file. Well, after so many inquiries, your file begins to get FULL, and the older inquiries, hard and soft, begin to magically dissapear, or BUMP OFF. Your filling a 5 cup glass with 6 cups of water.
As of now, I have 0 hard inquiries on my EQ and TU credit reports, even though I applied for a loan only 2 months ago and should have it on my reports. I've found that on average, it takes about 30-45 pulls from Trans Union to begin the bumpage. And about 45-60 pulls for Equifax to start bumping.
Remember, True Credit and other systems only allow you to pull once per day, so it'll take you almost 2 months of straight pulls to get everything bumped.
Experian apparently has a larger file system and will not let you bump. You just have to wait the 2 years for them to fall off.
Now even though this seems like a huge deal and you can't wait to do it, remember that inquiries don't have that big of an affect on your scores. Each inquiry will oinly cost you maybe 3 points. It's not that big of a deal. But it can keep you from gaining new credit and a denial when you apply for more credit and the inquiries you have are recent, within 6 months.
Also, True Credit has apparently caught on to this and has dropped a few members. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you, you just won't be using True Credits services again. lol But you'll be able to get all your bumps before that happens.
The credit agencies use computer programs to store your credit history. Now, just like every hard drive, there is a limited amount of space available for your data. When you go to check your own credit, a "soft" inquiry gets put on your file. These are inquiries that are shown to you in your file, but don't count against you or are shown to anyone else.
Well, it seems that Equifax and Trans Union both have very small spaces to hold your inquiries. So, when you use a "daily monitoring" system such as True Credit, and update/check your own credit, you put a soft inquiry on your own file. Well, after so many inquiries, your file begins to get FULL, and the older inquiries, hard and soft, begin to magically dissapear, or BUMP OFF. Your filling a 5 cup glass with 6 cups of water.
As of now, I have 0 hard inquiries on my EQ and TU credit reports, even though I applied for a loan only 2 months ago and should have it on my reports. I've found that on average, it takes about 30-45 pulls from Trans Union to begin the bumpage. And about 45-60 pulls for Equifax to start bumping.
Remember, True Credit and other systems only allow you to pull once per day, so it'll take you almost 2 months of straight pulls to get everything bumped.
Experian apparently has a larger file system and will not let you bump. You just have to wait the 2 years for them to fall off.
Now even though this seems like a huge deal and you can't wait to do it, remember that inquiries don't have that big of an affect on your scores. Each inquiry will oinly cost you maybe 3 points. It's not that big of a deal. But it can keep you from gaining new credit and a denial when you apply for more credit and the inquiries you have are recent, within 6 months.
Also, True Credit has apparently caught on to this and has dropped a few members. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you, you just won't be using True Credits services again. lol But you'll be able to get all your bumps before that happens.
Remember, it will only allow you to pull your report once every 24hrs. So start at 7am, then pull your report again at 7:01am the next day, and then 7:02.......
11-30-2007, 03:22 PM
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thanks a lot for all the info guys. There was a lot of good information I read here and I think I'm going to take it all in and attack my credit at full speed. I applied for five or six credit cards, only because I kept getting denied. My score isn't so horibbly bad but my credit is so no one would accept me. My bank's Visa (Wachovia) credit card, target Visa, mobil gas MasterCard, and a couple others recomended for people with bad credit. I know some of you are thinking you idiot you probably just lowered your score by all those inquiries. Basically I'm way past my limit on inquiries and as JonGTR stated you may not see a credit drop. I went on freecreditreport.com and I am Triple Monitoring my credit. This is a little more but it allows you to watch and see all three major credit bureau reports. Another neat function is that it provides a credit score illustrator. This will allow you to see what could affect you score and about how much. Very basic tho so you can't rely on it to be perfect.
I finally got accepted for a MasterCard with a bank. The drawbacks are a low limit of $300, interest rate of 19%, a starter fee, annual fee, and a monthly maintence fee. I'll make it work to build some credit tho. I want to get one more card. Paying for these cards is not a problem, nor will paying out their full balances as soon as I get the statements. I am also paying off the three Charge Off's totaling $399. Paying them off will probably raise my score more then anything else and quicker.
I am also going to be on the site JonGTR mentioned, www.prosper.com, and freecreditreport.com a lot for the next couple months. After seeing so much interest in this topic from others I plan to report back to this post with the steps I take and the changes noted by the credit bureau. I don't mind exploiting such info about myself so I will be try to be specific for others who are in a similar boat or tiburon.
First- I am working on getting the CHARGE OFF's paid asap.
These are the charge off's:
JFK Hospital $50 Copay - Collection opened 6/1/2004
Adelphia Cable $107 Combined two accounts past due. - Collection opened 11/1/2005
Progressive Insurance $242 Policy closed due to late payment. Collection opened 12/30/2003.
I paid the JFK bill thru the collection agency today and will recieve a payment in full letter monday or tuesday. I will pay the Adelphia bill tomorrow at Adelphia. I will pay the Progressive bill via mail as it is the only way to pay Progressive rather then the collector.
My goal to accomplish by paying the original creditors is to possibly be able to dispute these ever being on my credit which is highly unlikely for me but I will try.
Second- I have one card on the way. Mentioned it above. I'm gonna get one more and keep them at 15% or lower.
Third- I'm going to get on those sites and read because this doesn't seem like it will be enough tho it may be all that I can do to help my score right now.
Fourth- As soon as my first month is about to end at freecreditreport.com I am going to switch to TrueCredit.com
I finally got accepted for a MasterCard with a bank. The drawbacks are a low limit of $300, interest rate of 19%, a starter fee, annual fee, and a monthly maintence fee. I'll make it work to build some credit tho. I want to get one more card. Paying for these cards is not a problem, nor will paying out their full balances as soon as I get the statements. I am also paying off the three Charge Off's totaling $399. Paying them off will probably raise my score more then anything else and quicker.
I am also going to be on the site JonGTR mentioned, www.prosper.com, and freecreditreport.com a lot for the next couple months. After seeing so much interest in this topic from others I plan to report back to this post with the steps I take and the changes noted by the credit bureau. I don't mind exploiting such info about myself so I will be try to be specific for others who are in a similar boat or tiburon.
First- I am working on getting the CHARGE OFF's paid asap.
These are the charge off's:
JFK Hospital $50 Copay - Collection opened 6/1/2004
Adelphia Cable $107 Combined two accounts past due. - Collection opened 11/1/2005
Progressive Insurance $242 Policy closed due to late payment. Collection opened 12/30/2003.
I paid the JFK bill thru the collection agency today and will recieve a payment in full letter monday or tuesday. I will pay the Adelphia bill tomorrow at Adelphia. I will pay the Progressive bill via mail as it is the only way to pay Progressive rather then the collector.
My goal to accomplish by paying the original creditors is to possibly be able to dispute these ever being on my credit which is highly unlikely for me but I will try.
Second- I have one card on the way. Mentioned it above. I'm gonna get one more and keep them at 15% or lower.
Third- I'm going to get on those sites and read because this doesn't seem like it will be enough tho it may be all that I can do to help my score right now.
Fourth- As soon as my first month is about to end at freecreditreport.com I am going to switch to TrueCredit.com
11-30-2007, 03:40 PM
#18
Moderator
When paying off those charge-offs, try to ask for a "pay for delete". You pay them the full amount, and they delete the account from your reports. BE SURE TO GET IT IN WRITING BEFORE YOU PAY!!! They cannot be trusted.
If they don't want to delete it, then make sure they send you a "paid in full" letter, and not a "settled" letter.
If you have a large amount of money owed, you can always bargain with them to settle for a smaller amount. However, it will also say "settled for less than full amount" on your reports, and you will have to pay the taxes on the remainder as a type of income.
So, unless you owe several thousand, it is best to pay it all.
I saw that hospital bill you have. Read up on creditboards about hospital bills. I read that there's something special you can do about them. Like they're a special case or something. It's kind of seperate from other credit info, so I haven't researched it before.
If they don't want to delete it, then make sure they send you a "paid in full" letter, and not a "settled" letter.
If you have a large amount of money owed, you can always bargain with them to settle for a smaller amount. However, it will also say "settled for less than full amount" on your reports, and you will have to pay the taxes on the remainder as a type of income.
So, unless you owe several thousand, it is best to pay it all.
I saw that hospital bill you have. Read up on creditboards about hospital bills. I read that there's something special you can do about them. Like they're a special case or something. It's kind of seperate from other credit info, so I haven't researched it before.
01-24-2008, 04:19 PM
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I am bringing this back from the dead. I decided to try out the prosper.com thing and if successful will use the money to pay off two CC's with 20% interest. It is very humbling making your credit profile public, lol. owned.gif If you are in the market for helping here is my link at prosper.com.
http://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?l...ferrals-listing
I guess if you sign up as a lender you get $25 credit towards giving a loan.
http://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?l...ferrals-listing
I guess if you sign up as a lender you get $25 credit towards giving a loan.
01-24-2008, 05:59 PM
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I finally got my credit report. My score is 633, much much better than I thought it would be. It says I'm a medium risk. So, as far as buying a house, is 633 a good enough score?