Credit score: 541 CC needed: Unsecured, initial available credit of $250 after all up-front fees. Preferably no up-front fees. APR: Don't care. Will be paying off balance at $50 a month. Definitely more than minimum payment. Hi. I have an outrageously low credit score due to being a complete idiot for the first few years of my adult life. I already plan on getting a secured credit card which help me (a little) with re-establishing some credit and I already have a co-signer lined up for a consolidation loan to pay off my accounts in collection so long as I graduate. (Can't afford the payments until I have a job in the field) However, I need to get some repairs done on my car and cannot wait to save the money at $50.00 a month. I can't find any unsecured cards for my credit score without close to $200.00 in up-front fees and since I will be getting such a low initial available credit, this will not work. Please help. I really appreciate it. -Ryan
I would definately try orchard bank, they do charge an annual fee to your account wich decreases your available credit to about $230 I think but a great card. Also, you can try credit one bank, the card is usually only a $200 card and they charge you about $70 on your card too but they are a good card also, and they will give you your credit score free, takes about 90 days to get it but they allow you to track your score which is really nice.
Thanks for the replies. A lot of ppl have been saying orchard so I will definately check them out. Any other suggestions are still very much welcomed! Thanks again.
Unfortunately, Orchard only approved me for a secured card. I need an unsecured card. If anybody can help me find one, please let me know.
When you say your credit score is 541 which CRA is that from? Have you gotton your free annual credit reports from the 3 CRA's? (Transunion, Experian & Equifax) Do you know which CRA Orchard pulled? Maybye one of your other credit reports may be better, it's really hard to say & it sounds as if you don't have alot of time to be able to work on this particular problem at this time. Basically if Orchard is only offering a secured you prob have some major credit repair to do & that is going to take time. Unfortunatly you may need to seek other options. Are you employed? Would a advance on your paycheck be possible, borrow from someone? Sell something or pawn it? Barter? Would the auto place possibly work with you? I'm sorry I don't have any answers, I hope it works out for you, Good luck, Tegleg
Thanks, I appreciate the reply. Apparently, I'm gonna have to work out something else. However, when it comes to getting a credit card down the line, I will just have to go with a secured card.
No, not if you get your scores up and a few lines of credit. Go with Crown Jewelers just to add a trade and dispute your derogatories.
What is Crown Jewelers if you don't mind me asking? Also, I'm not sure how to establish a "few lines of credit" without credit cards. (other than maybe a cell phone in my name). You also mentioned disputing my derogatories. Unfortunately, they all seem to be on the up and up. The only thing I don't understand is why the accounts that have been charged off and are now in collections are listed twice. Once with the creditor and once with the collections with a rather large gap in time. So when one is "removed" from my report, the other will still be there for a couple years. This seems unfair to me. Thanks for the reply. I would very much appreciate another one
This is just my experience from about a year ago. You can apply for Crown Jewelers via thier website, they will email you a membership number. I don't beleive they do any credit checks but you must have a verifiable phone number & addy. You can get a 500-1500 CL. But there is a catch: In order to get the tradeline you have to make some kind of purchase and either make payments on it or pay it off, you'll see on thier website thier items will have a "downpayment" price, that is the amount you have to pay up front & you can pay out the rest. I used it & bought my kiddo a necklace (because thier stuff sucks!) I paid it off after about a week & then the next month I saw the TL reporting. I haven't bought a thing from them since. But the TL really helped when I had nada so it served it's purpose. Hope this helps a little. Tegleg
I don't very seriously the account tradelines are accurate and complete. You would forever go down in history as the only person that was true for assuming they were. Not telling you what to do but, you can get some of the collection lines removed. Moreover, you could ask you friends or relatives to add you to their credit cards and by extension, raise your scores (gasp!).
thanks again. I do have a couple ppl that might go for adding me to their cards. Also, how might I go about getting some of the collection accounts removed? BTW...thanks for explaining what Crown Jewelers was Tegleg.
You simply request a re-investigation of the derogatory tradelines by the credit reporting agencies. It is your right under the FCRA. If you don't know what you're doing and don't have the time to learn, there are companies that will do it for you; i.e., just like fixing your car. Some people state we're scam artists and some companies are but, there are legit firms as well. Just be careful who you're dealing with if you don't want to tackle things on your own accord. Licensing, registration with the corporations home state are a must and Better Business Bureau membership and bonding are other credentials to look for.
