Hey everyone! I just wanted to share my wacky experiences this week on Prime Time (Sub Prime hell, be gone!) Ok, just a little background: 1. Have successfuly disputed a lot of bad stuff off my credit reports. The only baddies remaining are a judgement from a student loan (on Exp and EQ) and a judgement from a dental bill (also on Exp and EQ). The last I checked, TU is clean. 2. My brother in law made DH and me AUs on his Amex last Spring. He had the account opened for at least three years until deciding to close it a few months ago. This info appears on all three CRAs. 3. I've positive TLs with 3 student loan lenders. They were originally sent to collections, then after being a good girl and paying them religiously for a year, my loans were rehabed and sent to the OCs. 4. I opened up a First Premier Card in June with a CL of $250. Needless to say, this is a positive TL. Now, on to my adventures in Creditland (btw, I applied for all of the following within a few days of each other all in the same week. Listed in order as well): 1. Providian Platinum - Approved, CL $5000.00 2. Seaman's Furniture - Approved; CL $3500.00 3. Target Guest Card - Approved; CL $200.00 4. Home Depot - Approved; CL $2000.00 5. Lowe's - Approved; CL $500.00 6. American Express Blue - Approved; CL $2000.00 7. Citi Platinum - TD; Reasons per CR: a. 2 neg TLs, b. Few revolving accounts. 8. American Express Green Rewards Card - Approved 9. Best Buy - TD Ok, now for my credit scores: TU - 658 EQ - 598 Exp - 598 Can anyone shed light on this? I just find it odd that I would be turned down for a Best Buy card (through Household) but be approved for 2 Amexs. Any input would be greatly appreciated. And btw, a BIG THANK YOU to the CN family who have so greatly helped DH and me climb out of subprime hell )
What were your scores before you started applying, and what are they now? This many applications would generate a bunch of inquiries that would have to lower your scores, even though balances may not have been posted to your report yet. Whether one or another application is turned down based on your drop in scores from prior applications may depend on which CR each company pulls, and therefore whether they see a bunch of the other pulls. It would be interesting to pull all 3 reports to compare the number of inquiries on the different reports, and see if Household/Best Buy made an inquiry on a report that already had a bunch of other recent inquiries visible. Take a break and don't run up all this credit. The amount of credit you can safely use is based on what you can pay for, not what you can get. In 6 months to a year, with minor useage, paying on time, and low balances, you should recover from the effects of the inquiries, and have a reasonable debt to limit ratio. Manage your accounts well for several years and you will have a good credit history. Why would you need a Best Buy card? Do a search on problems with Household/Best Buy. In fact, do this for any company you have or are considering.
Although you got approvals, with your current scores, what are the rates? You are around 600, not 700. You can get credit but it costs you. You probably would not want to do a major purchase (house) at those rates. On the other hand you should be able to establish a history of responsible credit usage. If in 6 months to a year you apply for other accounts, base it on the quality of terms: low interest rate, no fee, credit line. You don't need more quantity.
Re: Approved for Amex, TD for Best Exp: 598 EQ: 598 TU: 658 Yes, I knew that excessive inquiries is going to send my fico scores down. But I read somewhere on here that multiple inquiries made within a short period of time won't hurt you as much as inquiries made in let's say each month. And oh believe me, DH and I have learned our lesson. Our combined household income is high enough that all this new credit should not become a problem. Our plan is to use each one at least once, pay them off before interest accrues, and then retire all but our Amexs in the sock drawer. The years that DH and I have spent shackled to subprime posts, given no options and treated like second-class citizens because of our credit have taught us the importance of spending wisely. We have a long ways to go yet, but just the mere fact that we were able to obtain Amexs is a step in the right direction. Finally, this is going to sound sooooo dumb, but I applied for Best Buy "just to see". Thanks for the input!
Re: Approved for Amex, TD for Best First Premier - 24% and no grace period (Which is way it gets paid in full before the due date each month). Let's not even talk about all the fees they charge (ie. $6.00/month internet access fee). I only got this card to establish credit. Will be shredded very, very soon. American Express Blue - 0% APR on purchases for up to 15 months and no annual fee. Home Depot - No finance charge, no payments until January, 2006. After that, I think it's like 21%. The rest I'm sure are high. But like I said, DH and I don't plan on carrying a balance on any of them. And as far as mortgage, DH and I received a very competitive one three years ago at 6 3/4%. At the time, DH's credit at the time was pretty good.
Re: Approved for Amex, TD for Best First Premier - 24% and no grace period (Which is way it gets paid in full before the due date each month). Let's not even talk about all the fees they charge (ie. $6.00/month internet access fee). I only got this card to establish credit. Will be shredded very, very soon. American Express Blue - 0% APR on purchases for up to 15 months and no annual fee. Home Depot - No finance charge, no payments until January, 2006. After that, I think it's like 21%. The rest I'm sure are high. But like I said, DH and I don't plan on carrying a balance on any of them. And as far as mortgage, DH and I received a very competitive one three years ago at 6 3/4%. At the time, DH's credit at the time was pretty good.
Re: Approved for Amex, TD for Best First Premier - 24% and no grace period (Which is way it gets paid in full before the due date each month). Let's not even talk about all the fees they charge (ie. $6.00/month internet access fee). I only got this card to establish credit. Will be shredded very, very soon. American Express Blue - 0% APR on purchases for up to 15 months and no annual fee. Home Depot - No finance charge, no payments until January, 2006. After that, I think it's like 21%. The rest I'm sure are high. But like I said, DH and I don't plan on carrying a balance on any of them. And as far as mortgage, DH and I received a very competitive one three years ago at 6 3/4%. At the time, DH's credit at the time was pretty good.
Re: Approved for Amex, TD for Best First Premier - 24% and no grace period (Which is way it gets paid in full before the due date each month). Let's not even talk about all the fees they charge (ie. $6.00/month internet access fee). I only got this card to establish credit. Will be shredded very, very soon. American Express Blue - 0% APR on purchases for up to 15 months and no annual fee. Home Depot - No finance charge, no payments until January, 2006. After that, I think it's like 21%. The rest I'm sure are high. But like I said, DH and I don't plan on carrying a balance on any of them. And as far as mortgage, DH and I received a very competitive one three years ago at 6 3/4%. At the time, DH's credit at the time was pretty good.
