I'd suggest you PFB'ing them off a letter. It will go directly to Mr. Cooke, their consumer advocate, he may be able to assist you. If you rather call directly (although I suggest sending a ltr first), the number to the executives office is 800-955-1455. BTW, I know you said they pulled EX on you, however the usually pull all 3. Was there anything in the other 2 CRA reports that are not on EX that could be possibilty pulling your score(s) down? Good luck with Mr. Cooke
Thank you, Mindcrime....I'll do that immediately. By the way, I applied for Orchard a moment ago. The online application first tells you what credit card you are eligible for. It told me to apply for the unsecured MC Classic. We shall see how that goes.
Good luck with Orchard. If you're approved for their unsecured card, and as you said you have no issues with Cap One, I would definately write them via PFB and find out what the problem is.
Hey Toothman - wondered where you were! Go to CardTRAK.com and click secured cards - you can get a FREE reports that has all details on about 50 cards Later - dogman
Hey Toothman, If Orchard doesn't work out, you can get a secured card at New Millennium Bank http://www.nmbonline.com/ccard_application.html They have guaranteed approval for everybody with no credit check and they will report to the bureaus. It has a $35 application fee and a $59 annual fee. It is secured by your deposit and your credit line is equal to your deposit.
try bankfirst, they were one of my cc's i used earlier when my scores were really low. they sent me a preapproval mc, then a visa starting limits of 650 and 750. i closed both, but they certainly helped and increased my limits over time and upgraded to platinum and lowered aprs. very reasonable bank to deal with. www.actionbankcard.com
Have you thought about a Bank of America secured Visa? The CL matches your deposit (can be from $250-4999 for Gold, 5000-10,000 for Platinum). Annual fee $29, APR prime+10.99. This info may be old (was sent to me last year). To receive the latest info call 1-800-200-7119. Its a thought
If you can't qualify for a secured Cap 1, you should not apply inferior cards (recently called "idiot cards" by bankrate.com) Instead, I recommend that you concentrate on credit repair exclusively, until you can qualify for a Cap 1. 3 of your 4 reason codes deal with delinquencies. For now, that is the only thing you shoul deal with. Getting sub-sub-prime cards is not the way to rebuild your credit. Clean it a little, and then get a secured card from a reputable lender. It would be much easier (and cheaper) to rebuild from that point on. Saar
Hi Toothman..... Amalgamated! I would go for the Amalgamated Bank MC with a $500 deposit. They gave me my card 30 days after filing a Chap 13 - no problem. You should call their 800 number and leave a voicemail with your name and address and tell them to send you a secured card mastercard application. Toothman - this is a real bank in Chicago. I have walked past their building...no fly by night company here! It takes about 3 days to get the app, fill in, mail back - then about 7 bus days to receive the card. www.aboc.com is listed in the secured card report I referred yesterday - $500 minimum, BUT they pay about 1% on the deposit and your borrow rate is about 12%. $50 annual fee - no other charges. No charge to apply. Grace period of course. Chance to get an unsecured card with ABOC after a couple of years. They do hold payments (checks only) for 2 weeks. BUT, its a sharp card - remember ABOC will only give you 100% of deposit, but immediately reports as unsecured to all bureaus. You can get a Gold Mastercard if you put in $5000! I did that in 1997 for a year - got the interest and a GOLD MC. But Toothy - remember in 1997, GOLD meant $5000 minimum credit line - not so today. I would get a regular mastercard if I were getting another one now. It is a regular MC app - but with a deposit form enclosed - they do not care about employment or credit, particularly - they just open when they see a deposit. Do a cashiers check if you do it. It opens the account and you get the card fast. After 3 months using MC card #1, we'll get to work on the next card for the Toothman! Let us know your thoughts - our project is to get Toothman a good Visa or Mastercard in the next 2-3 weeks! aarrffffff! Dogman
HI Saar! Hope you are fine - I noticed that the main "IDIOT CARD" is now flashing an ad next to this board! AmeriONE Mastercard - $7500 limit! Frankly, Saar, the BANK on this scam is stupid! WHY WOULD YOU LIMIT ANYONE if they wanted to put in $100,000? Remember, this bank pays NO interest - the cardholder SENDS IN an amount he will spend! LOL! Hope you figure the car rental holds correctly - in advance! AAAARRRFFFF!!!!! pawsing my DVD - dogman
Re: HI Saar! Thank you everyone for the great advice. I have reviewed my credit reports and have ascertained the following: I am current on everything EXCEPT: Providian from 1996 - This falls off next May and I refuse to pay it because its all my money. It was secured for $300, I used it once for $25 and the rest is just fees, on top of fees, on top of fees. They won't work with me so I'm leaving it. Trouble is....even though the last payment was in '96, they report it as open. Gulf State - another 1996 issue. I am in the process of validating. Those are my only "open" account problems. Perhaps Cap One freaked when they saw their pals at Providian having an issue with me. Now for my plan: Mindcrime, I PFB'ed Capitol One to review my reports and hopefully reconsider their rejection. Dogman, I applied for an Orchard Unsecured MC. Since I already have a squeaky clean account with Household, I hope this gives me an edge. Saar, you are correct. If I can't get a card now, I will wait and try again later. I am actively working on cleaning up my credit and I choose not to apply for a Plains or Americredit or whatever card. I will let you all know how things go. Does anyone see a flaw in my plan? I don't need the credit cards at all. I just need positive trade lines.
Re: HI Saar! If you have any problems with the schmucks at gulf state let me know. After all, I have beaten them 4 times now. LOL
Re: A Question for LKH Thanks, LKH. Did you use the standard validation methods to defeat Gulf State?
Re: A Question for LKH I used the validation and about 2 or 3 other letters I concocted along the way. It was deleted from all 3, but 4 months later they reinserted it under OSI on exp. and equifax. I then called the compliance mgr. at gulf state and told them they are in serious violation and what to they propose to do about it. They immediately faxed UDF's to equi.and exp. and sent me a confirmation letter. When I spoke to the compliance mgr., he told me they buy bad debts, thousands of acct's at one time. He also told me that when they buy these debts, the original creditor gives them nothing but the name and amount owed. No proof whatsoever. They supposedly have an agreement that if needed, the info will be provided. But, most of the time, they never get it. So, send your validation, you'll get no response. Then send a followup. You'll either get no response, or a request for copies of your drivers license, ss card and 5 signatures. That is when you call and advise them that you are under no obligation to send this. He'll say something about you alleging fraud. You can then advise him you requested valid proof of the account - period. It'll come off. Good luck. When you get to that point, email me,and I'll get you the name and # for the compliance mgr.
