During the Fall and Winter of this past year I went through some financial ruin you could say. I now find myself living with my parents at 24 years old, which I don't have to tell you is no fun. Today I applied for a checking account with Bank of America and was declined. I obtained a copy of my credit report online from Experian a little while ago. Lo and behold I saw all of the horrendous negatives listed that I knew would be there, although I wasn't sure how extreme it would be. I have several negatives, including some charged off, up to 180 days past due, closed, etc. I am new to repairing credit, and I have to say this is all very depressing to me. I worry that I wont' be able to move out of my parents house, wont be able to get a bank account, etc. forever!! Need help, advice, etc. from anyone who knows a good place to start. I'm working now and have slowly began to bring everything current, which most are. But I'd really like to improve my credit! HELP!
Most banks check with Chexsystems before they give you an account. If you have banking problems from the past, it will most likely be listed there, causing a bank to refuse to open an account for you. Did BOA tell you why they declined you? It may have been the credit report or it may have been chexsystems. If it was chexsystems, you can find a bank theat does not check them ( I think I read that over 80% of the banks use them). There are two web sites I found that list banks that do not use chexsystems. I think they are chexsystemsbites and chexsystemssucks. Do a search on Google and you can find them. The starting point on your credit repair journey is to order all three of your credit reports - TU, Experion, and Equifax. Find out what your problems are and just start working . The answers you need are here and you can come to us for advice. The key is to get started. Don't get discouraged. Read some of the success stories here for inspiration.
While those seem like very worrysome things, do not fret. We can help you get your peace of mind back. 1st - Pull all your reports. I know you have Experian, but you need to get Equifax and Transunion also. Every one of us had that "afraid" feeling of not knowing what was on our reports at one time...bottom line is NOT knowing is MUCH scarier than KNOWING what is on your reports. Once you have the whole thing in front of you, you can begin the process of regaining your credit feet. After you get your reports, you need to prioritize the items which you will attack. You can do this many ways...like prioritize: what will help you get an unsecured credit card quickest by cleaning up one report that you KNOW a credit card will pull. ...or what will be easiest to remove from your report(s), like older items, or small unpaid items etc. ...or what will give you the best score increase, like attacking the charge offs and collection accounts and leaving the 30 day lates etc for later This is where you make your FIRST credit goal. Then you send validation letters to the creditors - Examples are in the Sample Section - (original creditors and collection agencies - both are different tactics), and dispute letters to the consumer reporting agencies (experian equifax and TU). Then you can join in the anxiety club here at CreditNet, where we spend the days watching and waiting, bitching and moaning, yippie-ing and horray-ing, until things start looking up. Which they will much faster than you think they will now. So begin with ordering all your reports. Make a first credit goal (I want a credit card by July, or I want to move out of my parents house by January 1st) and we can help you try and reach your goal. Post your outline of your reports (remove all the personal info and account numbers) and post your goals and we can help you prioritize the items and begin validation. -Peace, Dave PS, While I could not live with my parents, I appreciate every minute I spend with them, someday I will not have them to appreciate anymore....after all, they are helping you get back on your feet, who else would let you live with them for free while you did that Look at it as a blessing in disguise!
I also was denied a checking account at Bank One because of Chex Systems. I ordered a free copy of my Chex Systems report at www.ChexHelp.com. I've never dealt with them before, but I'm going to see what I can do to clean it up. I'll let you know what happens. Just get the ball rolling, keep paying your bills on time, and let the dispute process begin. Trip
You can order a copy of your ChexSystems report online at www.chexsystems.com. A good place to get a checking account would be a credit union, they don't check your credit or chexsystems. Go to www.creditunionsonline.com. You can search for a CU in you city, state. CU's are really easy to join. Some membership requirements are: "If you live, work, worship" in a particular county you can join. Or you a relative is already a member at a CU, you are instantly eligible for membership Good Luck!
I'm going to assume you wrote a bunch of insufficient fund checks in the past, you may have some outstanding service charges from that bank that closed the account on you. One thing you can try is togo back to that local bank you opened with and talk to the branch manager to resolve your issue, they may let you reestablish an account again after paying the outstanding balance. This is what I would try first. Other than that, like the previous posters said you can try non-chexsystem banks or credit unions. If not another way you can try, is to open a brokerage account like e-trade or waterhouse they provide checks to you for free and I believe atm cards too, well I know waterhouse does, I'm not 100% sure if they check chexsystems. If all the above don't work for you, some banks might let you open a savings account with or without atm access, then I believe you can open a paypal account and link that savings to it, then pay your bills via online method. It's a crude method but it's better than nothing.Hope this helps and goodluck to ya. Kinetix
How do you know they don't check chex? One CU site I visited said that all account applications are run by Chex first. Do you email each CU individually to see if they check chex first?
Just from my experience! Guess it's not true for all CU's. My experience has been that CU's are only concerned with membership qualifications. I had a bounced check reported on ChexSystems and I opened two(2) checking accounts and two CU's. You can either email or phone them and ask.
javan, do ask first or notice the signage. It's not true that credit unions don't use either -- my credit union uses both. sassy
A good place to get a checking account would be a credit union, they don't check your credit or chexsystems. Go to www.creditunionsonline.com. You can search for a CU in you city, state. CU's are really easy to join. Some membership requirements are: "If you live, work, worship" in a particular county you can join. Or you a relative is already a member at a CU, you are instantly eligible for membership ****************************************** FWIW, my CU checked ChexSystems.
I suppose I've got a good group here to help me (support me at least) througout this ordeal. Obviously I'm not the only one, as I knew, and it's helpful to see that so many people have overcome this. I wont make excuses for why I got into this mess - it was a mistake that I've learned invaluable lessons from. At the same time, I am comitted to changing the situation. I will get my 2 other Credit Reports from Equifax and TU to match them all up. Should I post a message with the entries that I've found on my Experian CR?? Would that give you all an idea of where I should start? I've thought about the CU option, I suppose I was being picky thinking I wanted a giant bank where I could rest assured there would always be ATM's around, etc. Now I see that I may have no other options at this point. Although getting an apartment will be another battle in itself. The only negative bank history I have (not to say it's not significant) is that I was OD for about 6 months, my account was closed shortly after I couldn't satisfy the debt, and I've only recently paid it off. Other than my CR that's my only Financial Institution flaw. Again, I'd gladly post the negatives from the CR if you think it would help. While I'm grateful (Dave) for my parents, at times I feel that I need to have my own place, to keep me focused on my life more, which is important now more than ever. Thanks for the kind words of support and help everyone!! Tre Trying to Dig Out
Sure, but be sure to XXXXX out all the personal info and account info. You will be suprised at how fast you can clean things up. It ALWAYS starts out seeming like you are getting nowhere but persistence is the key. You found the right place. Good Luck! -Peace, Dave
Credit Repair Primer: 1) Pay all your debts; this not only improves your credit but it greatly improves your credibility. You owe, therefore you should pay. You should, however, do this prudently. Pay the small ones first, negotiating each and every one to the smallest amount possible, and try and get the creditor to remove the credit report negatives in your negotiations. 2) Dispute, dispute, dispute; Dispute everything, at least once. Some will come off, some won't. 3) Your credit will improve with time...
