I got their offer for $5K unsecured credit. The catch is that it's $149 membership fee. Additionally, until I make 4 consecutive on-time payments, I'll have to give them 20%-30% downpayment on any purchases I make from their catalog. Sounds like Fingerhut on a larger scale so it's really not a good deal BUT and I think this is a big BUT - they will report the new account to all 3 CRAs as an active unsecured $5K LOC. Might this be a good tool to reduce ratios of bad accts to good as well as balance-to-CL? My thinking is that I buy one item and leave it at that. Make the payments on it for a year and then close the account maybe. Should I go with it? I've got a few small CLs with some sub-prime CCs plus an auto loan for $7K that's 2 years old. Unless I screw it up, I think this could help if utilized properly. I now you Creditnetters will have opinions on this one.
tmitchell- what are your scores? Maybe we can direct you to a better start up card. Also list any chargeoffs you may have with certain CC companies, that will help us help you!
KHM - My scores as of today are: EX - 590 EQ - 597 TU - 596 I've got: Target Guest - $500CL Kmart MC (Cap1) - $200CL 1st Premier (Secured) - $225CL Bank Hoven - $1KCL (tx'd old Providian CO to it) Nextcard (sec) - $425CL My CH7 BK was disch'd in 1997 so I'm 4 years out. My student loans (4 loans, about 12 entries!) will be rehabbed in 4 months.
Well, it's not the best nor the worst. I'm no BK expert, but I did look into this card before. They appear to be the same people who run Bank of Hoven and NetFirst. I haven't heard any true problems with this card, it's just up to you.
That's what I am thinking. My goal wouldn't be to charge a ton of items. My goal would be to get the $5K LOC reporting. If the $5K LOC should somehow drive my score down, I could just close the account. To me, the $150 fee is worth it. I am just concerend about it being a scam like First National or CCB, et al.
I just realized my typo of "know" as "now" in the last sentence of my original post. I can't edit it any longer so I felt compelled to state my correction here. Maybe I'm just anal-retentive.
these places don't report squat, it is fingerhut, but a larger ripoff since you basically are paying the value of the item with your downpayment, then paying off for a long time on their profit line. Get another cap 1 if you must, but don't waste your $$ on this crap.
This is a scam. I know this because my sister did it. They need your checking account number to set this up and they, over the course of 3 months debited her account 447.00. DONT DO IT.
I know it's not a Visa/MC. Does JCP report the credit line? That's the whole reason I even THOUGHT about looking into this card.
don't waste your time! really. I have 24 positive trade lines on TU, 1 collection (96) and 1 charge off (96). My score is 587. The scoring model weighs Very heavily against any derogs, and doesn't care if you have a huge amount of good tradelines. Focus your cash and keeping your debt ratio low, try not to apply too many times (im not one to talk), and give it some time. In the beginning i thought getting as many and as BIG of new items on my report would offset all of the bad stuff. I was wrong. Keep disputing the derogs, its a long hard road, but listen to these folks advice, there are MANY companies that will prey on people when they are vulnerable, and these catalog places are #1. Good luck, sounds like you've come a long way already!!
I know the positives don't necessarily offset the negatives but that's not my intent. My intent was to open this account and buy one item and pay it over a few months just to get the $5K CL listed on my reports. This would improve my balance-to-CL ratio. Your input is why I posted here and I appreciate it. Is there anyone else that has any advice as well?
