repost. seeking more responses-- Two questions: 1) I had a Direct Merchants secured cc with $2,130 credit limit that I opened on 11/99 and then closed out on 12/00. They were supposed to have closed the acct and used the secured funds to pay off my balance. But now I find that they left the acct open for several months, charged me the late/no payment fees, and then used the secured funds to close it out leaving me owing $227. So the acct has been a negative on my credit report since 02/01. Has anyone gotten Direct Merchants or any other bank to re-open a cc account (and remove 30/60/90 lates) by negotiating to pay-off a percentage of the balance owed? 2) I only have one credit card-- CAP 1 with $200 limit. This is the only positive I have on my credit reports. I need more positives. What other positives or cards (and how many) should I get to improve my credit? Heard you can get a $500 secured CAP 1 for $99 deposit? True or False? Thanks guys.
