I got my secured credit card!
I finally got my secured credit card today in the mail and I am on my way to rebuilding my credit. Any tips on how long I should wait until I use it. My hubby said to wait a month before using to make my credit go up more. Also, if I add more money to it will it make my credit go up more. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Waiting to use your card has nothing to do with your credit limit being increased. On most secured cards the more money you send in earmarked for a limit increase, the higher your limit.
My fiancee' had his own credit repair company for about 8 years, and the success of your credit reports in conjunction with this new card is in your ability to delete all of your negative trade lines from the report.
Also, the higher your credit limit on your secured card and the lower your balance the better your debt to income ratio.
Did you and your husband have bad credit together after being married? If not, and it was your bad credit under your maiden name, and his is good, and you never have applied for credit jointly with him, by using an address YOU never had credit at and using your married last name with NO reference or past addresses linking your maiden name, you will have a clean slate in your married name as long as you don't link your past name and addresses to your married file.
Then by getting a secured card in the married name that doesn't link back to your maiden name, you are starting from scratch and can build new credit cards at some point which are unsecured.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Hold-up Tina...seriously???? So her (my) SSN has nothing to do with it??? That would be GRRREEEAAATTT!!!
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Credit reports contain errors on a regular basis. So, before applying for new credit or beginning your credit repair journey make sure that all of the information contained in your credit report is yours.
Reasons for such mixes include:
Loan officers make clerical mistakes. For example, spelling names wrong, transposing social security numbers when pulling the credit report, or even entering incorrect addresses.
When reporting data to the Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) personal information is entered incorrectly. For example, an address at which you never lived.
If married, the social security number of the incorrect spouse is entered. This is not good because each credit report should be individual. What can happen is a merged credit report resulting in incorrect scores.
Co-signing for children or other people. Sometimes the lender will match the social security number with the wrong person.
Mortgage lenders pull three bureau credit reports through different systems. Sometimes the system has the capability to pull in mixed reports or split files, which will show the conflicting information. This is something consumer reports don't always show.
Experian: Experian is the best for this because the mix can show two ways.
It will show additional names and addresses and possibly incorrect accounts that are not obvious. If the consumer gets the chance to review the credit report and knows something is not right, then the consumer will have to write directly to Experian and provide a copy of a driver’s license (with DL number marked out) and request to un-mix the file.
Sometimes it is obvious showing additional social security number of the other individual mixed on the file. Fix the same way by writing to the CRA with request to un-mix the file.
Equifax: On the mortgage side when the files are split, the files are received as Equifax 1 and Equifax 2. What is different is that on the credit report are two credit scores, one for each file. But it is all merged on the mortgage reports. These are very complicated.
It may very well be all of the consumer’s information that just got split because two names were used. For example, a married name versus maiden name. If that is the case, Equifax advises to add both scores and divide by two for the end score to be used. But also follow up informing Equifax that the file needs to be re-merged.
Other splits may be by common name, for example father and son, where there are two people making up the files. These need to be unmixed.
Consumers using and pulling their personal credit report on a daily basis from monitoring services can cause problems, compiling soft hits to the credit report. If the file gets too large, Equifax cannot handle it and will result in a split file. Some accounts will show on one credit report while other accounts show on another credit report.
TransUnion: Like Equifax, TransUnion doesn't show additional social security numbers, only additional names, addresses, and possible accounts that don't belong. The consumer must contact TransUnion with a copy of their driver’s license in order to update the file.
So, depending on the vender and software used, besides the type of creditor, different things can result when trying to pull credit reports. Sometimes it just looks like you have no credit history, and other times it mixes other people’s credit reports right in with yours. If creditors don't know to look for the warning signs, they will flat out decline credit because they think it was all your credit that was bad.
The CRA’s don't go first and foremost by the social security number. Listed below is how the repositories assign importance to this information (from most important to least important). Notice the SSN is not the most important (Information provided by California Association of Mortgage Brokers, Orange County Chapter, “Shedding Light on Credit Scoring” by the NAMB Credit Scoring Committee Chair, March 12, 2002):
Equifax TransUnion Experian
Last name
First initial
Address
SSN
Zip Code
Address
Last name
First name
SSN
AKA/Alias name
Last name
First name
SSN
Address
With this in mind, understand that it is quite easy for the creditors to mix consumer files. Even if you catch this and fix it completely, it can happen again.
You must take precautions to just use one deviation of spelling your name, especially if you have a father and son with similar names living at the same address.
Finally, be sure to obtain a copy of your credit report at least once a year or 60 days prior to applying for credit so you can catch and fix mistakes in time.
http://www.debtsmart.com/pages/artic...050420524.html
My advice is to take a look at your credit report www.annualcreditreport.com will provide you with a copy for free. Late payments are easy to dispute. Make sure all other information is correct.
If you use the card now or later it wont matter. Paying the card on time will help your credit score over time. Do not continue to apply for new credit though. Having many inquiries in a short amount of time decreases a credit score. www.Myfico.com has alot of great information about what goes into your credit score. Do some research. Building your credit back to a decent score can be a long tough process. But it is well worth the work.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tina
Waiting to use your card has nothing to do with your credit limit being increased. On most secured cards the more money you send in earmarked for a limit increase, the higher your limit.
My fiancee' had his own credit repair company for about 8 years, and the success of your credit reports in conjunction with this new card is in your ability to delete all of your negative trade lines from the report.
Also, the higher your credit limit on your secured card and the lower your balance the better your debt to income ratio.
Did you and your husband have bad credit together after being married? If not, and it was your bad credit under your maiden name, and his is good, and you never have applied for credit jointly with him, by using an address YOU never had credit at and using your married last name with NO reference or past addresses linking your maiden name, you will have a clean slate in your married name as long as you don't link your past name and addresses to your married file.
Then by getting a secured card in the married name that doesn't link back to your maiden name, you are starting from scratch and can build new credit cards at some point which are unsecured.
How is this possible? When you get married, you legally change your name that means that ALL of your debt cross over from your "before marriage" state to your "during marriage".
When they ask for a SS# (as ALL companies do) it will bring up good and bad credit files no matter what your name or address is.
I would also like to point out that you are signing a legal form stating you are being completely honest and forthcoming on a credit application...and if you lie on any part of it, that bank that issued you credit based upon your outright lies or omission of pertinent facts can sue you and they can also have you charged with CREDIT FRAUD.
That will look GREAT on your credit report...and that will NEVER come off.
If I am not mistaken, you also said that you fiancee' had a way of getting people new "credit identities" to start over (using an EIN instead of a SS#)...which is illegal.
Nice. Not exactly information I would be up to giving to people.
Anyways, greenid, use your card as soon as you can. But, never charge more than 1/4-1/3 of your card. Charging too much on your card can hurt your credit more than anything. In fact, I would suggest that you only charge small purchases to the card...so you don't pay too much in APRs but you can make several payments on that total (without going too high). Also, you may notice that your credit score drops slightly after getting this card. Don't fret about it because after you make 1 or 2 on-time payments the score will start climbing back up quickly. If you do max your card out, make sure you pay it off either in full or enough to drop the month end total into the 1/4-1/3 bracket.
You may want to use that card to pay off any outstanding collections you need to pay...you'll be building your credit with the card, but also clearing off old bad debt.
I would also not suggest "raising" your limit. Having TOO much credit will bring your score down...and if you already have iffy credit, it's better to start out smaller ($500-$1000) and then build up from there.
Good luck...spend wisely!!
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tina
Waiting to use your card has nothing to do with your credit limit being increased. On most secured cards the more money you send in earmarked for a limit increase, the higher your limit.
My fiancee' had his own credit repair company for about 8 years, and the success of your credit reports in conjunction with this new card is in your ability to delete all of your negative trade lines from the report.
Also, the higher your credit limit on your secured card and the lower your balance the better your debt to income ratio.
Did you and your husband have bad credit together after being married? If not, and it was your bad credit under your maiden name, and his is good, and you never have applied for credit jointly with him, by using an address YOU never had credit at and using your married last name with NO reference or past addresses linking your maiden name, you will have a clean slate in your married name as long as you don't link your past name and addresses to your married file.
Then by getting a secured card in the married name that doesn't link back to your maiden name, you are starting from scratch and can build new credit cards at some point which are unsecured.
No, husband had no credit and got his secured card six months ago. I have bad credit on my own. We have nothing to do with each other's credit situation.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Yes, it's secured, so basically I put 300 bucks in a Bank of America account and they sent me a credit card with a 300 dollar limit. So, Venus, I just make small purchases for gas and what not and never go over 100 bucks on it for a while, correct?
Vamp, everything on my credit file is accurate with all three bureaus. I have one weird situation where the collection agency settled for a 660 of a 990 dollar account. I paid the 660 but the 330 still shows on my credit report. The orginal debtor denies I owe it and the collection agency says since I "saved" that 330 it still shows on my credit report. I sent a copy of the settlement agreement and copy of the paid check to all three bureaus but it still shows up. Someone screwed up here along the way and I guess the thing to do is call the orginal debtor and explain the situation again since the debt shows up under them or call the credit bureau and ask them what to do. Other than that I still have a few remaining medical bills which are accurate but most do come off next year.
Unfornuately, the only good thing on my report is a car loan I paid off in good standing 6 years ago. Since then I haven't obtained any credit whatsoever.
So, denial letters say to long since an account in good standing or something like bad credit outweighs good credit ratio and seriously delinquent. I can get a car loan but only with shady companies at a awful interest rate.
This seems the best route to go for now. And am excited that I at least have a chance now.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
I am not concerned about the legality of new credit files. Many people have them and those who had them set up properly have done and are doing well by them.
Creditors only know the info you give them. Out of thousands of credit files and accounts who knows who has a new file and who doesn't. If you are have bad credit prior to a marriage and are a woman, the simple way to go is to not add your married name to your past debts, get a new address, and with the same ss#, same first name, and new last name you have a blank slte.
As far as your collection account Green ID lady, how long has it been since you paid the collection agency? A good rule of thumb is to never pay a collection agency unless they agree in WRITING to delete the account from all 3 bureaus when paid. A paid collection account is bad credit. It is better to not pay a collection account if they won't delete it, and hope it purges from their files in 4 years or so, so that a credit bureau dispute of "This is not my account" may get it removed.
I would dispute the account with all 3 bureaus, and when you reports come back, if the account still shows, contact the agency and see if you can pay the $330, and in return have them agree in writing to remove it from the bureaus. It will take some haggling and going to the supervisor or higher, but is worth a shot. I know they settled for less, but if offering to pay more can get you a deletion, do it.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Yes, I did dispute and it remains. I am going to try to pay the extra 330 and get it deleted like you said. Thanks for all the help, Tina, Vamp and Venus.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tina
I am not concerned about the legality of new credit files. Many people have them and those who had them set up properly have done and are doing well by them.
I think that is pretty shrewd. You are encouraging people to break the law and in doing so will/can get them charged with credit fraud...which, in this day and age is a HUGE deal.
You may not be concerned about the "legality" of it all...but when WILL you be concerned about it? When your clients start calling you and suing you for fraudulent information? If you charge people (or if your fiancee' does or did) to set this up for them, you will be in a world of trouble when the hammer comes crashing down.
Just so you know...with the computers becoming more and more sophisticated and all, it is becoming harder and harder for "simple" folk to lie about credit and get away with it. It will catch up with them...it's not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when".
All this because someone chose not to pay their bills on time...or because they were living above their means. Choices breed consequence.
Re: I got my secured credit card!
I just noticed you said you sent a copy of the settlement agreement? Was the orginal amount more and you settled for a lesser amount? Settlements will stay on your credit report for at least 2 years. The only way the collection is removed is if you pay the amount in full.
The link I quoted and posted talked about mistakes but also about split credit reporting. Depending on what state you live in and how a creditor pulls your report your married credit vs your single credit can all show up. Some states see married couples as indivuals and other states see them as joint account holders. As an example...
Equifax: On the mortgage side when the files are split, the files are received as Equifax 1 and Equifax 2. What is different is that on the credit report are two credit scores, one for each file. But it is all merged on the mortgage reports. These are very complicated.
It may very well be all of the consumer’s information that just got split because two names were used. For example, a married name versus maiden name. If that is the case, Equifax advises to add both scores and divide by two for the end score to be used. But also follow up informing Equifax that the file needs to be re-merged.