dmotoguy

I've worked in the industry a bit... and have a decent amount of knowlege...

1. If you go to 10 car dealerships and ask for a loan at each one, it wont hurt your credit, as long as they are all within 30 days... you are allowed to shop for the best rate.

2. If you need more credit history sign up for a credit card, use it sparingly and try to pay it off each month.. also go to your bank and get a small personal loan, pay it back on time. that will diversify and build your history.

3. do as stealthmode said, bump up your limits as much as possible.. roughly 80 points of your credit score come from the percentage of credit you are using, by raising your available credit you will automatically make that ratio better.

4. if you do get a car loan or something, make sure its with a larger institution, most smaller companies dont report to the credit agencies.

5. dont be a , instant 520 credit score.

Secondaries

Well, I'm not looking for a new car, but something smaller. I've applied for credit at places like Conn's and Best Buy for a credit line on something like a TV, and they won't give it to me. I always thought it was cuz of my default, but since that's not on my credit anymore I don't know. Even the $250 limit credit cards decline me. I got on a cell phone plan, but I still had to pay the highest deposit for them to give me the contract discount on a phone... Should have just bought the phone outright and saved on the hassle of the contract. I can't seem catch a break.

Wank.a.lot

yup yup

if you are buying a house or a car, you can run your credit x amount of times in x amount of days and only get one hit on your credit.

i know this cause i sell cars and i just bought a house.
i'm not sure when they changed it to this rule, but the reason is so you can shop around for a better rate and not worry about your credit dings.

i think it's unlimited amount of credit checks in 30 days, but it's only if you are buying a car or a house.
doesn't work that way for credit cards and stuff like that.

dmotoguy

do you have a checking account with a bank? if so, they should approve you for a credit card... it might be 20+ apr, but that shouldnt matter much.

EG-prince

I have a friend who defaulted on a card, and I'm pretty sure that the default clears from your credit history after a certain time period ( for her, it is when she turns 30 lol ) and after that, your score is basically set to 0 again, in that you have never had any record of credit from before whether good or bad. Perhaps thats what happened with you?

Secondaries

Yeah I have one, but when I applied for their card, they declined me.

Well, this credit card was only from like 3.5 years ago. I was 18, and now I'm 22. I don't think that's enough time, unless they automatically do that at 21 to give you a second chance. Haven't really been trying to get any type of credit in more recent time.

HomeMadeTurboz

I used to work in credit.

- Credit history is only for 7 years. Once that time has passed any thing on your credit file is gone.
- Any time your credit is checked your score takes a minor hit. This includes you checking your own credit.
- Your ability to obtain Credit is based on like a hundred + things here are a few: Credit score, Age, length at job, type of job, position at job, marital status, rent or own, open credit available to you.

-Now the last one is kind of counter intuitive, you would think that having a bunch of empty cc's, or lines of credit, or almost paid of loans, would improve your credit score, but in reality, you are a greater risk with a ton of open credit then mostly used up. The best way to build credit is buy using credit, now you don't even have to use it for a long time, I.e you can take out a loan for a car, make 3 payments pay it off, paying nearly 0 interest, and it will still help your credit a lot. Same goes with credit cards, you don't have to have a balance to gain credit. Pay it off at the end of every month, don't be late, don't miss payments, it is better to make the min payment then be late or miss a payment.

That's all I can think of right now, time for some more beer.

Bone1

The old credit card company likely discharged the debt, being below $1000 the creditors won't buy the info to try to collect. Now the $10K I owe Sears, seven different agencies have tried to collect. Since Sears discharged it, they can't do anything like garnishing my lowly wages.

signorelli21

what do you mean you defaulted on it? call them up and pay that ---- off, then call equifax and tell them its been paid (dispute the charge) and they will change it from a charge off account to a paid debt, thats a good thing on your report.

Also did you try capital one? they gave me a credit card when my credit score was terrible, not only that but it was a 300 dollar limit and if you make your payments on time for 3 months they bump it to 500 and so on, i think they gave me a 0.9 interest rate at first as well.

also if they turn you down you can look into a secured card, which basically you pay your balance up front, capital one has one called a credit builder or some ---- just for people with no credit, they report to equifax or whatever every 30 days.

ghettoturbo

word...capital one gave me a card way back when, even when my own bank wouldnt. After you have one for a little bit, the offers comes rolling in.