How can I get a good credit card? (VERY Long and Whiny)

I was tempted to put this in the pit, but I do want an answer so I’ll put it here. Please forgive my whining and ranting…

I had a credit card for about 5 years. When I first got it, it had a $300 limit. The interest rate was 18%. The limit increased to $1600 over those 5 years while the interest rate stayed the same. I paid the balance in full every single month and was never late.

I just cancelled it. I cancelled it due to the fact they would not increase the limit because I have gone over the limit several times in the last year. :rolleyes: They refused to even consider my request until one year had passed from the last time I went over the limit.

This was my only credit card. I used it for almost every purchase and would get near the limit several times a year. I used it to finance vacations. I used it to finance portions of my wedding. I have used to pay very expensive car repairs. I used it to buy major home appliances and to renovate my house. With these kinds of expenses of course I ran into the limit every now and again (I know this in not their fault).

Finally after having my card (embarrassingly) rejected at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago (for being over the limit), I called the company and requested an increase so this would stop happening. They refused. I know that it is not my right to have credit (though I do notice that some people think this), but I have never missed a payment or been late for 5 years. I thought I was a good customer. I guess not. I told them to close it down.

Now, however, I cannot get a good credit card. The only cards I seem to be able to get have a credit limit less than $2,000 and interest rates above 15%. I’ve applied for 3 different cards and was rejected by all 3. All three of the applications were sent to me in the mail with the phrase “Pre-Approved” stamped in big red letters and the word “maybe” written below in teeny-tiny letters.

:mad:

Okay, now the background and the question: I don’t see how my credit rating is that bad and I don’t understand why I cannot get a decent credit card…

Reasons I should be able to get a credit card:
[ul]
[li]I own a home. I have owned this house for more than 2 years, have close to $80k in equity, and have never been late on a payment.[/li][li]I bought a car 4 1/2 years ago. The financing involved a 4 year loan with a 21% interest rate. I paid it off in 3 years and was never late on a payment.[/li][li]I have student loans that I have not missed a payment on in 5+ years.[/li][li]I had the above mentioned credit card for 5 years and was never late on a payment.[/li][li]I have a good income and have held the same job for 3+ years.[/li][/ul]
The only black marks on my credit report are all about 6 years old. I went through a bad time 7 years ago and defaulted on a credit card. I almost defaulted on the student loans. I could have declared bankruptcy, but I didn’t. I worked as hard as I could and paid off all my debts. I thought I was demonstrating responsibility. Now, however, I wonder if I did the right thing. I know people who have declared bankruptcy, are less fiscally responsible than I am, and make less money than I do. They have no problem getting credit. :mad:

What can I do? How can I get a credit card? Why do I get rejected? I have checked all of my credit reports and they are accurate. All delinquent accounts paid and closed 6 years ago. All payments since then paid in full and on time. What do I need to do to get credit? And finally, how are the people I mentioned in the previous paragraph able to get more credit than I get?

Wow.

My guess is that you say your black marks are all over 6 years old but then say you worked hard to pay them off. When was the last bad debt you fully paid off? If it was sooner than 6 years ago, then I bet that us the problem.

What is your credit score?

Why don’t you use that $80,000 equity in your house and establish an equity line of credit. That way you can use it when needed, and the rates will be lower.

The most recent black mark on my credit report is from the student loans. The status of the account is “Open/Current, was past due 150 days”. The status detail says “As of 4-2004, this account is scheduled to go to a positive status”. It also has some account history that shows the last time it was greater than 60 days late as January 97’. The credit card I defaulted on is no longer even on my credit report.

One thing about the student loans, I have 5 loans, one for every year of my college education. They are through the same company and I only pay one bill every month. To me, it looks like I have only one loan. On my credit report however, I have 5 loans all of which are “Open/Current, was past due 150 days”. I have tried to get my credit report to reflect that this is one account, not five to no avail.

About my credit score, I have no idea how to find that out. I have credit reports from Equifax and Experian in front of me and they do not contain that information. Where can I find out what my score is?

I don’t really “need” the credit, I could survive just fine with my Visa debit card or checkbook. The reason I want a credit card is they seem to have more protection from fraud.

As I understand it (and please correct me if I am wrong), if my debit card is stolen, the thief could charge basically anything they wanted to and I would be liable (at least until my account is empty). With a credit card, I am only liable for the first $50.

Secondly, with a credit card I can dispute charges for 90 days wheras the debit pays within a week (IIRC). Say Joe Blow sells me a bad product or does not complete a payed-for service, I can dispute the charge for 90 days and have some leverage. With the debit card or a check I have no levarage and have to rely on the Joe’s honesty.

Finally, I would rather not have information about my bank or bank account available to any Tom, Dick or Harry that I purchase a product or service from. It’s bad enough that they have my credit card info. I know I am being paranoid, but identity theft scares the crap out of me…

If all the bad stuff on your report is 6 years old, about all you can do is wait another year. With everything else you’ve got that is positive, once the bad stuff drops off after 7 years you shouldn’t have any trouble at all.

If you really want something now, Capital One (and I’m sure others) has a Home Equity credit card where the credit line is based on the amount of equity in your house. You’ll fill out all of the paperwork for a second mortgage, just like any other home equity line.

Well, I just went to the Capital One website and can’t find anything about it. I first learned about it from something they mailed me. Might be worth calling them about, or you could look for similar products from othe rcompanies.

I would suggest just opening two new cards.
Use one for emergencies, and pay very close attention to the balance. Never let it go over. Use a checkbook to track your balance.
Use the other one for casual expenses that never add up to more than you pay in a month.
That way, a $1500 car repair and $305 worth of dining out, gas, etc won’t push you over limit.
Also… just stay cool, and don’t go late on anything else. Your credit will be getting tons better in a year or so when your old bad debts start dropping off.

Capital One provided the credit card I just cancelled… I don’t really want to do business with them even though they have sent me things about what a good customer I was and would I want this low interest rate card…

Thanks though, I will take a look around though for similar products

I still would like to know why I can’t just get a credit card. Anybody know how I can find my credit score?

This is what I have been considering.

I know I am being somewhat stubborn about this, it has become righteous anger on my part. It’s the principal of the thing. I have an acquantance that lives well beyond his means, has declared bankruptcy and was still able to get high dollar gold cards. He claimed he was able to get the cards because he took out a subscription to the New England Law Review (he is not a lawyer). He says once he took out the subscription, the credit card offers came pouring in. I’m reluctant to perform this kind of chicanery.

Yeah, the credit report says all my accauts will have a positive status in April 2004. I just don’t want to wait.

If you want your credit score:
www.myfico.com will sell you your credit score.
You have 3 that are worth knowing. One from Equifax, one from Experian and one from TransUnion.
They’ll cost about $12.95 each.

By the way, the New England Law Review in and of itself will not get you approved for more cards. Eyer, it will get you more opportunities to apply, but if your acquaintance had credit inadequate to get the cards in question then the preapproval offers he got would not have been of any use.

By your own admission, you’ve actually done rather poorly at managing that credit card. I’m surprised they didn’t decrease your line or suspend your card altogether. Being over limit is just about as bad as being late.

The student loans are really gonna hurt you. Five accounts 5 months delinquent equals a lot of FICO points gone. You need to go to the student loan company and try to get them to change five loans into one. The credit reporting agencies have zero control over this.

As for waiting until next April for accounts to go into positive status, there’s nothing you can do to hurry that along.

I’ve been late a few times on my credit card payments. Does this really affect your rating if you miss a bill but pay the penalty fee and such cheerfully the next month? I’m not talking serial lateness and missing several months, just one every so often.

I’ve been late a few times on my credit card payments. Does this really affect your rating if you miss a bill but pay the penalty fee and such cheerfully the next month? I’m not talking serial lateness and missing several months, just one every so often.

If it’s late enough that they report it to the credit bureaus, yes. If you’re waiting until the next month, you’re probably too late. Missing a payment by a few days doesn’t usually get reported.

If they don’t report it, you’re only hurting your chances of getting better credit from that particular creditor.

I’ve been late a few times on my credit card payments. Does this really affect your rating if you miss a bill but pay the penalty fee and such cheerfully the next month? I’m not talking serial lateness and missing several months, just one every so often.

If it’s late enough that they report it to the credit bureaus, yes. If you’re waiting until the next month, you’re probably too late. Missing a payment by a few days doesn’t usually get reported.

If they don’t report it, you’re only hurting your chances of getting better credit from that particular creditor.

I’ve been late a few times on my credit card payments. Does this really affect your rating if you miss a bill but pay the penalty fee and such cheerfully the next month? I’m not talking serial lateness and missing several months, just one every so often.

Hamsters seem to be working overtime.

Rumor hath it that after filing bankruptcy, you can’t file again for seven years. So the CCard companies send out cards to the lists of people who file, cuz you won’t be able to go bankrupt on them.

Those cards might have either high interest or a lot of surprise fees. And speaking of which, Hyperion has been alleged to do a lot of surprise fees–no cite, saw this discussed in the financial pages, last year or so.

I’m feeling a little crabby about fees right now. My bank appears to have gone into the fee business. Gonna give them a call, and/or change banks.

What. Is nobody going to answer this one?

I guess I’ll take it.

If it’s late enough that they report it…