daisy

To me, owing a family member is MUCH more serious than owing a credit card company. right now, I currently owe--approximately 12,000 to my father and 6,000 to Chase. I am making enough money that I am giving both a payment with each pay check. However--if I had only enough money to pay one of them--it would be my father. Why? Because he loves me. He cared about me--and gave me $$$ out of his retirement funds--even though when you are old (73) there is very little way to recoup that $$$ if I default. He loves me--he doesn't want me to suffer and wanted to do whatever he could to get me on my feet when I hit my rough patch. Consequently--I would rather cut off my own right arm than screw him on what I owe him. And he knows that too. Chase--well--really I could give a $#(* less whether or not they get there money--if I ever had to default on someone (which I doubt will happen as I am on my feet now) it would be them--sure it would show on my credit--but the people who LOVE me are worth more to me than my credit. They are truly irreplaceable. I know that when my parents are dead--there will be no one in the world who cares if I end up a street person. Chase and the other banks don't care. The people who have my back--well I take care of them first.

"myscore" worked for me too! Thanks credit boards!

Experian removed 2 inquiries for me--but they both were fraud (not allegations of fraud--but REAL fraud). The situation--when I was in college I took a year off and lived in Europe. While I was gone--someone from my dorm got ahold of some of my personal information (I think because stuff still came to that address for a while until my change of address went through). The person actually applied for some credit under my name and also tried for a LOT of credit that they were refused for (my credit was not that great at the time).' When I returned to the country--I knew I had not applied for credit--I contacted the companies etc--and it took literally YEARS to figure it out. However, the person who did it confessed, they got a suspended sentence (actually for internet fraud because they did most of the applying over the internet). It was easy for companies to trace the IP and show that the contact had been made from a computer in CA---while I could prove definitively that I was out of the country at the time. I had the police detective who handled the cas fax the details to the big 3 CRA's--all of them deleted the questionable stuff within days (yes--even Experian). So--it it WAS fraud--and you can prove it was fraud--then they will work with you. However--if you claim fraud and there was none--you can end up in big trouble.

it sounds very nice. I plan to do some more checking into them--but will probably switch my finances over there. It might be cool to have a loan that only reports to one CRA---the debt won't show on the others.....

I just started a new job--and they told me that I am eligible to join a credit union (affiliated with my place of business). It is the Kinecta Federal Credit Union (their website is at www.paymaster.org ) I have never heard anything about this CU--although I know that CU's are generally highly thought of around here. Does anyone have any experience with this CU--any gems to share?? Of course if I try it--I will share my experiences here.

If you can wait a few months--I think your scores will get a bump when the Orchard card is 6 months old. That may put you up into a category where you can get some store cards like Target or Walmart

thanks that is good to know! She owns a Jeep Liberty--and recently got it serviced at the dealership--so I think that may have something to do with the preapproval. I told her that even though her scores are a little marginal for BofA, she may be a good targeted customer for the Jeep Rewards. The great thing is--she really wanted that particular card--so it is pretty cool they sent her a preapproved offer for it.

Does a BofA preapproval mean you have a good chance of getting the card? Or is BofA one of the issuers where the words "preapproval" do not mean a lot? My daughter just got a preapproved offer for the Jeep Rewards Card--but she doesn't believe her scores are good enough to qualify for it....

how old are the charge-offs? The more recent that they are--the more aggressively the OC's will be pursuing recovering their $$. Also--it is dependent on the amount. If 10,000 is owed on a charge-off--then there is a much bigger incentive to pursue and possibly sue than if the charge off was 100 $ (although the aggressiveness of each particular company is also a factor--some will sue over anything.) It is a stressful game to play--it will work for some people but not for all....

FICO used to calculate involvement in a CCCS in the score. However, they have not done this for nearly ten years. The notation managed by CCCS will have absolutely ZERO impact on your FICO score. However, while you are in CCCS usually your accounts will be closed (which is a BIG score killer) and they often be notated as managed in CCCS. Although this notation is not figured into your score--many lenders will look on it as a negative and will not extend you credit whil you are on the program. This is also because they know that people usually sing an agreement that they will not apply for new credit while they are on the program. There are actually other creditors that will look on it as a huge positive if you successfully complete the program--and these creditors (such as Chase) will bend over backwards to help you get good financing--Chase financed my house through a program offered by my CCCS (this was after I had completed the program)--I got an excellent rate. I also (with the approval of the CCCS counselors) financed a car while I was on the program and because of the intervention of the CCCS program I got rates as good as those available to the best prime customers. So--CCCS is a mixed bag. You can work it to your favor--but BK is a very good option--if you want to start over quickly and start saving for your house. In my opinon BK will hurt your scores more than CCCS--because you will have to rebuild afterward. I did not have to do any rebuilding after CCCS--the banks were willing to reopen my accounts and get rid of the old negatives as part of the agreement because I had finished the program. So--I paid off my bills AND I got clean credit. But BK would have freed me of $$$ worries sooner. I had to struggle with a budget for many years to pay off my debts through CCCS.

I was told that deferrment is neutral--HOWEVER--I found that after I had made a few months of on-time payments my score rose quite a bit.

What is the definition then? You have to be married or share DNA? The IRS has a legal definition of what comprises a "household". This is the definition that the banks use as well (NOT websters definiton). I would suggest that people look up the appropriate IRS code and make sure that they comprise a legal "household" in the eyes of the issuer--otherwise they could be liable for fraud. You were wise to check with AMEX--it is much better to find out if a definiton applies than to just assume and find yourself in trouble later on. I agree in your situation it seems tough--you and your GF DO comprise a household by most definitions. But--for financial institutions the standard is the IRS standard. I don't think the banks realize that so many people do not understand what they mean by a household. (Actually, I had never met anyone who misunderstood this until I came to the webs--there is so much disinformation on the web that many people are confused about this). Kudos to you for checking it out with AMEX and finding out what was correct to do in your situation.

hee hee. George thinks that just because people live under the same roof that they are a "household". That is NOT the definition that the banks use. I guess that according to George my daughter (who lives in a Sorority House with 30 other girls) can add up all their incomes when she applies for credit--and say that she has a household income of 500,000 per year. An 18 year old kid who makes 15K per year is better off just saying so. They do not expect a kid to have a huge income--he is only trying to get is a starter card anyway. If he puts down a 100,000 income I can guarantee that the underwriters at Citi, BofA, AMEX etc (any prime bank) will be suspicious). I don't think he wants suspicious--he probably just wants a card to go through and be approved as easily as possible. He sounds like a good kid, and a good credit risk. some creditor is going to be happy to help get him started with a card. He has no need to exaggerate on the application and possibly get in trouble someday down the line.

it is my experience that the credit report screens people (ie--if your credit report is not good enough--it is just a NO). But--when it comes down to the decisions of how MUCH credit to extend to a person--then income and profession are usually taken into account by the underwriters (at least this seems to be true for prime banks). (income seems to be used in conjunction with info from the reports--like length of history--amounts of other revolving accounts, percent of debt the person is carrying etc.

AS other people have suggested--putting him on your more established cards as an AU will give him a good start. You said that he has a checking/savings account--a good relationship with a bank. If I were him, that would be the first place that I would seek credit. My sister banks at BofA, when she was getting her credit started, they gave her a nice starter card--unsecured--1500 with ZERO history. This was because she did her banking there and so they were willing to help her get a start with a small card. If he is banking with a good bank--that would be the first place I would try. (and if he is not banking with a good bank--then he should switch so that he is. Find a good CU or bank that will likely trust him with a card. After all, he can prove income (pay stubs, W2's). In this case, I would disagree with George--I do not think it is a necessarily a good idea for an 18 year old kid to use the houshold income (well over 100,000 per year) when he is applying for his first credit card. I think that an 18 year old kid claiming an income this large may not get past many underwriters. Getting that first card can be somewhat of a hurdle--good luck to him.