MissAnthrope

Thanks all. The "toy card" thing makes sense now, and yes, for me it's this or NO card. LOL. I didn't even know I'd get the BB gift certificate things in the mail too... I was quite pleased when I got one for $45, out of the blue! Since then they've been smaller but hey, I'll take them. I saved them and used them for an MP3 player for my mom for her b-day.

Okay, but I don't know what a "toy card" is (I guess I could go look it up)... and what I'm really trying to find out here is if it is a card often given to those of us on the lower end of things score wise? I'm just puzzled as to how / why I was approved. Especially since it's HSBC, and I have an $800 HSBC CO on my report from years ago. Regardless, it certainly seems better to me than the other super crappy options when you have bad credit and are limited to crazy fees, or secured only...??? I suppose it's a crappy option, but hardly the worst out there??

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't FP have one card that is bad but not the $150 in fees off the top, then one that is $150 in fees off the top, leaving you with $50 available credit? I think I was offered one, and not the other. The bad one (okay, the worse of the two). I can get THOSE types of CC's, where they give you an initial CL of $200 and then charge $150 of it right away, but I don't want them / won't take them. It was the other, more "normal" one I couldn't get. I think?

Okay, I have some big baddies from a credit union I belonged to about 5 years ago. "Big" to me is anything over $1000. I just viewed my reports recently, and I am totally lost. With this CU, I had a secured CC, a checking account, and a 2 secured share loans. The secured CC was $300, the loans were $1500 and $1200, and my savings account was the security for one, and I bought a CD and used it as security for the other. Can't remember which now but that's how I remember it, anyway. LONG story, but I defaulted on all of them plus ended up owing on the checking account for overdraft fees. So in total I defaulted on 2 secured loans, 1 secured CC, and incurred a debt for 1 checking account ($200). When I view my reports, there are always 3 negative items and 1 positive from this credit union. How can this be? The $1200 loan is consistently reporting as "Paid or Paying as agreed" with no lates. It is marked "closed" with a zero balance. The others report differently, late, charged off, etc. This makes no sense to me as I didn't pay anything on any of them after a certain point and they were all handled in the EXACT same way as far as payments go. Could the one positive be due to the TYPE of security it had, i.e. secured by a savings account vs. secured by a Certificate of Deposit, or vice versa? Also, since they were ALL secured, and the credit union was not "out" any money in the end aside from the negative balance in my checking account, how do they usually report? Is there any better chance of getting them deleted since they were all secured? I know it's crazy to default on secured stuff... but like I said it is a long story and it seemed to me in the end that they'd just take the money that they were holding that was mine, pay it all off, and be done with it. No harm right? Basically they'd assured me that when I made payments on the share draft loan, that payment amount would be "unfrozen", or released from my savings and available for me to use, so when it did not happen like that one month after it having worked that way other months, and they couldn't give me a good answer as to WHY, and I didn't have the payment amount LIQUID, I freaked out and stopped paying. I asked them to just close the stuff and use the funds to repay anything and they refused to do so... so it got out of control really quickly.

Caveat: I don't know my score. I haven't checked it in a long time, but I know I haven't done much to improve it either, and when I DID check last it was low to mid 500's. I have pretty crappy credit with almost an equal number of positive TL's to negative. FWIW. And yeah, my baddies are all charge offs, not just some "lates". I have read here that Target, Macy's, and some gas cards are good to try. Bloomingdales (I think??)... I have not been able to get any of these but that doesn't mean anything... my significant other's credit file looks much worse than mine, but she got Macy's, so who knows what they are thinking. I just posted another thread about it, but I applied for a Best Buy card (just the store card) in January and about fell over when they gave me the BB Reward Zone Master Card... so you might consider that. I got some message about having to call an 800 number to verify info. I ALMOST didn't call, thinking they were just denying me anyway... but I'm glad I did. It was just so they could ask me questions verifying my identity. I recently was approved for a CreditOne CC but w pretty high fees. Have you checked out the Credit Pulls database here?

As I mentioned in another post, I can't even get a First Premier CC. So, back in January, I was looking for a laptop for school. Was planning on paying cash from my financial aid money, but just for kicks, since I hadn't applied for anything in forever anyway, I went ahead and filled out the online credit app while browsing the site. I was just applying for store credit and did not expect to get even that. They gave me a number to call to verify and I called it. The woman asked me some questions, typical identity verification stuff, then told me I had been approved for the Reward Zone Master Card. CL is only $320 but heck, I didn't expect to even get 2 cents! Is this normally a card someone with bad credit / low scores can get? I know people recommend Macy's, Target, etc. Is this in the same category? ( I can't get Macy's, btw) Did someone just screw up? lol! I've had it for about 8 months now. Charged half of my laptop cost to it, have since paid that off, and use it from time to time. Same CL. Just wondered about others who have this card...

I have CreditOne, not Care Credit.. but yeah, I know I should know my scores but I don't have money for that right now. I have recently viewed my reports, disputed some items, got some baddies deleted.. thanks for the link. LOL yes, it is apparently possible to be turned down by FirstPremier. Well I think they offered me a secured? Or maybe it was one of those offers where you end up with an available CL of $50 after the $150 in fees...? Thanks but no thanks on those! I know 1800 sounds high. I am actually suspicious about my mechanic's quote. I don't think he likes to work on my van. I have encountered this problem over and over actually; I have a mid 90's Toyota Previa minivan with a very weirdly positioned engine, sits under the front seat sort of. It is apparently a beast to work on and no one wants to mess with it. It is my second Previa (first one lasted me to 350k miles, with NO major repairs needed in that time!) and I bought it because they are pretty darn reliable... never expected problems to the tune of 1800 with this one but it is a standard transmission (weird huh? on a minivan!) and he told me it needed a new clutch, clutch plate, all kinds of clutch related stuff. Anyway I do think he knew I couldn't pay 1800 and knew I would just come pick it up.... he has a lot of business and it's possible he just gave me a high estimate to get me to go away! LOL So I haven't gotten a second opinion yet. Anyway I have thought long and hard about if I should fix or replace. These vans have a great resale value; I couldn't replace it for 1800 in my area, even though it's older... I never see them for less than 2000, usually much more unless they are in really bad shape, and I could buy another car for 1800 but not a van like that. I really need a van if at all possible, vs a car. The engine is sound with very low miles, the interior is gorgeous, (looks like it's only a couple years old), body straight, paint looks great, cold a/c, good gas mileage for a minivan, and what I like a lot is that they are bigger than most minivans but not as large as a regular van. Not to start a debate but I will NOT buy an American vehicle built after 1969! I've had too many headaches from that. Anyway I guess it's all moot for now... I was able to fix the car I'm currently driving (mom's) for $20 today, found the part that was spewing water and keeping the radiator empty and it was super easy to swap out, so it will have to do for the time being and I can probably skip trying to find credit to fix the van, as long as mom's car holds out long enough. Thanks for the suggestions!

Just wondering if anyone knows which, if any, of the big chain auto repair places will be likely to extend credit to me with having bad credit. I don't know my score. I can "guess" and would guess mid 500's. FWIW I was just approved for a T-Mobile phone (2 lines) with no deposit and a CreditOne CC, but recently turned down for 1stPremier, Chevron, and Macy's, if that gives you any idea. Anyway my van crapped out in June and I need $1800 to fix it (don't have it!)... and so I've been borrowing an extra car my mom has. Now it is giving me trouble too (overheating) and I'm worried because school starts back up for me and the kids in a couple weeks. If I can't fix it myself, I'm screwed. Bad time to be w/o a car, so if worse comes to worse and I was able, I'd consider charging the repairs until I get some money in late August. Any thoughts?

Hi everyone; Saria, that's the thing. I DID tell them I'd be attending in summer.. when I enrolled in Spring and while talking with someone in the financial aid office about max yearly loan limits, I specifically asked him what would happen since I hadn't enrolled in fall. He said "Are you coming back for summer?" and I said yes, and he said "Okay then you will be able to borrow the remaining amount then, don't worry.." I enrolled for the Summer sessions as soon as it was possible to do so. That is the ENTIRE reason I decided to do a maxed out full time summer (session one and two), vs. getting a job instead. I am trying to "catch up" for 16 years out of school, plus trying to hurry up with the community college because I am planning on moving out of state as soon as I am finished, and will transfer to a university out of state too... and the longer school takes the longer I am stuck in Texas. Had I known this would happen I would have tried to find a temp/summer job instead though because it seriously screwed me financially. Since posting, I have been round and round with these guys, and have given up and learned my lesson. They explained it to me as something about how each student has a "budget" and I cannot borrow more than my "budget" even if what I've received is a long way from being near the COA or my borrowing limits. I still don't REALLY understand what/why but I'm tired of trying to fight this. I also don't understand why my school doesn't also offer Perkins loans.... only Stafford, but that's another post. Oh yeah, and they figure child care into my COA... which floored me because I don't see how or where! Good thing I have a 17 year old! So, as it stands right now, I have one month to wait for my fall financial aid money to come in, and in the meantime I probably will be late on the mortgage for August since fin. aid most likely won't come in by the deadline of Aug. 15th and I don't have all of it if I want gas to get back and forth to school for July. First late in the 3 years since I bought the place. Next time I will more carefully budget what I do get, which should be easier. I spent a lot in Spring on a computer, backpack, school supplies I "thought" I needed (I didn't realize what I could really get away with), buying books at top dollar from the campus bookstore when not absolutely necessary (have since discovered textbook rental options, and craigslist, lol).... in short, I had more initial / newbie expenses but I am going to plan this year out to the last penny so I don't end up short again in the summer. I'm still annoyed about the decision but I have 9 tests this week alone (two summer sessions are overlapping), so not much time to argue anymore!

No ideas? Someone else on the 'net said I must have maxed out my "need" based on the COA and the EFC and all that but it doesn't add up to me. My COA is about 17 to 18k, I've only received 10k this year and only a little over half of that was loans. Soshouldn't there be a remaining unmet need of about 7k? Which would allow me to borrow a measly $2500 more for summer?

Hi everyone. I was a CB member years ago but can't remember my old login info. I recently re-discovered CB and this Student Loan forum and I was very excited to have found all this student loan info in one place! My question isn't really credit-related though, I hope that's okay, because I need some advice! Sorry this is so long but I am hoping to make the situation clear. Okay, here's the deal. I am a full time student, with 2 kids and a mortgage and no child support or help from my ex. I was laid off from my clerical job and having no luck finding work after many months, so I decided to return to school full time, something I'd been meaning to do for 16 years! I will be a sophomore after the summer, and I'm attending a VERY large community college with plans to transfer to the state university in the next year or two. Up until this past Spring I'd never borrowed for school because I'd only gone part time here and there and the pell grants were enough. This past spring (spring 09), I enrolled full time and borrowed money through the Stafford Loan, funded by BOA. I received approximately half of my yearly loan limit, part of it unsubsidized and part subsidized (the smaller portion). I was told at the time that since I did not attend in Fall, I should still have the remaining loan limit available to borrow for summer, so I planned accordingly. I did very well (4.0, Dean's list) and submitted all my documents on time for the remaining loan funds, for summer use. I received notice that I'd be getting a subsidized loan for $1700, and when I didn't hear anything about the rest I went to the school to ask why. First they tried to tell me I was "maxed out", which is obviously not true, so i asked them to investigate. Well, I've now been told by a loan officer in the Fin. Aid office that I am only receiving the SUBSIDIZED tafford for summer, and the remaining amount I was expecting (about $2800) will not be coming through because I don't have "enough financial need". What the hell? I pointed out that according to the government's own website, the unsubsidized Stafford is NOT a need-based loan. Furthemore, I have an EFC of zero, my income for the last 4 years has been WAY, I mean WAY below poverty level. I'm 37, independent, and not working. My kids qualify for Medicaid. How can they say I don't have "need"?? My estimated cost of attendance for 2009 is $17,900. All total for 2009 I've received $10k with $6300 of that being in loans, whereas the yearly max is $9500. I received the $1700, plus 1600 in pell grants, and my tuition for the summer is $800. Books for the first session (i'm going for both) have already cost me $250, I will need another $200 or so for session two. So that leaves me with $680?? a month for the entire summer. I don't see how that can possibly translate into "no need". I do have a roomie/partner to split bills with but my partner is in the same exact boat (full time student) and was given the same exact reason for denial of the unsubsidized stafford.... so between us we have $1200 a month to pay the house payment, gas, food, lights, etc, with 3 kids in the house...!? I've been told I can write a letter to appeal and "see what happens". I have already started classes and can't drop without owing money, or waiting until later in the session, and then having to worry about completion rates affecting future aid... so I can't just quit and get a job and due to the nature of summer classes I am in school M-F ALL day. Any idea how this can happen, and any ideas on how to get it reversed? I NEED that remaining $2800! I'm not expecting to live high on the hog here, but don't see how I can managed to maintain a 4.0 when I am worried about keeping the lights on. If I had had ANY idea this would happen I would have never registered for summer and would have signed up for some temp agencies instead, and just waited until fall to go back to school, but they completely indicated back in spring that I'd be "good to go" in summer with the remaining loan amounts. Thoughts?