24 Looking to build Credit... What are some good tips on your first Credit Card

[melo0115]

So I helped my friend sign up for his first credit card today..I referred him to the discover it but he got denied so we tried on BofA, he got denied there too but they approved him for a secured card.. how long do y’all think it’ll be until his credit is built up enough to get a regular card? Is it like 3-6 months or like a year ?

I never had to get a secured card so I don’t know anything about them

When my credit was bad I got approved for one of those horrible credit card companies. I built from there.. Credit One was one of them. I cancelled them as soon as I could get approved for a better company.
I know you're not suppose to cancel cards, but I didn't want to have anything to do with them.

Did you check credit Karma first?, they usaully have approval odds for different cards, I know they arent the best for accuracy, but They've never failed me.

 

[cs02132]

Tbh I didn’t do as much research as I normally would’ve I just referred him to the discover it because I thought he’d get accepted since it’s a good beginners card, but he had no credit history at all so he didn’t get approved

I’ll probably wait for his first couple statements to finish then start looking for better options

 

[Beruseruku Desu]

So I'm looking to purchase my first car..

Bank gave me a loan and gave me a blank check to use at a dealer. If I don't ever use it will there be any consequences?

 

[melo0115]

They pulled your credit to get that loan approval. Other than that hit I don't think there should be an issue if you don't want to use it. Checks like that use have expiration dates. And you just keep it moving.

 

[fluid hips]

Just got this in the mail for an "upgrade" My oldest capital one card that I haven't used in almost 2 years. Just sits in a drawer since it's my oldest credit card with a small limit. Would close it but worried it would impact my credit score since it has my oldest credit history.

 

[spizike231]

On the phone with capital one to get my cards changed to ones without annual fees.. they tellin me they can’t even downgrade my card type and remove benefits in exchange for no annual smh

 

[spizike231]

Dawg.

My lowest showing score on any app is 770, my capital one cards have never gotten an auto line increase. I’ve never gotten an upgrade offer for a card to no annual fee. And even now I asked directly - “why does someone with my credit rating and history with your company have no line increases over the course of almost 10 years, and why am I not eligible for a card upgrade OR DOWNGRADE to a card with no fees?”

He said the “guru” didn’t answer and basically said that I accepted the fee when I got the card.

Man **** Capital One.

 

[mplsdunk]

Capitol one is trash.

Citi just raises my limit all the time and I dont even ask.

 

[fluid hips]

Dawg.

My lowest showing score on any app is 770, my capital one cards have never gotten an auto line increase. I’ve never gotten an upgrade offer for a card to no annual fee. And even now I asked directly - “why does someone with my credit rating and history with your company have no line increases over the course of almost 10 years, and why am I not eligible for a card upgrade OR DOWNGRADE to a card with no fees?”

He said the “guru” didn’t answer and basically said that I accepted the fee when I got the card.

Man **** Capital One.

Speak to another agent

 

[para bellum]

I've never heard of not being able to downgrade. I definitely did it once I moved on from Capital One as my primary cards when I first started out. Downgraded my Venture to a Venture One with no annual fee with no issue

 

[spizike231]

I’ll try calling back another time.

The agent didn’t know and was talking to a “guru” and they were basically just looking at eligible upgrades.

 

[melo0115]

Long story short, my wife and I made a bad decision. We gave my wifes old car to her little sister for college reasons. Parents were going to pay the note. Her mom is terrible at keeping up with payments. Anyways 4 years of missed payments later. Her sister finally was able to cosign with pops for a new car and they traded in the car that was under my wifes name. Now I get to rebuild my wifes credit.

I have to settle an old spectrum bill her mom opened up in her name, and a old bed account she had before we got together.

I was going to add wife as an authorized user on some of my credit cards. How long does it take to boost a credit score?

I was going to buy our new house solo since I didn't think we'd ever get the original issue resolved. But now I'm trying to see how realistic is it to get her credit in shape to cosign with me on a house mid 2023??

 

[fluid hips]

Long story short, my wife and I made a bad decision. We gave my wifes old car to her little sister for college reasons. Parents were going to pay the note. Her mom is terrible at keeping up with payments. Anyways 4 years of missed payments later. Her sister finally was able to cosign with pops for a new car and they traded in the car that was under my wifes name. Now I get to rebuild my wifes credit.

I have to settle an old spectrum bill her mom opened up in her name, and a old bed account she had before we got together.

I was going to add wife as an authorized user on some of my credit cards. How long does it take to boost a credit score?

I was going to buy our new house solo since I didn't think we'd ever get the original issue resolved. But now I'm trying to see how realistic is it to get her credit in shape to cosign with me on a house mid 2023??

Alot of variables depending on her current score, length of credit history, delinquencies etcs

 

[ASE]

Why not just buy the house solo?

 

[melo0115]

I will if it's the best deal, but don't most married couples cosign on a home? Unless you or her had it before you guys met.

She's at a like a 590 right now...

And just two delinquencies. Spectrum and a old bed loan. But it was like 8 late payments on the car.

 

[geno90221]

I will if it's the best deal, but don't most married couples cosign on a home? Unless you or her had it before you guys met.

She's at a like a 590 right now...

And just two delinquencies. Spectrum and a old bed loan. But it was like 8 late payments on the car.

They won’t even put her on the loan with that score

 

[spizike231]

It will be much worse to put her on at 590 than to leave her off dawg

 

[tomdiginson]

I will if it's the best deal, but don't most married couples cosign on a home? Unless you or her had it before you guys met.

She's at a like a 590 right now...

And just two delinquencies. Spectrum and a old bed loan. But it was like 8 late payments on the car.

Did you find out about these things before marrying her or did all of this occur during your marriage?

 

[melo0115]

the 590 is currently. I was just seeing how fast I could boost it by Feb of next year. By simply settling those two accounts, and adding her on as an auth user on my accounts.

And unfortunately. Credit wasn't something talked about in my household even though my dad has had good credit his whole life. He never put me on game. I had to learn the hardway, but luckily it was when I was in college. Been good since then.

So, I mean, I'm not like one of those people that ask how much debt you have or your credit score before marrying.
I mean that is very important, but it just wasn't something I was concerned about.

Around the time we got married was around the time we talked more about finances..

And sure I can buy the house solo, I'm just organizing everything before the date get's closer.
Just wondering if her score could get in shape by that time.

 

[geno90221]

the 590 is currently. I was just seeing how fast I could boost it by Feb of next year. By simply settling those two accounts, and adding her on as an auth user on my accounts.

And unfortunately. Credit wasn't something talked about in my household even though my dad has had good credit his whole life. He never put me on game. I had to learn the hardway, but luckily it was when I was in college. Been good since then.

So, I mean, I'm not like one of those people that ask how much debt you have or your credit score before marrying.
I mean that is very important, but it just wasn't something I was concerned about.

Around the time we got married was around the time we talked more about finances..

And sure I can buy the house solo, I'm just organizing everything before the date get's closer.
Just wondering if her score could get in shape by that time.

Have those 2 accounts been removed from her credit report yet?

 

[spizike231]

I get your thought process. Someone here may be able to answer the question a lot better.

Did she have any collections issues? If so her score probably won’t change until that falls off and idk how long that takes.

 

[fluid hips]

Collections stays on for 7 years

 

[geno90221]

That’s why it’s Best not to pay them and just let them fall off…
Once she started paying on the debt it just restarted the negative account

 

[melo0115]

Have those 2 accounts been removed from her credit report yet?

Only the spectrum one has been handled so far.

I'm sending documents by mail to the company that bought the collection account for the bed loan she had. I still need to look up the 7 year statue. I know its different sometimes depending on state right?
I'm in Texas, and she should be out the 7 year time period. But that's just stating that by law they can't sue you for the account anymore.

I'm running the process of having them verify the debt is actually hers, and if they don't have the proper documentations, I'll request they delete all negative marks on all three credit agency reports..

Is there anything that can be done about late payment marks for car loans? SInce she doesn't own the car now the banks does. It doesn't seem like anything can be done with that.

 

[Bert.]

Add her as an authorized user on some cards? Not sure if at this moment it will help her score a little but on such short time it’s not going to get anywhere near what you need it to co-sign for a house