lovesdogs Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm trying to build/rebuild my credit and figured a secured card is a good way to start. I assumed I should get one from my bank but their annual fee is ridiculous ($50) as is their interest rate which is a moot point since I will not charge anything large and will pay off everything at the end of the month. I know you gurus can lead me in a better direction. Also, what is this Orchard Card you all speak of? Is that also a secured card? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm trying to build/rebuild my credit and figured a secured card is a good way to start. I assumed I should get one from my bank but their annual fee is ridiculous ($50) as is their interest rate which is a moot point since I will not charge anything large and will pay off everything at the end of the month. I know you gurus can lead me in a better direction. Also, what is this Orchard Card you all speak of? Is that also a secured card? Thanks!You'd find your answers with a search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 You'd find your answers with a search.Now see, I may have lousy credit but I am not stupid. I searched for over an hour and couldn't find the answer, hence the question. That's the one thing I don't really care for on this site; some of the seasoned posters always chime in with "you can find that by searching". I know that and it's what I always do BEFORE asking a question. Just a little pet peeve, I guess. Thanks for taking the time to answer my silly little question anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Please don't do that. You just came here and asked "what is an Orchard card?" What did you expect us to say? I didn't say you were STUPID, but there's no way in the world you searched for Orchard and found no information about it. There is also thread upon thread about secured cards.Why don't you first take advantage of all the information that's already here, and THEN ask questions when you can't find the answers? That's how we do things here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suki Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Now see, I may have lousy credit but I am not stupid. I searched for over an hour and couldn't find the answer, hence the question. That's the one thing I don't really care for on this site; some of the seasoned posters always chime in with "you can find that by searching". I know that and it's what I always do BEFORE asking a question. Just a little pet peeve, I guess. Thanks for taking the time to answer my silly little question anyway.Hi Lovesdogs,Try this site it's bit different from the one posted tonight...http://www.indexcreditcards.com/You'll find the secured cards info below...hope this helps a bit.Take care Suki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 We have many, MANY threads specifically about Orchard in which people have taken a great deal of time and effort to share and type out their experiences with the cards. That's where you should be looking first, not a website which will simply give you a link to the application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Please don't do that. You just came here and asked "what is an Orchard card?" What did you expect us to say? I didn't say you were STUPID, but there's no way in the world you searched for Orchard and found no information about it. There is also thread upon thread about secured cards.Why don't you first take advantage of all the information that's already here, and THEN ask questions when you can't find the answers? That's how we do things here.I don't lie - I did spend an hour+ searching for information on secured cards. I read that various posters have a card from Orchard and wanted to know information about it including if it was a secured card, is it a better one to have, etc. I do take advantage of the wealth of information on this site and appreciate every bit of it. Perhaps I'll one day know as much as you do instead of letting my feelings be hurt when someone ridicules your questions and accuses you of being untruthful . Maybe you didn't notice, but you have nearly 4,000 posts to my 10. When I saw you answered my question I had high hopes because you are so knowledegable. SUKI - thank you for that link, I'll check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I don't lie - I did spend an hour+ searching for information on secured cards. I read that various posters have a card from Orchard and wanted to know information about it including if it was a secured card, is it a better one to have, etc. I do take advantage of the wealth of information on this site and appreciate every bit of it. Perhaps I'll one day know as much as you do instead of letting my feelings be hurt when someone ridicules your questions and accuses you of being untruthful . Maybe you didn't notice, but you have nearly 4,000 posts to my 10. When I saw you answered my question I had high hopes because you are so knowledegable. SUKI - thank you for that link, I'll check it out.Orchard is one of the most talked-about topics on this board. I'd think you would have been overwhelmed by all the info. I was merely surprised to hear you ask "What is this Orchard card?" and then say you searched before asking that. Huh?! Perhaps you should take a step back and realize that's how you presented it, so that's how it looked. It sounded like you were saying you did search for Orchard but didn't find anything, so you asked what it was. Surely you can understand why that would have sounded strange to me! At any rate, welcome to the forum and I look forward to helping you if I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suki Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 You are very welcome!I can remember when I first posted to this site. The information was overwhelming, but excellent! Just have to know how to pick certain keywords in the search link above, and many times that didn't always work so sometimes googling helped along with this site. Sites are often very good in the way it summarizes and defines what it is you are trying to understand or are looking for when doing research in the catacombs of this informative and very valuable site!Hope this helps a bit!Take care.Suki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 CATACOMBS!!! Congratulations, Suki, for having used the coolest word of the day!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the aussie Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divemedic Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 FYI- I typed "Orchard" in the advanced search, and selected the "obtaining credit cards" forum and got 433 hits."Secured Card" got me 371 hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 FYI- I typed "Orchard" in the advanced search, and selected the "obtaining credit cards" forum and got 433 hits."Secured Card" got me 371 hits.EXACTLY. And that's my point - it's overwhelming and I'm trying to find advice on which is the best one. Also, I see that Orchard has unsecured cards for poor credit but I'm afraid to apply for that one and get the inquiry on my report. So I'm wondering if I should just suck it up and go for the secured one? With the 2 Cap One negs still on my report and nothing else, I'm not sure what to do. This is all very, very new to me and now y'all have me scared to ask questions! Not to mention the snide popcorn icon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 EXACTLY. And that's my point - it's overwhelming and I'm trying to find advice on which is the best one. Also, I see that Orchard has unsecured cards for poor credit but I'm afraid to apply for that one and get the inquiry on my report. So I'm wondering if I should just suck it up and go for the secured one? With the 2 Cap One negs still on my report and nothing else, I'm not sure what to do. This is all very, very new to me and now y'all have me scared to ask questions! Not to mention the snide popcorn icon. I LOVE the popcorn!!!Now before we can answer you, we need to know what's on your reports. You have nothing at all besides two negs? Or nothing at all open? How many other inquiries do you have... and have you checked which report they'll pull in your state? How does that report look?Details, details! There's a lot involved in advising you what to apply for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jq26 Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I'm not so sure scores are so crucial. Get thee to thy nearest credit union! Sit down, explain your situation, tell them how excited you are to build a long-term relationship with them, and apply for a REGULAR unsecured credit card. If they deny you, offer to secure it with funds in your share account.If you're concerned about being denied and taking an inquiry for naught, ask the loan officer at the credit union of they deny applicants for secured credit cards with low credit scores before applying. Just my two cents- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divemedic Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Another thing to remember here is that you MUST take it upon yourself to read and learn. The people that we have spoonfed here are the ones most likely to screw their credit up a second time because they do not learn anything about how this works.When I started, I spent 4 days in front of my computer reading all I could before I asked any specific questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 And always give as much information about your current situation as you can... where you live, recent scores on each report, plus what positive and negative items you have, how old they are, how many inquiries, that sort of thing. All that plays into what advice we will give you, and it's hard for us to advise without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Just so y'all know, I read as much as I could on this site for about a month before I dipped my toe in the water an posted. That being said:Now before we can answer you, we need to know what's on your reports. You have nothing at all besides two negs? Or nothing at all open? How many other inquiries do you have... and have you checked which report they'll pull in your state? How does that report look? The only thing on my report are the 2 lousy Cap One negs. They're still showing as closed and charged off (one opened 2/2002 the other 5/2002. Both charged off 2/2004). In fact, I'm being sued for one and the court date was in a week but has been continued into mid-March. I intend to pay it off and avoid the hearing. The other one, I've not heard a word about - yet. I stopped using credit cards years ago so I guess all my decent credit fell off along with m bad. So now it's like I don't exist and I need to build/rebuild my credit.I have the following inquiries on my report:[*]Discover 2/2006 - I have no idea where that came from because I've never applied for a Disover card. That only shows on EQ.[*]OSI Collections 6/2005, only shows on EQ[*]Arrow Financial 3/2006, only shows on TULIST] My scores are: EQ 571, EX 554, TU 563. God, that's hard to put in writing.....Another thing to remember here is that you MUST take it upon yourself to read and learn. The people that we have spoonfed here are the ones most likely to screw their credit up a second time because they do not learn anything about how this works. I know and believe this. I don't want to be spoonfed, just pointed in the right direction. Trust me, you would drop dead if you knew what I did for a living and still have myself in this situation. OK, hopefully I answered everything you all asked and it better enables me to help myself. I really do appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Just so y'all know, I read as much as I could on this site for about a month before I dipped my toe in the water an posted. That being said: The only thing on my report are the 2 lousy Cap One negs. They're still showing as closed and charged off (one opened 2/2002 the other 5/2002. Both charged off 2/2004). In fact, I'm being sued for one and the court date was in a week but has been continued into mid-March. I intend to pay it off and avoid the hearing. The other one, I've not heard a word about - yet. I stopped using credit cards years ago so I guess all my decent credit fell off along with m bad. So now it's like I don't exist and I need to build/rebuild my credit.I have the following inquiries on my report:[*]Discover 2/2006 - I have no idea where that came from because I've never applied for a Disover card. That only shows on EQ.[*]OSI Collections 6/2005, only shows on EQ[*]Arrow Financial 3/2006, only shows on TULIST] My scores are: EQ 571, EX 554, TU 563. God, that's hard to put in writing..... I know and believe this. I don't want to be spoonfed, just pointed in the right direction. Trust me, you would drop dead if you knew what I did for a living and still have myself in this situation. OK, hopefully I answered everything you all asked and it better enables me to help myself. I really do appreciate it.Don't worry, your scores are not nearly the worst we've seen.OK, first. JQ26 is correct in that you should look into a credit union. Many have "second chance" products for people who have gotten into trouble in the past. As for secured cards, National City might work for you. There are some threads here (sorry, but I'll have to advise a search!!) about their card so see if it works for you.Orchard may also give you a secured card. The idea right now is to get tradelines, not get credit to use. So the credit limits don't matter yet.I would personally dispute that Discover inquiry with EQ (since when do they pull EQ?!) because you did NOT apply for the card. One thing, though... are you sure this is a hard inquiry? The kind that is seen by others, not just you? Check that before you dispute.This thread from another board will be helpful as well:http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180686Read through the comments there before you apply for anything. You don't want to burn inquiries unnecessarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 Don't worry, your scores are not nearly the worst we've seen.OK, first. JQ26 is correct in that you should look into a credit union. Many have "second chance" products for people who have gotten into trouble in the past. As for secured cards, National City might work for you. There are some threads here (sorry, but I'll have to advise a search!!) about their card so see if it works for you.Orchard may also give you a secured card. The idea right now is to get tradelines, not get credit to use. So the credit limits don't matter yet.I would personally dispute that Discover inquiry with EQ (since when do they pull EQ?!) because you did NOT apply for the card. One thing, though... are you sure this is a hard inquiry? The kind that is seen by others, not just you? Check that before you dispute.This thread from another board will be helpful as well:http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180686Read through the comments there before you apply for anything. You don't want to burn inquiries unnecessarily.Yep, the Discover one is a hard inquiry. I'm definitely going to dispute it because I've never applied for one.I'm going to look into Credit Unions for a card and also National City. I've been reading about the infamous Hooters Card and it looks like everyone and their brother pretty much gets approved. What's your advice about applying for that one, too? And I'm not against carrying their logo in my wallet - I won a wet t-shirt contest once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 Yep, the Discover one is a hard inquiry. I'm definitely going to dispute it because I've never applied for one.I'm going to look into Credit Unions for a card and also National City. I've been reading about the infamous Hooters Card and it looks like everyone and their brother pretty much gets approved. What's your advice about applying for that one, too? And I'm not against carrying their logo in my wallet - I won a wet t-shirt contest once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 So that's a double yes! Gotta love a NY'er! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNY Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 So that's a double yes! Gotta love a NY'er!I'm the official keeper of the Hooters boobies around here. Any excuse to whip 'em out!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_junkie87 Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 Lovesdogs, since you're in PA, you might want to try Northwest Savings Bank. Their secured card does not have an annual fee.but they don't report to TU... so it may not be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesdogs Posted February 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 I'm the official keeper of the Hooters boobies around here. Any excuse to whip 'em out!!! I do that around the house with my real ones all the time. OK, so I just bit the bullet and applied online for Orchard and Hooters. Orchard said "YOU'RE APPROVED!" right away for a gold card and I completed the online processing fee, etc. Then I checked the status and it says "Your application is under review. You will hear from us in 10-14 days." The hell? Hopefully this is because it's 11:45 pm and they're sleeping. Hooters message said "Thank you for giving Hooters MasterCard the opportunity to serve your financial needs. We are processing your application and you will be notified regarding its status within 7-10 business days." So I'm not as confident. Guess I'll wait and see.Oh well, I'm going to bed. I sure wish I'd known about this site a loooooong time ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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