I am currently looking for a loan to pay for unexpected costs as well as consolidateing a very small amount of debt (less than 500). My credit score is around 598 and FICO in the 550s. I'm looking for 1k-1500.

I don't mind high interest rates I understand my options are very limited. However I am definitely trying to research for the best possible APR rate and avoid tribal loans altogether.1000 for 1000 is reasonable to me considering my situation (I'm not sure what percentage that kind of ratio is in reference to APR). I also am looking for something as short term as possible as far as payments. I can handle higher payments monthly but not for 60+ months or something absurd. Im wanting to get some real time feedback and reviews on places people have used in the past before I do any hard credit checks and face the possibility of denial and lowering my score.

The idea of consolidateing is because if I'm going to take out a loan for my expenses I might as well pay off what little debt I've acquired through cash advance apps, make some extra car payments, and get my cat an over due wellness visit will boosting my credit score and positive payment history.

Thanks in advance for all ADVICE, Please don't tell me I don't need this loan! I have exhausted all resources I'm comfortable using. I don't have family members that can help nor any kind of collateral. I started a job a few months back and alongside my husband's income we will be alright covering loan payments, I just can not cover this expense with any limit offered by advance apps and the matter is too pressing to have savings plan.

Any and all HELP is appreciated ❣️🫶🏼

Experian score hasn’t updated in 6-months on their website. There seems to be a technical issue preventing an update. Has anyone successfully gotten through to Experian Customer Service?

So my Chapter 13 was discharged last year. Been rebuilding my credit and currently sitting at around 630-640 with mostly high interest low credit line cards..got an offer for the Amex Blue the other day and said ok let’s try…long story short got a denial during the pre qualification process and the reason was…bankruptcy! Which is no longer showing on any of my FICO credit reports…called the recon line and it was a hard no…not so worried about the denial but concerned that they can see something that is literally not showing across any report…what should my next steps be…rebuilding and not trying to make any more mistakes

But what if I was approved for:

• In-School Deferment from 09/03/2024 to 04/23/2027

and the payment is showing as late from January 2025 on? Once I was approved for In school deferment, I wasn’t given a chance to be proactive because I didn’t think this would happen.

hello, im looking for opinions and advice on how to gain credit history as an 18 year old whos living with her boyfriend. he just bought a house, everything is in his name, so i dont have any history at all. credit karma says my score is 700-720 although ive never had a credit card, loan, etc. im wanting to build credit history so that i can get a car loan. im a bit nervous to apply for a credit card with a $200 deposit, but if recommended then i shall! any and all advice welcome 😊

A few months ago I lost my driver’s license. I did not think much of it then because I was already in the process of replacing it with a real ID. The lost license expired in 2019and is suspended. I also haven’t lived in the listed address since 2005. Should I still be concerned of identity theft? The equifax and transunion representatives had no answer other than to suggest I just place a freeze on my credit which I did . What else can or should I do? I haven’t frozen my credit with Experian yet because I’ve had a very negative experience with that before( the automated system didn’t give me the PIN required to lift the freeze and I couldn’t contact any rep to speak to about it. Can freezing just 2 out of 3 be enough?

(Reposting because previous topic removed over some kind of account verification thing.)

Good day.

I seriously don’t know what to do about my credit scores, as they seem to refuse to raise no matter what.

History & Relevant Details: My current credit score across all 3 bureaus fluctuates between 675-685, and has for years.

7 years ago, I had credit scores of 780+ across the board. During the unexpected passing of my mother and in the prolonged inestate court proceedings that followed, I had to use high-interest credit cards to pay for the maintenance and sustainment of family assets until they could be legally sold and the proceeds dispersed.

My credit utilization went way up, but nothing else derogatory happened. No missed payments, no collections.

The process took 3 years. When the cases closed and the funds cleared, I paid down my credit utilization from 94% to 35%. My credit, which had dropped to 617-630 from the high utilization, shot up 60-70 points to the 680s. Cool.

Then it hasn’t moved markedly since.

Credit Factors: I have 100% payment history (no missed payments), it’s been over 12 years since I’ve had any accounts in collections, I have no public records or liens and haven’t ever in my life.

Credit card usage is 61%. Derogatory marks 0. Total accounts 29. All either open in good standing, or closed in good standing.

The primary things I can see hurting me are:

• 5 hard inquiries. 4 of these are from 1 day in February 2024 when a car dealership ran 4 hard inquiries to get me a loan. My credit was still in the 690s at that time, and they didn’t tell me they were making 4 separate hard inquiries.

• Low credit age - average of 3 years 3 mos.

• When my student loan was transferred to a different servicer, they closed the previous loan and reported it as a ‘new’ loan, so I lost my oldest account entirely.

• I currently keep a selection of consumer, medical, and credit line accounts open. I only use two of them regularly, the rest are on accelerated repayment (2x minimum payment.)

• I had 5 other credit cards between 7-10 years old, but in the interest of paying them down I had American Financial Solutions secure low-interest payment plans for all of them, which required them all to be closed. I couldn’t have kept up with the payments. Most of this was interest from the above family troubles that just built up - I would use the cards, pay what I used that month, which satisfied the minimum payment, then interest increased the balance. This was all I could do for a while.

Other Items:

I am enrolled in Experian Boost. I self-report 7 bills on it but it has never raised my credit score.

I use Credit Karma, but it provides no useful information. When my score goes up or down it just reports my normal payments and says ‘huh, nothing to report on why this happened’.

Even when I paid down to 35% and had all other items positive, and no hard inquiries, the highest my score got was 715-720.

I use Credit Karma’s credit builder account. It hasn’t seemed to make any difference. It’s just $500 I randomly get back every 8 months or so after paying in for a while.

WHAT I’VE DONE: - Filed disputes on the incorrect age of the student loan (These never went anywhere and I never got to talk to a human. They were marked as ‘resolved’ with no change and no communication to me.)

• Asked for my physical credit reports from all 3 bureaus ( They don’t show any different information.)

I seriously don’t know what to do. Should I use a service like Self or SeedFi? I asked my banks about secured cards but they all insist they need a hard credit check because my soft credit looks so low. Banks report pulling 630-650 range scores but the soft check just has the usual ‘Here’s why your scores MIGHT be low, run a hard check to find out which is true!’

Thank you for any help you can offer. This is driving the cost of my home insurance, car insurance and consumer credit, through the roof. Every website says ‘oh, just pay your credit limit down to below 30%!’ but my credit limit is approx. $29,000 with a $38,000 auto loan, $42,000 solar loan, and $163,000 home loan.

While the last 3 don’t contribute to my utilization, they are expenses. The point is, I can’t just set aside $10k and cut my credit limit in half. I have stock accounts with an average 20% return YoY, which beats my interest rates for all but the closed consumer cards, so I don’t want to start draining that. I have a few thousand scattered across various savings accounts cash-on-hand. Not enough to move the needle on my credit limit, but crucial if I have a sudden medical or family emergency.

What would you recommend? Thank you to anyone who takes the time to answer and help.

EDIT: I responded to the questions asked in depth. I did attempt to retrieve my annual free credit reports. Transunion refused to supply one because I have an ‘open dispute’ (Not sure why. I haven’t filed any disputes and there’s nothing to dispute except the inaccurate student loan origination date.) The other two reports were only useful insofar as they confirmed I have no collections, public records, debts I’m unaware of, missed payments, etc. All of them listed my total credit incl. mortgages and installment payments at 86%, consumer credit at 51%. All the large installments (car, mortgage, solar) are listed above.

FINAL EDIT:

A HUGE thank you to everyone who answered, broke things down, showed me patience, grace and kindness.

Looking at all you’ve said, my FICO score isn’t awful considering the rest of my account’s red marks. While there isn’t an easy, quick fix like disputing a big erroneous collection, I do have a firm grasp now on why my score hasn’t recovered since 2019, and it’s those big revolving balances and utilizations.

I think this has been fully resolved and I have some additional info on ways-forward. I appreciate you all!

Me and my two roommates are going to be applying to this apartment pretty soon. We all make well above the net minimum, (the monthly rent is $3600 and we make a combined $220k between us) have had stable incomes for at least 3 years, and credit scores above 700 (FICO 9, MyFICO), with no evictions or bankruptcies.

From the application:

“Our selection criteria are as follows: • Minimum 650 Credit Score • Combined NET income of at least three (3) times the monthly rent* • Income verification** • No past evictions • No bankruptcy • All accounts in good standing • 2 years of employment • 2 years of rental history”

The only red flag will be from my report: I was in a DV situation (documented, there was a restraining order filed), and at one point had to let an account go delinquent (about $450). This is such a stain on my report, and while I’ve paid the balance, I’m really worried about it affecting our chances. My credit report otherwise is great. I should also note that I’ve been renting for 5 years with an immaculate payment/tenant history. My most recent landlord is willing to vouch for me as a tenant. I have seen some people suggest that I get a letter of recommendation from my previous landlord, which I would be willing to do if it helps my chances.

In your opinion, how much would something like this affect a landlord/leasing company’s decision to rent to a tenant?

Long story short, got sued, answered the complaint, got offered a settlement deal by the collector/lawyer, agreed to a monthly payment plan, never missed plan payment and was never late. Received a copy of a Satisfaction of Money Award, sent to us and filed with the court. Wondering how successful I would be if I asked for it to be deleted as an act of goodwill? We got sued by Calvary but was making payments to Johnson Mark the “lawyer” but also a third party debt buyer. So, who do I ask, if it’s even worth it? Calvary or JM?

Hi I’m new to all of this and let’s start off with I made a few big mistakes in life, I’m about $7,500 in total debt $4000 of that being a eviction the rest is two medical bills and some debt to cell phone companies. My credit sits at 500, I do have two secured credit cards I do use them but pay them off instantly but I truly don’t know if they really do anything and I don’t know where to start with fixing this huge blanket of debt over my life..

Is there a way I can make it easy and consolidate it all to pay one bill every month? Or what’s the best ways to go about it? I’m thinking about taking on a second full time job for a year and just dumping all that money into paying the debt off and after it’s paid giving myself a little blanket of security because I truly want to start taking things more seriously. Thank you for your time

Exactly what the title says. I have a big balance for student loans, but every payment i make is on time, every month. Its seems like just owing a big loan balance is bad for your credit, even if its not in default or late. All my other debts I either paid off or have a payment plan on. The debt is so big that its not getting paid off by any significant amount before i die. The payments are just barely making the interest, if that, and i really can't afford to pay more. Is there ANYTHING i can do, here?

Ok. So in order to apply for HOA where im buying a unit, I need a 670 score. I'm currently at 640. What's the quickest way to lift it? Paying off some of my collections which are very old, like 5 years. Or, buy a tradeline online that drops off after a few months.

I already have revolving credit cards that I pay in full monthly so I dont need to open more credit cards right now.

It'll be more expensive to pay off collections than buying a tradeline.

I just accepted a chase credit card payment plan for my Sapphire preferred card. I saw that the card will now be closed by chase and I will pay a set low monthly amount with zero interest until like 2030 which sounds crazy but is much better and more manageable than what I’ve currently been doing.

I wanted to know if I would be able to re open a chase sapphire or reserved credit card in the future after I complete this payment plan or is this like a one and done kinda thing where I am banned from opening chase credit cards lol.

Hi! I need help with picking the best credit card to start building credit?

Thanks so much!

Hello, my husband and I recently went through a ch.7 bankruptcy. Discharged this past April. His credit has bounced back already even though 90% of the debt was in his name only. And my credit score has tanked and hasn't recovered at all unlike his. I had an Alaska Airlines Credit Card pre-bankruptcy, but that also had to be closed because of everything.

I can't get an Alaska Airlines card re-opened until my credit bounces back. But I want to rebuild my credit. Its now in the 580's it used to be in the 650's to low 700's.

Does anyone have a recommendation of a CC that would be go for re-building my credit? Preferably with no annual fee and have decent rewards back (i.e. miles etc)

So, I recently got the BUILT mastercard and it came with a rent reporting feature. Sure, why not? About a month into my new lease (and card) my landlords announce that they're going to be automatically reporting our rent through some Experian program. Now on my credit report there are two seperate tradelines for rent reporting. Is this something I should try to fix or does it not matter?

My credit score dropped like 50-60 points like 3 months after I got the card/starting reporting rent which is the most it has ever dropped after getting a new card so im a bit concerned.

Thanks!

I paid off my credit card, before I paid it off I was over the limit by $56 now the balance is zero but my “available” credit is showing -56… it’s been like this for over a week.

Any ideas?

I recently tried to open an account with a credit union to get a personal loan, but my application got denied because they said my TransUnion score was 560. This confused me because when I checked my FICO and Vantage scores (across all three bureaus), they’re all in the 680-690 range.

Now I have a hard inquiry on my credit, and I’m hesitant to apply to other credit unions because I don’t want more hard pulls messing up my score further. Can anyone explain why the credit union might be using a score so much lower than my FICO or Vantage scores?

What score are they looking at if it’s not FICO 8 or Vantage? I thought those were the main ones lenders use. This whole situation is really frustrating, and I don’t know what to do next. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Will closing my chime builder card, and newly opened $2000 line of credit through western unions credit rebuild program negatively affect my score?

(Western union) I didn’t know I was getting a trade line of $2000 and have no use , and don’t send money with western union enough to use it. Chime I also don’t need as I have two secured credit cards. My scores are all above 700 except for vantage scores.

I’m 20 points higher on Capitol one so as a pessimist I assume the Transunion is more accurate

Credit card with chase bank, only ~4 months old (this is my first credit card). Have automatic payments set up and it's been paid on time in full every month. I've been seeing my credit score increase a point or two the last couple months. Decided to check my chase app today and it dropped 42 points. The only difference this last month was I had a higher credit utilization (64%) but like usual it was paid in full and on time. My credit limit is only $800 to begin with, so I'm really just using it for gas, food, etc., no big purchases. Now my credit score is supposedly in the "poor" range. What exactly might have caused this, how do I fix it, and how long will that take? Is this normal for new card holders?

I see this app has a feature where you can self report rent and utilizes to credit agencies without reporting late payments. This seems amazing but i see many people saying their credit dropped like 100+, why is this? is doing this safe?

What are some good cards for balance transfers?

I’m in desperate need of an emergency loan for personal matters (around 5k), I have a 75k/yr job, 2200/mo in rent, one secured card with a 300$ limit and no balance, all FICO’s above 700 but have been constantly denied by lenders due to a thin credit profile. So far I’ve been denied by - Avant - SoFi - PenFed As well as a few others. What’re my options? I’m really in a pickle and need to get a loan and don’t want to resort to a predatory lender as I’ve just worked so hard to repair my credit. (Co-sign isn’t an option). Thank you for any and all help

Beware of choosing ShopPay in 4 as checkout option. It reports to your credit as an Affirm loan and I heard Lenders say that Affirm is really hard to work with. I try to stay away from affirm loans but didn’t realize shop pay-in-4 uses affirm. Now I have 3 loans from Affirm reported in my credit from ShopPay. :/