Secure Credit Card

[PneumaticTransit]

My husband has bad credit due to a broken apartment lease and no prior history of having a credit card. We have paid off the lease, but we are not having any luck getting him a credit card. He even got rejected from Target for not having any credit activity in the past 6 months.

What is the best credit card for someone with bad credit? Is there a good place to get a secure credit card? I've done an online search, and creditcard.com has offers for bad credit ok cards, but with an annual fee around $50, which is okay as long these cards are "for real" and will help him establish a credit rating.

I have already checked with my bank, and they only offer student credit cards.

 

[we3disneygo]

have you tried applying for a dept. store card? penneys, kohl's, etc. I would give it a shot, if you get a card charge and pay off then in 6 mos. apply for a bank card. good luck-hope this helps

 

[Luv2trav]

Can you get a card and add him as an authorized user? That will show up on their credit report sometimes.

 

[oogieboogie]

Go to www.creditboards.com - they know good companies where it's easier to get a card.

If you want, you can PM my DH (picantel)

He's a member of creditboards and he can give you some pointers on which credit card companies are good for rebuilding your credit.

 

[abeyst]

Household Bank will issue secured cards and it will show up as unsecured on you credit rpt.

You can also try www.creditnet.com. They have invaluable advice in their discussion boards ('credit talk' they call it).

 

[momto4obkids]

When my husband first started rebuilding his credit after his bankruptcy. He got a secured card from Providian. They have been excellent to work with and have raised his credit limit on the card from $500 when he first opened it to $1430.



hth!
Amanda

 

[picantel]

a card that most people can get is this:
http://www.orchardbank.com
He would probably get an annual fee, possibly have a $19 processing fee, and only get a $300 credit limit but it beats the garbage out there like first premier or aspire(stay away. far far away). There is also the possibility they would offer just a secured. However, they first pull a soft inquiry which does not hurt your credit and then make an offer. IF you accept they pull a hard and you are good to go.
He can also try and call bank of america and ask about their $99/$500 secured card. Basically, you put $99 down and get a $500 card making it partially secured. However, not all customer service agents know about it and he may not qualify.
Another credit to get, strickly to help his credit, is to go to http://www.crownjewelers.com and sign up. I do not think they even do a credit pull. He will get a limit between $500 and $1500 but it will not report until he buys something. I think for each item you put something like 30-40% down but find something cheap to buy and voila you have a nice positive tradeline show up in a couple of months. Finally, national city is suppose to have a decent secured card. Just stay away from capital one. They will kill his credit with their illegal credit limit reporting.

Have you ever thought of writing to the apartment complex and basically begged to have the tradeline deleted. They can do it if they want. Also, pm me how it is report exactly i.e. cut and paste. Most creditors will incorrectly report information and that can be used against them.