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     | Thursday, September 28, 2000 - 10:22 am  I'm looking for a secured card that I can get WHILE in bankruptcy so that I can rent cars/etc.... Does anyone have any reccomendations? Future Cards' startup costs seem a bit steep ($79 "setup" + $19 "issuing fee" + $69 annual fee + $5 monthy "participation charge). Christine, I'll send you the $3 anyways :-) -Dave
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| | Thursday, September 28, 2000 - 01:10 pm If you are with a credit union then you might check what they offer. Mine (Navy Federal) recently gave me a secured card with no annual fee and 12.5% interest. Not too bad. I'm not sure if it reports to all the CRAs though.
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| | Thursday, September 28, 2000 - 04:46 pm I recommend AMEX Optima Secured or FCNB Secured cards. Be a little cautious of AMEX Optima -- they don't report to the credit bureaus. Also be aware that many companies are making rechargable "gift certificate" cards that are VISA or MasterCard co-branded. I posted a link below. You might want to check those types of rechargable cards out.
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| | Friday, September 29, 2000 - 06:29 am I'm guessing most rental car companies will not accept those gift cards - hence the need for a secured card.. Thanks for the pointers, though... FCNB specifically says "the bankruptcy must be discharged"... FutureCard says it doesn't need to be, but who knows. -Dave
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| | Friday, September 29, 2000 - 10:39 am Ask if the card says on it that it's a gift card or not. Hopefully it won't say anything on it other than VISA.
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| | Friday, September 29, 2000 - 11:42 am I looked at the sites for those... They do say "gift card". FCNB *did* approve me for 150% of my deposit + only a $39 annual fee... (and I pulled a report on myself - my bnk is listed on at least 2 of the 3 already - and I only filed a week ago!). I also applied for the Capital One card... We'll see what they come back with. -Dave
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 12:22 am I looked at those gift cards a while back and didn't like what I saw. Not a good deal. David, I was happy to get an e-mail from Future Card announcing an increase in commissions to $30, payable six months after an account was opened. The current $3 is rather pathetic, considering that there are numerous card issuers paying $20 to $50. AmEx, Sterling, Capitol One, Next Card, ... I've gotten several E-mails regarding the secured Optima, stating that they don't report to the CRAs and that you'll get declined if AmEx ever took a loss on your account. I'd like to find two or tree cards that don't have outrageous fees and that DO report to the CRAs. And of course 800 #s, customer service, etc. would be nice.
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 03:44 am FCNB is $39/year flat fee. They gave me 150% of my deposit as my credit line (even with a current bnk reported!). According to their website, they do report to the three CRA's. -Dave
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 04:31 am I've done business with FCNB and they were good to me.
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 08:32 am I have some comments on FCNB. While they're much better than Cross Country and some of the other cards, their payment posting is extremely slow and even phone payments take days to get posted. They DO waive fees if one has a good reason (as in THEY were slow to post) if you have the patience to talk to a supervisor. I highly recommend on-line bill paying (as just about all banks offer) so you can prove when the check was mailed. Also, if you make large payments, they hold those for several weeks and they don't tell their customers that.
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 09:40 am I have had an FCNB mastercard card ( secured) since 12/98. I love it. I started with $100 secured card. Then after about 6 months I added $ 600 to the account. They steadily increased the limit. It is at $4900 and they also unsecured the account in 3/00. They also sent me a unsecured Visa. I have checked my credit reports every 6 months and they have been diligently reporting all the payments and account history to all 3 credit bureaus. I would definately recommend them if you are starting out and trying to rebuild your credit. The only drawback I have with the company is that they do not have web access to their accounts. Finally in my opinion, always ask for customer care supervisors since their 1st level support is farmed out to an outside company. Hope this helps. dan
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 10:19 am Thanks, that's good to hear. Now I'd like to find 2 more like FCNB. It's really important for Credit Scores to have several reported accounts.
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 11:03 am I'm waiting to hear back from Capital One. They also have a $39/year fee and report to all three agencies. We'll see what they come back with. -Dave
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 01:14 pm I use Capital One and they are, so far, a pretty good CC company. Prompt Customer Service and a phone and internet system that is pretty strong. Even their bills arrive promptly.
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 01:22 pm I just looked at fcnb.com and found an interesting requirement: "Do you have a phone in your home and a street address (not a P.O. box)?" I find this interesting because the US Postal Service does NOT deliver to most homes in rural areas and is continuing to scale back delivery services. It looks like people who move a lot and/or can't get postal deliveries need to spend the dollars on a private mail box such as Mailbox Etc. because they offer a street address. That worked for me, I opened several accounts including the Compubank checking account which also requires a street address.
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| | Wednesday, October 04, 2000 - 01:26 pm I just started using Capital One. Their Internet site is pretty good and they posted my payment (via snail mail) promptly. My only gripes about them is their limit is so low for me ($300) that I'm afraid to use it for much more then gas. Another thing is they don't report your credit limit to the CRA's. Just your high balance. One day I'm going to charge it up to just about $300 so it is about right and then just use it for gas.
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| | Friday, October 13, 2000 - 01:25 pm I used Capital One, With a fico of 654 they started me with a 1k limit
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| | Friday, October 13, 2000 - 02:57 pm Capital One told you what your FICO Score was?
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| | Friday, October 13, 2000 - 09:28 pm Christine- good question. That would be amazing, but here's another good question: Capital One only gave you a 1k limit with a fico score of 654???? I thought 654 was a good score. Interesting...... (not sure if I buy any of that post) -Dan
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| | Saturday, October 14, 2000 - 07:00 am I just 'accepted' my Capital One secured card.. It's a bit weird though - most places (like FCNB) say "Deposit as much as you want" basically... Capital One said to me "Deposit $100, we'll give you a $200 limit. Period" FCNB goofed mine up I think. I'm waiting for a nasty letter from them. They did a direct-debit of my checking account, and transposed a digit when entering it (on the letter I got from them confirming it). It still hasn't been drawn out of my checking out. -Dave
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| | Saturday, October 14, 2000 - 11:45 am My theory with Capital One is that they like to give low limits in the hopes of getting people to go over the limit so they can charge them the fees. They also try to sell you a lot of useless stuff. They are kind of a slick company but at least they report to all the CRAs.
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| | Tuesday, October 17, 2000 - 03:17 pm I'm a former credit analyst with MBNA America Bank. If you apply for a credit card with a bank that has analysts that make the decision and the analyst has a question, the analyst will call. At that time, you can ask for your score and there's a good chance that they will reveal your score. With regard to the post of the person with the 654 beacon, it's not uncommon for someone with that score to receive a low line. I've seen college students with 754 beacons but only one trade line with a credit high of $300. That would be a case for a $1,000 line. I've also seen medical students with 600 beacon scores who receive up to $10,000 because of their demographics. So, go figure.
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| | Tuesday, October 17, 2000 - 03:41 pm I just looked at fcnb.com and found an interesting requirement: "Do you have a phone in your home and a street address (not a P.O. box)?" I find this interesting because the US Postal Service does NOT deliver to most homes in rural areas and is continuing to scale back delivery services. It looks like people who move a lot and/or can't get postal deliveries need to spend the dollars on a private mail box such as Mailbox Etc. because they offer a street address. Won't work anymore. The Postal Service now requires private mail box services to use the notation "PMB" in their addresses. Mail without the notation won't be delivered. Apparently, too many scam operators were using these services to give themselves what seemed like a physical office presence to the unwary.
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| | Tuesday, October 17, 2000 - 04:24 pm Won't work anymore. The Postal Service now requires private mail box services to use the notation "PMB" in their addresses. That's NOT true. I would know. According to the Fairbanks Mailbox ETC, 1999 federal legislation now requires that you rent or purchase real estate to be eligible to rent a private OR PO box. The poorest of the poor, the homeless and transients lost the ability to receive mail, and nobody noticed.
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| | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 07:46 am Won't work anymore. The Postal Service now requires private mail box services to use the notation "PMB" in their addresses. That's NOT true. I would know. According to the Fairbanks Mailbox ETC, 1999 federal legislation now requires that you rent or purchase real estate to be eligible to rent a private OR PO box. The poorest of the poor, the homeless and transients lost the ability to receive mail, and nobody noticed. Section 2.6 of the Postal Service's publication D042, Conditions of Delivery, requires use of the PMB notation. You are correct about how a permanent address is a precondition for getting a P.O. Box or PMB.
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| | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 11:23 am I'd appreciate that link. Want to bet I don't need a PMB designation? Just for laughs, read about my bet with Nick Reale, winner of the 1996 BayHouse Moron of the Year Award.  I DO get my mail, and I got ** 3 ** boxes in three States to prove it to you.
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| | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 05:19 pm I'd appreciate that link. Want to bet I don't need a PMB designation? It's an Adobe file, which I can't open on my home computer, and I can't get the URL to display. But just go to the Postal Service's site, do a search for "PMB," and the manual in question will be the first one listed. I'll take your word for it, that you are able to receive non-designated mail at your PMB. I suppose it could be that enforcement is lax, at least when it comes to individuals vs. businesses.
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| | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 06:36 pm P. Rosa, I do receive my business mail without the PMB designation. "This rule change allows for the use of PMB or the optional # ..." Another bet I would have won. Now I lost an hour of my time for nothing. Could somebody tell me how I can COPY something out of a .pdf? This is really irritating, I couldn't figure it out. A request to everybody, and especially to P. Rosa: It's one thing when people have questions, another when people post incorrect STATEMENTS. I'd much appreciate people posting their sources, and that way they might figure out that they're wrong before they post and save me and the other posters (thanks, Shylock) a lot of time. We all make mistakes occasionally. But I'm trying to keep the info at BayHouse as accurate as possible, and my tolerance for people who're wasting our time CONSISTENTLY is real low. P. Rosa may want to read through some of my old postings in the Forum topic. Thanks!
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| | Thursday, October 19, 2000 - 06:01 am To copy something out of a pdf file I think you need to click the T from the adobe tool bar and then just highlight and copy. Sometimes pdf files are made with just a scanned image and text cannot be copied but I believe you can copy stuff out the ones from the usps website.
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| | Thursday, November 02, 2000 - 03:23 pm Typically you can't copy out of a .pdf file unless you have the full Acrobat. USPS and IRS both have versions of their files online in pdf and in text and html, you should be able to find a text version. Hi there everybody. This "phone in the home" requirement is an ominous trend. I am self-employed and dropped the land line for a fully deductible cell phone 2 years ago. Am I being offered bad interest rates not only for my sucky credit (I just consolidated and refied to help fix this) but also because I don't have a residential phone line?
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| | Saturday, November 04, 2000 - 05:50 am Ok, I tried this again. In my version of Acrobat it's the "abc" button, probably the same as the "T". It sucks that it copies ACROSS columns, but it's still easier to delete than to type. "In addition, DMM D042.2.6(e) is revised to conform to a rule change published in the Federal Register (65 FR 49917–49919) on August 16, 2000. This rule change allows the use of “PMB” or the optional “#,” in certain conditions, as the secondary address designation in the complete delivery address for CMRA customers." And I since saw somewhere at FCNB that you can have a different mailing address, but they need to verify your address at your residence somehow. Many creditors DON'T give you that option. As far as the phone requirement goes, I was declined in the 80's by Discover because the phone wasn't in my name.
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| | Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 12:19 pm I splurged for a nearby PMB (Private Mail Box) last year: I was tired of the 2nd-class treatment I get from the USPS, FedEx and UPS (when it comes to package delivery) because I am an apartment tenant. The indifferent rental agent in the front office in my rundown complex comes and goes as she pleases so that's useless for helping with getting a package safely or timely, and my working hours don't suit the delivery services, etc., etc. Anyway, things are getting better and I recently moved into a much nicer "luxury" complex, where package delivery is not a big deal -- but, I let all of my mail from the old slum get forwarded to the PMB (it seemed convenient at the time). I have never actually written "PMB" on any of my change-of-address notices, I just wrote "99 Main St, #123". This works. The mail gets delivered, although judging from the time it takes, PMBs are at the bottom of the USPS mail class hierarchy. That's okay. Meanwhile, I applied for a credit card, although with my current status (the wounds will take a long time to heal, even after 4 years in the CCCS program), I shouldn't even bother (I am living okay without them!). When predictably rejected, I followed the instructions to request a copy of my credit report, and a bit later got a note (at the PMB) from one of the Big Three CRAs challenging my "new" address (that is, the PMB -- my new home is my sanctum sanctorum, NOBODY has the address except the electric, phone, and Mom). I came up with a devious way to make it look like the PMB is actually where I live. My mother didn't raise me to be dishonest, I just got that way from living in the real world. I took the latest phone and electric bills (not more than a month old at the time) from my old slum address, blacked out my phone number on both, made a couple of copies of the bills, and sat down with a pair of fine embroidery scissors and a clear glue stick. It took two days, but it worked. The font on the address portion of the phone bill is distinctive: that took me the longest time to cut and paste (literally), and I actually had to create two letters and one number for my PMB address that didn't exist in my old slum address. The electric bill was much easier: I was able to match the address portion almost exactly to a popular font (Arial), size 11.5 -- I made a clean copy of the finished product, mailed it to the CRA, and now have my latest credit report. In a short while I expect to see the usual ugly mail arriving at my PMB, since the CRA will of course distribute my new "address". Nobody at the PMB facility (or in the USPS, which has more important things to worry about) is going "Oooo, we have to return this piece of mail back to the sender because it says APT 123 instead of PMB 123" and 99% of the address labels on the mail I get say "# 123" anyway. The PMB facility gets my money, I get my mail, and the CRA gets a current good address (I don't even live in the same county anymore, but drive to the PMB twice a month and like to visit the old neighborhood haunts). As an afterthought, there was a time when I would have been a good citizen sheep and just handed them my new address, and then waited for the mail assaults to begin. I'm learning, albeit slowly -- I've had an unlisted phone for years now: handled carefully, the PMB sort of gives you an unlisted address, too, and at least a chance to "screen" incoming communications. I hope my experience helps any readers finding themselves in a similar quandary.
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| | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 - 04:54 am Last spring, I got a VISA from Providian. A $125 initial fee got me a $300 limit card. Although I havent seen an "automatic" limit increase (all my payments have been on time) they offer services you can buy such as Credit Protection. They increase your limit to cover the cost of the service, and as you pay it down you have more credit. They report to all three CRA's in a timely manner, with limits, and balances. Chrisine, you say its very important to have multiple accounts active when re-building credit. But you cant get credit without applying, and that causes inquiries. If youre turned down, you always have that lovely parting gift of an inquiry on your report to again, lower your scores.
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| | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 - 06:24 am When re-building I think you need to really think 1-3 years ahead. I'm in that situation too. I've just opened 3 secured credit cards within the past couple months and I think that in the short term it is lowering my score. I would like to add some department store credit cards and maybe an installment loan to my resume but will probably wait a year from now before applying since I know I can't get them now. I agree that it is unfair to lower you score for inquiries. Discouraging comparison shopping is just un-American if you ask me. I used to apply for credit cards just to get the free gifts that they sometimes offered for applying.
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| | Sunday, December 10, 2000 - 01:12 pm Call your lender directly and ask for the credit line increase if you've had the card for more than six months (and your account has been in good standing). Especially when it's close to the holidays, banks tend to be more willing to increase your line in the hopes you will keep your cash and charge on their card. Hope this helps. Former MBNA SR. Analyst
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| | Monday, December 11, 2000 - 10:20 am Cap One will allow you to deposit more money. Call their customer service and ask for deposit slips. They will only do it if you have paid them on-time for at least 3 months. As for FCNB, while Cap One is slick, they at least do things on line and seem more customer friendly. FCNB sends me a letter every month (I have a 500 limit) that I am over my limit (they tack on a fee because I run it up to 500 and pay around 400-475 a month sometimes in full) demanding I pay the over balance amount ASAP. Cap One has given friends of mine their deposit back after the 1st year and then increased the limit nicely if the account is always on time. I believe they are a somewhat good CC company (compared to HRS and First which SUCK!).
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