NBR: Credit Report

JenniferJaneC

My husband and I were at Steinhafels last week and they had a great discount on furniture if you applied for their financing.  I applied and for the first time in my life was denied a credit card.  I was shocked. 

I pulled my credit report today and it looks great.  My score puts me in the low risk.  I did have one collections account a year ago - I was disputing a dental bill with my insurance company and even though my dentist knew the situation he tossed me into collections 60 days after the procedure was done.  I paid it in full, but it is still a negative.  There's nothing else on my credit report that suggests a problem.

My denial letter referenced the delinquent account, and it also says that my accounts aren't old enough.  I have a student loan that I've been paying since 1996 - how much older do they want?  I'm really at a loss...how do I go about investigating this denial further?  I don't want to be denied in the future if I really need credit.

rcollier_17

Not sure if this is what's going on here, but in general I think it's harder to get approved for credit right now. No one's handing it out like they used to. Also, if you have a lot of debt, even if you're paying it off, they're not going to be as keen to open you up another account.

LadyHollywood

It's just alot harder to get credit now a days, even with great credit scores.

I know people with scores in the higher end of the 700s, getting denied.  It's just crazy.

JenniferJaneC

Hmm...I wonder if its the amount of debt.  I have a house and a rental property plus $70K in student loans.  It never caused a problem before, but maybe now with the say that credit is.  My score is in the 740s and I'm getting denials.

jennybeams

Student loans have a small reflection on your credit score.  What you need to do is open a regular VISA or Mastercard account with a low limit ($1000)  Use the card every month for a few things, like 1-2 trips to the grocery store.  Pay it off each month.  You'd be surprised how fast you can establish credit with that.  It sounds like you just don't have enough data for them to base the decision.

luckyangel

2 days before I closed on my house-completely in my name-noone cosigning at all and no money down (and 2 weeks before buying a brand new car) I was denied a Target card.  Some stores with high losses in cards have INSANE requirements.

As for the dentist...have them write you a letter that you can send to the collections bureaus that states it was an insurance issue and it has been cleared.  Once you have a letter stating that the bureaus have 90 days to remove that item from your credit or mark it as paid in full and in good standing.  That will help on that item.