why was I able to get a credit card even though I have had over 5 card companies close my card for non payment

Question

I just got a card with a $500 limit and no activation fee. I lost my amx card, discover card, chase card, multiple store cards for non payment this was over 3 years ago

How was I able to still get a card even though I got all this bad stuff in my report?

Answer 1

# Equifax, Experian and TransUnion: These three credit reporting agencies determine the credit worthiness of people in USA by making credit ratings for them.
# Every person can receive one copy of credit report from each of the these credit reporting agencies absolutely free of cost.
# To obtain free credit reports, a person needs to log in to the website www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the federal law authorized source to get a free annual credit report.
# Individual credit reporting agencies viz. Experian, Equifax, TransUnion also provide credit report for a fees of about 10$ per report.
# If you have been denied a credit, you can apply for free credit report from these three credit rating agencies.
# The three different credit rating agencies maintain different credit reports and each one of them has to be obtained in order to get a comprehensive picture of your credit report.
# Credit report has 4 different parts: identifying information about the individual, credit history, public records, and inquiries made to the credit file.
# Identifying information includes your name and address, and social security number.
# Credit history includes detailed list of each of the accounts you have and corresponding account numbers( the numbers can be encrypted). The other details shown on credit history will be the date of opening of account, the details of loans you took, total amount of loan, your payment history, the amount you still owe and the status of the account.
# The public records part of your credit card describes the details regarding bankruptcies, judgments, and tax liens. Read more from: http://www.credit-card-gallery.com/article/274,15_facts_everyone_must_know_about_credit_reports

Answer 2

Hi, and congratulations on obtaining a new credit card.
Credit card companies are like any other company: They're looking to make money.

They know that just about everyone makes mistakes, and that people who have been irresponsible with credit in the past can later handle credit well. So they're taking a chance on you. I have no doubt that the card has a high interest rate, and high fees, but that's what you get when you're trying to re-establish credit.

You say it has been three years since your nonpayments. If that means you've been making on-time payments for three years -- whether to creditors or utilities or landlords or whoever -- that's enough time for your credit report to to get better, and for your credit score to rise.

They gave you a card with a $500 limit. That's not much these days, but it's a great opportunity for you. Use it wisely!

Step 1: Call the card issuer. Ask whether they report your payments to the major credit bureaus. If they don't report, don't use the card. It will do you no good in improving your credit. If they say they do, proceed to ...
Step 2: Use that card for a few routine purchases.
When the bill comes, RUN to the post office and pay it off.
Step 3: Repeat several times. Use www.annualcreditreport.com to confirm that the issuer is reporting those precious on-time payments, and that your credit report is getting better.
Step 4: Get a better card, with a better rate and a higher limit. They'll come in the mail, or you can use (ahem) a card comparison Web site such as the one I work for, http://www.credticards.com. Disclosure: The company makes a couple bucks each time someone uses it to apply for a credit card.
Regardless of where you get the card, please make sure not to repeat those mistakes of three years ago. Credit is increasingly important in today's society, and not just for borrowing money. Your employer, landlord, car insurance provider and others all check it.

Time and on time payments do wonders to heal those old credit problems. Sounds like you're in a spot where, thanks to this new card, you can be "cured" of them.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm guessing it was a Capitol One card. Capone is very aggressive about pushing cards out there. Yes, some folks are like, "hey thanks for the 500 bucks" and never make a single payment. However enough people pay the exorbitant interest rates and the penalty fees that go with such a card to more than make up for the total deadbeats. The fact is, you may have been targeted for their marketing campaign precisely because of your history.

It's also possible that they didn't pull the report that your negative information happens to be on. It's unlikely they would bother with a combined report for a $500 card. Therefore your past creditors might have reported to say..Trans-Union, but this new creditor only pulled your Equifax info.