Powered by Yahoo! Answers

Orchard Bank Credit Card in collections?*

I had an Orchard Bank credit card and I was last I think once or twice on the payment. They harrassed me so bad after the 2nd time I was late, I told them to close the account and I refused to pay (I know stupid, but I was pregnant and hormonal, LOL). Well I have since paid off the card (in full) and now I'm wondering if I should try to apply for a new card with them. I really have to work on rebuilding my credit and one thing on my credit report that I do not have are any credit cards which is affecting my report and score negatively. Has anyone had any luck with trying to get another card after its gone to collections? Should I even try? I would hate to try to apply for them to tell me NO and then I have another inquiry on my report.

Answers:

1) HSBC/Orchard doesn't blacklist people who had charged off accounts with them. Many people who had defaulted with them found that they could get another card. If it has been fairly recent, within the past two years, I wouldn't recommend trying with them. You might try Cap One. You might also talk to your bank or credit union about opening a secured card. (some creditors eventually unsecure secured cards, some don't. If you get a secured card, go with a creditor that will unsecure it at some point) No matter who you go with for an unsecured major credit card, you will probably have to pay an annual fee since you are rebuilding and have negatives reporting. Stay away from the super subprimes that charge annual fees that would be close to your credit limit and also charge monthly fees. With major credit cards, request credit limit increases every 6 months. With store charge cards request credit limit increases every 4 months. If you have an annual fee major credit card, every year right before the fee would be due call them and request the annual fee be waived. If they say no ask if they can waive part of it. Keep the account in good standing and in 6 months you might try for a store charge card where you generally shop At one year you might try getting a major card with a better creditor and another store charge card. At 14 to 16 months you might try for another major card.. At 2 years you might try getting a major card with an even better creditor. Try to have your annual fee with the first card waived permanently. If they won't you might consider closing the card or you might ask them to waive the fee or a portion of the fee and wait until that card hits 3 years old before closing it. Apply with the better creditor "before" you close the annual fee card if you decide to close it. Rebuilding does take some time. Concentrate on keeping the cards in good standing. Pay on time and keep your utilization low. Try to get credit limit increases. Your first card(s) will probably be rebuilder cards and probably won't grow with you. Don't be afraid to close them after they hit 2 or 3 years old "if" you have worked on rebuilding with better creditors and if the rebuilder cards are proving they aren't growing with you (they refuse to fully and permanently waive the fees, etc) When/if you close the rebuilder cards, be sure the utilzation on your other cards is low. Closing the rebuilder cards will mean that you would be losing the utilization on the credit limits, but you would not be losing the history of the card for 10+ years from the date of closure.

2) there are many other banks out there which will give you a credit card with bad credit. You should try another bank.

*The answers on this page are supplied by users of the Yahoo! Answers forum or by visitors to this site. CreditOptions does not necessarily endorse or agree with the answers provided.