My situation is a bit complex, but here is the long and short of it:
I had a split EQ file which allowed me to get some credit cards, 2 with high limits. My utilization on one is 4k/10k and the other is 6200/6500. The rest of my cards are either 0 or 35% or less and I have one car payment. My income is 50k
I am in a position where I will be getting a lump sum to pay these cards off if I opt to. Doing so, will drop my utilization and should cause my score to jump quite a bit. Right now my EQ Complete score is 611, BUT that is because of the merge, which caused me to end up with 23 inq(which I am B* ing) and because of the high utilization.
So, my hope is to pay off these cards right before the statement generates, plus have my Inqs gone. That SHOULD allow me some opportunity to get an unsecured loan. When I had the split file, the main problem I ran into was people seeing only 2 years of credit history. now I have 8 years of credit and AAoA of 4 years.
Downside: I discharged Ch 7 Jan 2011. I'm a little more than a year out, but have paid everything on time with my toy cards and have a year worth of payments with my car.
Question: Are there any recommendations for a CU to join for this purpose? I know YMMV, but wondering if there are some out there known to be a little more lenient with unsecured loans.
I am currently a member of USAA(not full), Alliant, Associated, PenFed, GTE, and just joined ELFCU. I applied for DCU and was denied for some reason. I'm waiting on the letter telling me why.
I'm not a member of the military and don't qualify for NFCU. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks
edit: the 10k unsecured loan would be for wedding expenses. I can either go the route above so I end up with the money I need without driving up my utilization, or keep the money I get towards the expenses, which leaves me with the utilization problem.
Bump
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The CUs you already joined are going to be your best bet. Regardless of your efforts you may find it hard for a bank/CU to just hand over $10K initially, without first building a relationship. You might be better off pursuing CLIs on the cards you pay off once you let the utilization settle and B* what you can.
Also, I know this wasn't part of the question, but I want to caution you against putting that kind of $ on a CC unless you have a short term means to pay it off. If you carry that balance for a while it will prolong your rebuilding efforts. It's a slippery slope and I'm just hoping you aren't getting yourself in over your head. Not judging, just a friendly concern from one rebuilder to another.