When can i get a credit card again??

[phearcat]

OK my credit scores as of yesterday was

TransUnion: 701, Experian: 644, Equifax: 644 Not good but not terrible

A little background.. I was laid off in January 2009 due to the economic downturn. I believe I had 5 credit or so cards accounts. I was out of work for a total of 10 months. I have a mortgage and car payment as well.

Well as you can imagine my credit took a hell of beating last year but I managed to keep my mortgage payments current up and keep my car. My credit card accounts however were totally decimated. Every single one of them was maxed out and then the accounts were closed. Not charged off, simply closed by the company due to late payments.

When it looked like I was about ready to have to unload my house to pay off my debts when I was offered a giant (220K+/per year) salary to come out to Iraq and work.

Suffice to say, I have had an huge economic recovery since I've started working here in the middle east. I've paid off huge chunks of money that I have owed for years. My credit scores have gone from the 580 range to now the 701 range on TU. I still have quite a ways to go to totally eliminate my debt which is my goal but I am right on track. I have not had a late payment for 6 months.

My issue is that no one will issue my an unsecured credit card. I've tried and no one will do it. You would link a homeowner who can very easily pay his bills could get a card but I just cant.

I only really need a credit card for practical reasons. My company issued me an American Express which I have been using for travel. However all purchases have to be approved, my wife can't use it to buy food for example.

I know they have tightened up the credit a huge amount in the last year or so. What are my scores going to need to be to say get a unsecured credit card from Citibank or Capitol one or some normal place? I do credit monitoring and I have noticed that every credit card I have applied to they ONLY check Equifax which is typically my lowest score. My 644 Equifax scores are definitely not cutting the mustard.

Ideally you should have 2-3 open credit card accounts with low balances. It looks like I will end up with zero debt but also zero available credit the way things are going. :eek:

[30daylate]

I am a big fan of doing stuff yourself but in your case I would say try out Lexington Law. They were able to get stuff off my report.

[Lian]

Start with a secured card, build a little history on it, and then go for the unsecured card.

[Hal Jordan]

I agree. See if you can start off with something like a capital one $300 secured card (a bigger name card seems to have more impact on your score) and just bump up the credit limit a little at a time as you go..

[30daylate]

I definitely agree with the card card escalation strategy but 35% of your credit score is your payment history so you got to deal with that as well if you want to get your score back up I think.