I am trying to improve my credit after a really bad year. I can't even get a secured credit card.?

I had a really bad year last year and don't know what to do. I've never had a credit card, but I have a defaulted student loan and line of credit on my report. I am paying both of these off. I am on a budget and am saving money, but I need to improve my credit scores. I can't get a secured credit card because I believe I have some bad items reported on chexsystems. Does anyone have any advice for me? The lack of history, combined with the derogatory claims have ruined my scores. Everyone says "Get a credit card to rebuild," but I can't. I don't know what to do.
Additional Details
I have all 3 of my reports and scores. They are really bad. I also have Suze Orman's books, and Larry Winget's, who I recommend. Suze Orman mainly talks about people with credit card debt. I have no debt except for a $3000 student loan that I'm paying $100/mo towards and a $500 line of credit that will be paid off this month. That's it. But I can't even get a secured card.

Ouch, you really got a double-whammy. It's enough to get reported with "the big 3", but if you're on ChexSystems too? Here's some things that you can do:

1. Equip yourself- It's going to be tough to pay anything without properly equipping yourself with the right tools. And what I mean by that is an account of some sort to manage your money. I know that you're on ChexSystems right now, but that doesn't mean that you still can't get an account of some sort. The best thing in your situation would be to open an account with AccountNow. It's a checking account alternative for people that's had trouble either getting a checking account or is in trouble with ChexSystems.

http://www.accountnow.net/#

They offer a MasterCard debit card, free direct deposit, online billpay, and they're FDIC insured, just like a bank. The best feature is thier online billpay which reports to PRBC, an alternative credit bureau that helps you build credit.

2. Gather ALL your credit reports- It's important to know exactly what's on your reports. A lot of times, people believe that their credit is so bad, that they don't bother to check their reports for mistakes, and trust me, mistakes DO happen. The credit bureaus don't get paid to be accurate, they get paid to report. It's important that you gather reports from all 3 agencies to determine not just who and how much you owe, but to make sure that what's on there is even correct. If you do happen to find something that you're sure is not right, you should dispute with all 3 agencies, they all have an online dispute feature in which you can dispute the item. Once you've made sure that there's no inaccuracies on your report, then you should arrange your debts from most recent and lowest amount to oldest and highest amount. Debts that are newer than 2 years are hurting your score the worst and should be handled first. What you should know that just paying off debts, especially collection debts will not help your score. A "pay to delete" or "deletion payment", which is a payment in exchange for removing it from your report completely. I posted several links that explains this more in detail.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/settle_debts.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/neg_rating_after_settle.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/CanCreditorSue4SettlementDifferences.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/ActualDebtSuccesses.shtml

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/debt-negotiation.php

3. Don't believe the hype- While the majority of banks offere secured cards, there are a couple out there that offer secured cards without placing you on ChexSystems. The 2 that come to mind would be Orchard Bank and UltraVX. I've provided links to them both:

http://www.ultravx.com/

https://www.hsbcapply.com/start/orchardbank?pf=PLApply&media=O1AF18_84288651

You might want to check those two out.

3. Don't give up- Before you came on Y/A, you probably felt like you were at the end of your rope, with no where to go and nowhere to turn. Hopefully, my answer combined with some of the other answers on here will help you out

Good luck!

You need to pay the bad debts that are showing on your credit bureau.

Once they are paid, including the checks, you can obtain the secured card because the accounts will be marked as paid, not as open uncollected debt.

It will take some time to clear your credit. Make sure you are paying off the loans with the highest interest rate first. Putting money in savings is good but that wont help your scores right now. Stay on the budget and if you can get one of Suzie Orman's books she is great with this sort of thing...
Or visit her web site...

You have to build it slowly back by paying off your past due accounts on time. Credit is comprised of the amount of credit you have, ratio of debt to open credit, amount of time of your oldest open account establishes your credit history and your payment history. Once it's hit hard, it takes a long time to repair. You pretty much have to be diligent and patient. As well as on time.

First thing you have to do is take care of the items you have on Chex. Shows you overdraw and then run away and do not take care of your responsibilities. At this point you are lucky to have a bank account, and hopefully they will not check Chex because if they do they will close your account. Take care of those and within a few months you will be again eligible

I had the same problems due to banking with Chase. I was reported to chexsystems and could not get a bank account anywhere. Because getting a secured credit card requires that you open a savings account whoever reported you to chexsystems is hindering this. If you have not paid them yet seriously pay if you dont know the amount you owe call or get your chexsystems report to see what is all on there if you havent. I am trying to get a secured card as well and I believe this is your problem

ok here is your plan....you not actually need a secured credit card. it would help but not by much if you already have negative factors on your credit report. here is your financial plan you get back on track and get your credit inline.

1. get a free copy of your credit report
2.check for mistakes and if you see any dispute them ( more than half america has some type of error that is hurting there credit they can be fixed on 30 days)
3. begin paying your student loans
4. catch up on missed back payments from your student loans with maybe income tax
5.then check for past due/collection items and pay them back contact the collection agency and make payment arrangements.
6. after about 6 months to a year apply for a secured card not connected to a bank (its going to take you 5 years to get outta that chexsystems mess) citi has a secured card
7. a department store card can also help be sure NOT to make out these cards, actually don't even use them at all. your available credit determines 35% of your score.
8. dig yourself out of the whole but the first thing you need to do is catch up on student loan debt.

A company like Christian Credit Counselors (CCC) might assist you. Look them up on the web. It certainly can't hurt. It appears that you are on the right track because you are paying the loans back. Unfortunately, it takes more time to get out of debt than it does to get into it. Be patient. A lack of it probably contributed to your current circumstances so don't insist upon quick fixes.
Good Luck!

I don't know either, I will be back to see what advice is lended.

orchard gives everyone a card because what you do is you put 200 on it from your bank but as long as you keep it good and you are paying off everything else it will help your credit faster than you thinik

firts premier turned me down for a secured credit card but orchard gave me one
http://www.orchardbank.com/

F-R-E-E that spells FREE,
credit report.com baby

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