kohls store card to rebuild credit?

[kaliangel08]

ok so here is my scenario. I will be discharged on 6/20/09 if everything goes as planned. I had many cards that had a zero balance but they were closed by the credit card companys when i filed which i know is normal. All of my cards were closed except my Kohls store charge card. Oddly enough my limit went from $250 to $1000 and they kept it open. I really want to start rebuilding my credit because my goal is to by a house when I am two years out of my bankruptcy. So here is my question. I would like to keep my kohls store card and make small purchases every month and pay them off so it will look good on my credit, but my friend told me that I need an actual visa card like on of those premier bank visa cards for people with bad credit but i don't want one of those cards because they have those monthly and yearly fees which are ridiculous. So do i need one of those visa cards or will my kohls card be enough to rebuild my credit?

[justbroke]

Your friend is partially correct. Your credit score is based on the types of credit that you have. A department store card, is a certain type of revolving credit line. it does count towards your score, but doesn't have the most impact.

What impacts more than a store card, is a revolving credit card like MasterCard or VISA. That's because it's an open credit line that you can spend anywhere. Shopping at Khol's is limited. Plus they enjoy an automatic lien on anything you buy, so your shopping there is really secured by the purchases.

You also don't want too much installment debt. That's places like CitiFinaicial and Beneficial. Having one is okay... having more than 1 starts to affect your score.

You also need other types of credit. Mortgage, motor vehicles, student loans... these all give the score a "profile" or what a consumer does and how they behave with credit.

I remember when my "FICO" score for a Mortgage was in the high six-hundreds (middle scor), but my "Car FICO" was at 800! Yes, there are different models based on what type of item you're buying. The creditors themselves can ask the CRA to change the model based on what they concentrate more on. The "Car FICO" concentrates more on other car loans you had... than revolving VISA/Mastercard.

No one knows how it all really works (down to how to add or shave off 10 points here and there). Fair Isaac (FICO) only tells us what percentage of the (magic 850) score comes from where.

[Stilltheone]

Be careful, I used to work for Kohl's credit dept. It is now managed by Chase, so if you bked anything Chase, your card might be canceled. Good luck!