Navy Federal CU = Love

[Amy26]

Just wanted to let everyone know that if you are eligable at all to join this CU, I highly recommend it. I do not have any military connections to get in but I am a contractor for the gov't and apparently that was enough. You can chose "contractor" then "non dod civilian" (or something like that) and then you can pick the agency you work for. And I was approved very quickly.

Also, they are very bankrupcty friendly and I think as long as you're a year or so out and have done some decent rebuilding they will be flexible with you. I signed up yesterday and applied for their credit card. They called today and said they just needed proof of my income and then everything looked good. So, I'll be very happy to get rid of my ugly HSBC reward zone card...

Anyways just wanted to pass this along incase any of you had the means to join this CU (or were looking for a good credit union).

[ValleYum]

Dear Amy26:

I am happy for you!!

Be cautious of putting too many 'eggs' in Navy Federal's basket. They cross-collateralize everything. They will take $$ out of your checking or savings account (if you have one with them) to pay a bill if you are late.

They are BK friendly to everyone except current members who find themselves in the position of having to file BK.

As always, caveat emptor and ymmv...

[Amy26]

Hehe thanks... I hopefully will never be in that situation and even up till I filed I wasn't late on any of my bills. But ty for the forewarning... Besides, beggers can't be choosers!

[ValleYum]

We were never late with our NFCU CC. Ever. 16 days past due they cut off access and zeroed out the small amount left in our checking account without so much as a phone call. So much for 18 years of membership.

LOL on the beggars & choosers - I am sure we all understand.

Take care!

[Amy26]

Damn... after 18 years?

Yea credit unions are great till you piss them off. Before I bk'd I had a second mortgage with a credit union and they would not help me out to save my life... the head of the mitigation department like yelled at me (and I wasn't even late yet, just telling them I would be having trouble soon). So, yea I know how they can be. It actually gave me great pleasure to call them up after I filed and tell them to shove it where the sun didn't shine and they could call my attorney cause now they were getting jack.

[backtoschool]

Congratulations Amy26! I have had good luck with my local credit union too. (Affiliated with the university where I am getting my second graduate degree...) I have heard good things about Navy Federal on another forum. (one that is more credit friendly than this one LOL).

Credit unions are small and can't absorb a lot of defaults so that is why they get nasty, but you are not going to be in that position so I expect to hear lots of good news coming from your relationship with Navy Federal.

[Amy26]

Thanks backtoschool. Navy Fed is actually the largest credit union with like over 3 million members. I see they approved my credit card application as well... now I just wait to see what the limit will be. I pray its not 500... lol. I read on another forum a person who had just gone through bankruptcy got a card from them with a 17.5k limit.

[ValleYum]

Thanks backtoschool. Navy Fed is actually the largest credit union with like over 3 million members. I see they approved my credit card application as well... now I just wait to see what the limit will be. I pray its not 500... lol. I read on another forum a person who had just gone through bankruptcy got a card from them with a 17.5k limit.

My experience has been that they are very generous with their limits, Amy, I hope this will be the case for you too!! Woot!!

I wanted you to know, too, that I wasn't trying to be a "Debbie Downer" about NFCU. I just wanted to give you the benefits of/knowledge from my experience with them.

[Amy26]

Hehe, of course! I appreciate all points of view.

I went ahead and asked for a refinance of my car loan with them and that was also approved down to a 5% interest rate from my 9.7%. So far, they get my vote. I'm just annoyed having to change banks again when I just did it over the summer. But, hopefully this will be the last time.

[Amy26]

Credit Card was approved for 5k... yay. Not as "generous" as I thought they would be but I apparently failed to notice some derrogatory things on my credit reports... My scores are almost in the 700's so I didn't even think to look closely at my trade lines. But I apparently have "deliquent" accounts on my reports and I looked and alot of my bankruptcy accounts snuck in "last day of deliquency" and "last date of major delinquency" dates. I see a few that are 5/2009 and I filed in June... and I know damn well that 1. those records were not there when I cleaned up my report last year and 2. that I was current on my accounts till I filed. So, I think they are just being mean and evil. Some of them are on there as 6/2009 and 8/2009 and some even say "charged off" in the comments. So, I'm going through another round of disputes... :/

[WhoDat]

I should have signed up with them when I was in the Navy. I'm so jealous! Congrats. I have heard great things about NFCU.

[Amy26]

Thanks!

I believe you still can even if you're no longer in the navy. I was surprised by the number of ways to get in. I know a lot of people are getting in because their parents were in the military. Its worth a shot I think.

[WhoDat]

Thanks!

I believe you still can even if you're no longer in the navy. I was surprised by the number of ways to get in. I know a lot of people are getting in because their parents were in the military. Its worth a shot I think.

I tried several months ago. It was a 17 minute phone call of which the rep was trying every option to get me qualified. I am amazed that the cs rep spent that much time with me, being that I am not a customer. Very impressed. I might try them again.

[backtoschool]

Credit Card was approved for 5k... yay. Not as "generous" as I thought they would be but I apparently failed to notice some derrogatory things on my credit reports... My scores are almost in the 700's so I didn't even think to look closely at my trade lines. But I apparently have "deliquent" accounts on my reports and I looked and alot of my bankruptcy accounts snuck in "last day of deliquency" and "last date of major delinquency" dates. I see a few that are 5/2009 and I filed in June... and I know damn well that 1. those records were not there when I cleaned up my report last year and 2. that I was current on my accounts till I filed. So, I think they are just being mean and evil. Some of them are on there as 6/2009 and 8/2009 and some even say "charged off" in the comments. So, I'm going through another round of disputes... :/

This is exactly what keeps happening to me with a couple of my cards. I have to keep disputing the comments and the way the card is aged. I think 5k is an excellent credit line for this stage of rebuilding!

[Amy26]

Uggg, so I might have to do these disputes all the time? So annoying... which also makes the statement "your credit will rebuild itself" seem a little incorrect... I'm not sure where I heard that...might have been a little birdy somewhere. Cause, these "deliquency dates" were not on my credit report when I did my initial clean up nor when I went for my top secret clearance... so, if I had just repaired my credit once and then just left it alone and never checked it... I would have never known they were there.

Yes, I'm very pleased with the limit even if I had high hopes of it being more. I am perfectly fine now with letting my credit "age" and just sit there now that I have ample credit but I definately need to keep an eye on it for these evil bankruptcy creditors pulling fast ones on me. They were also sneaky because depending where I pulled my report from certain fields that are displayed are not necessarily the same. So, on one report it would say there was absolutely nothing wrong the account but if I checked it somewhere else, I saw the charge offs and the delinquency dates.