HOW TO: From BK7 discharge to 700 in 24 months or less!

[ShellyxBaby]

I really wish I knew about this thread back in March when my Chap 7 got discharged Ive already gotten an AMEX secured card through Usaa  I also had a Credit One card but i canceled bc evertime i would pay my bill a few days laer they would tack on some random finance charge on it. Even when I cancelled and they gave me my balance due that I had left I promptly paid it and they closed the account -or at least I thought they did- I wsas alreted that I had a balance of $4 I called them to ask them wth hell and they said that the amount they gave wasnt my the full amount so I call BS and told them that they cannot just try to charge someone a random charge after theyve closed their account and after you told them that was their balance so yet again they waived the balance but tell me why I got an alert yet again saying that my account is closed but there was a balance? So you know what I did I filed a dispute. Anyways I really wish I had this earlier  I currently have 3 open accounts. My Usaa card My Macy's card that Ive had before the BK and also a Military Store Card I have a Zero balance on my USAA and Macys card and a I have revolving balance on my Store card to which i havent charged anything since i made my 1 big purchase I'll be done paying it off in 3 months.

Tmrw I'm going to upgrade to the  FICO 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring I'm currrently subscribed to Score Watch bu I will be upgrading for sure 

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking on these forums for a few months now. I just have a few questions that pertain to my particular situation.

I filed for Chapter 7 on July 9th 2014. I've alread had my 341 and I am currently just awaiting my discharge. 

Of course, like everyone else here, I am very excited/anxious to start my rebuild and will be using this plan. 

Firstly, the credit builder loan. I am a member of a local credit union (reading here, I wish it was NFCU but no connectiosn ) and they have a couple credit builder options. However, how long do I need to carry this balance before I can just pay it off in full? I don't really want to pay interest on money I already have. 

Secondly, I have student loans...joy.. They were all late when I filed BK which there isn't much I can do about it now. But right after I filed I called up Sallie Mae (transfered from Direct Fed) to set up a new payment plan. They told me that I already had a "bankruptcy forebearance". I was thinking about keeping this going as it would give me a year to really get on stable ground but I am curious if it would hurt me more than help me? 

Thanks in advance for any advise you can give!

And congratulations to all of you in your success!

[Chilli]

@Shellyxbaby,

I am experiencing almost the same thing with credit one. They posted a $1 balance on my credit report this month and I had paid the balance in full the prior month. But that's ok...I have not closed my acct. yet. Since I paid th annual fee for the year, I plan to keep the acct open for a few more months, let it report 0 balances before I close it.

It seems like to have done well so far. This is a good plan to follow and you will do well with it. Have you considered getting yourself a credit builder loan yet? This would help with your mix of credit as week as build history.

I see you have military connection. NFCU is an awesome CU.

Good Luck on your rebuilding journey and stay focus on the plan!

[twanswife916]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking on these forums for a few months now. I just have a few questions that pertain to my particular situation.

I filed for Chapter 7 on July 9th 2014. I've alread had my 341 and I am currently just awaiting my discharge. 

Of course, like everyone else here, I am very excited/anxious to start my rebuild and will be using this plan. 

Firstly, the credit builder loan. I am a member of a local credit union (reading here, I wish it was NFCU but no connectiosn ) and they have a couple credit builder options. However, how long do I need to carry this balance before I can just pay it off in full? I don't really want to pay interest on money I already have. 

Secondly, I have student loans...joy.. They were all late when I filed BK which there isn't much I can do about it now. But right after I filed I called up Sallie Mae (transfered from Direct Fed) to set up a new payment plan. They told me that I already had a "bankruptcy forebearance". I was thinking about keeping this going as it would give me a year to really get on stable ground but I am curious if it would hurt me more than help me? 

Thanks in advance for any advise you can give!

And congratulations to all of you in your success!

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Dross0904,

With the credit builder loans you honestly wanna keep then for the full term but I would say a minimum of 6-9 months. Since you do have student loans I would suggest doing a Direct Loan Consolidation. If they are still in a forbearance this means payments are being reported as "deferred" (i.e. pay as agreed) The deferred status keeps the student loans reporting in good standings which does help a little however, it does not give a payment history.

[twanswife916]

Today I switched my subscription from Score Watch to the new 3-Bureau Credit Montioring. I'm so glad MyFico created this product. Now I can fully monitor all of my reports in 1 place.

[Scupra]

Time to update your sig with new shiny FICO's lol

[twanswife916]

So even though it is a holiday I did a little research regarding FCRA 609 and decided to pull the trigger and contact the CRA's via fax requesting verification of proof for the baddies they have reported for me under the 15 U.S. Code § 1681g - Disclosures to consumers. I've read several people have had success getting negative items removed even IIB's and Judgements. It's a long shot but hey evey little bit helps.

[missgaonmymind]

Soulmaster, so I'm about 45 days until discharge, however i will need to obtain a car as soon as i get my orders bc i filed my car. What is the best way go about this and still follow your plan to raise scores?

[ordnance1987]

I disputed two items on my credit report with Experian online. Is that the same as mailing a letter and CMRRR? I rehabilitated two student loans after default and the items were never removed from my credit report. I don't have any supporting information because I was young and dumb so I uploaded a screenshot from the website will that be enough information? Also included a link to the website I took the screenshot from. Also I was denied for the pre approval from Credit One, I doubt I can apply for Capital One because I burned them in the BK for an amount less than $100. I went to the pre approval site and got nothing either. Should I apply for the Capital One Journey Student Rewards or the Discover it for students? Any other suggestions for unsecured cards I can apply to? The score Credit One gave me from Experian was 704 after BK.

[arholden]

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@ordnance1987 wrote:

I disputed two items on my credit report with Experian online. Is that the same as mailing a letter and CMRRR? I rehabilitated two student loans after default and the items were never removed from my credit report. I don't have any supporting information because I was young and dumb so I uploaded a screenshot from the website will that be enough information? Also included a link to the website I took the screenshot from. Also I was denied for the pre approval from Credit One, I doubt I can apply for Capital One because I burned them in the BK for an amount less than $100. I went to the pre approval site and got nothing either. Should I apply for the Capital One Journey Student Rewards or the Discover it for students? Any other suggestions for unsecured cards I can apply to? The score Credit One gave me from Experian was 704 after BK.

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I disputed online instead of letter and CMRRR and did just fine (except for TU being butts). You will get periodic updates over the next 30 days (basically just an automatic 'we are still working on your dispute' notice). If they do not update anything once the review is done I would call them and speak to a live person to find out what kind of documentation you need. I would also go ahead and contact the student loan company and ask them to report it correctly to the credit agencies. In fact, I would do that now regardless of Experian working on it or not.

I burned Cap1 with MULTIPLE Cap1 and HBSC cards in my bankruptcy. The amounts weren't too outrageous, as my credit limits were all between $300-500, but there were 3 or 4 cards. I also burned Credit One with one card that was between $300-500 (of course, these are the credit limit amounts, not the totals with late fees and interest and all). Anyway, a few months after discharge I went to the Cap1 website, even though I had no pre-approvals, and applied for the Platinum MC. Immediately approved for $1000! Tried Barclays and was denied, though when I called for a recon they were very nice and just said that they wanted to see some payment history on another account before they would approve me. No biggie. Just for **bleep**s and giggles I went back to the Cap1 site and applied for the Quicksilver MC. This was just one week after they approved me for the Platinum. Again- instant approval for $1000. I couldn't believe it!

So a few weeks later I applied for Credit1 and they immediately denied me and the reason given was because of burning them before. Which I'm okay with. They are a horrible card and I'm better off without them. So now I have two Cap1 cards at $1000. I charged 30% on them and paid in full the day the statements posted online. In 4 or 5 months, when I get my steps program CLI, I will go ahead and reapply for the Barclays.

Sorry, wrote that novel to basically just tell you to definitely give Cap1 a go, they seem very forgiving, unlike Credit1!