Journey through Chapter 13

[marcole6]

I have a question about my Chapter 13. Some of my debts are listed to be paid 100% and some 63%. The plan is for 60 payments, which is scheduled to end Dec 2013. However, due to several miscalucations (I don't know where to place the blame so I won't), my payments are way ahead of schedule. I have already paid the accounts getting 100% all the way off, and paid the 63% to the others. My balances all say 0. My attorney said I can't finish early? so I have sent the payments in as scheduled. For the past month, the trustee has not disbursed any monies and there is money in "reserves". The status of the case says "review", it's been like that for a few months now. Should I just keep sending the payments? Thank you!

[Newyork4]

I am glad I found this forum. I filed on April 3rd. My plan payments are 700 dollars which I can live with. My confirmation hearing is in May and I am a nervous wreck. I am only paying unsecured cc debts as I am up to date on My house and car. I own a second car which is 15 years old outright.  I have learned to live simply and am much happier. I could care less about me. I just want my 4 kids to be happy. I have made this choice and will live  with it. The last 4 years have not been a picnic so this should be no different. Any support or words of wisdom would be welcome

[Math_Rocks]

So it has been a while since I updated this thread. DH was unemployed for 5 months before finding a good job here in town. We are extremely blessed. And we were able to keep up with our Chapter 13 payments to the trustee though it was tight. Now we are on a much better footing and we have made our 12th payment so one year down, four years to go!

Next month, we need to travel out West for DH's sister's wedding. She paid for our flights but we need to come up with the money for a rental car (actually a minivan since there are so many of us going) and food, etc. My problem is with the rental. I have been thoroughly researching things and our best rate is with Dollar but, without a credit card, they will pull our credit and may decline to rent to us with a debit card. I do not want to be stranded at SFO in the middle of the night! 

We talked to our attorney about applying for a secured card and he said that it was perfectly fine to do so. This seems to contradict a lot of the information on these forums though, about applying for credit during a Chapter 13. We have not heard an answer to our follow up question on if there is a limit to how much the credit line can be. For those of you who have been told it is okay, was there a limit you had to stay under? $1000 maybe?

I applied through our local bank (their credit cards are through Elan) and got the 7-10 days message. Called the backdoor number to underwriting and they said that message was pretty standard and that BK wasn't necessarily an automatic decline. So, my second question is this: should I go ahead and apply with Capital One as well? We have less than a month until our trip and I am really worried about this. Any advice or suggestions would be welcomed.

[Rhaeny]

Hi Math_Rocks,

I did apply for a card as well during my bk.  My attorney said that it was okay to do as long as it wasn't more than $1K.  I got a secured card with a $1K limit on it and that worked out good for me at the time.  I don't think it matters who you get it from just as long as you're comfortable with it AND that they report to all 3 CRA's.  I never had any AA from the trustee about it because I don't think that they knew.  It's not like they monitor your credit or anything like that.  I was worried too at first but it was all for nothing.  I think you will be fine getting a secured card.

[Math_Rocks]

Thanks, Rhaeny! May I ask where you got your secured card during bankruptcy? I tried Cap One and was declined immediately. Still holding out hope that the Elan card through local bank will work out but it will be so hard to wait for an answer. Wondering if there is any place else we should try or if we should leave it alone until we hear from Elan?

[Rhaeny]

I used my local CU that went through Elan as well.  Oh another CU I know of is SDFCU.  Here is the link: https://www.sdfcu.org

This CU will let you get a secured card based on the amount you have in your savings account without a credit check.  But I was told to do everything over the phone to prevent any HP's for the card.  They do an HP for the application and you'll have to join an association for $10.  Also they offer the EMV chip as well if that interests you.  They have been very professional with me and I like them.  

[Math_Rocks]

Success! Called the backdoor number to Elan and spoke to an underwriter who said that we are approved pending verification of funds. I don't see why there would be any problem verifying funds - the money is in there. So now we just have to wait for the cards! It is such a huge relief. And, believe me, we will be VERY responsible with this account. We really have learned to live within our means and use cash. If it were not for this rental car situation, we probably would not have looked into credit until post BK. (That is, assuming our vehicles can make it another 4 years!)

Just wanted to share that with you!

[Math_Rocks]

Things seem to be moving quickly: checked our savings account this morning and the $1000 has been taken out. Now, I have mixed feelings. I know it is not much but having that money in savings made me feel so much better about our budget. Having it tied up in a secured credit card is more than a little scary. I am so glad that we were approved for this account and we will definitely use it sparingly but I definitely want to start building our savings again. That is a testament to how far we have come! 

[Math_Rocks]

Still haven't received our secured CC.  We are definitely approved and the money has been pulled from our account. Called underwriter today and she said that it takes 7 business days to verify funds, no exceptions. But she also said that I can call on Tuesday and verification should be complete. They can then rush the cards if I pay $25. I am very much considering this as we must receive them before our trip and I am afraid that the standard 7-10 business days to receive them after verification will be too long. I will confirm what the standard time is when I call on Tuesday. It's so hard to be patient!

On an unrelated note, I was looking through some paperwork this morning and saw the credit report pulled by our BK attorney. They pulled it about two weeks before our case was filed and it said that our credit score was 722 at the time and predicted it would be 659 one year later. These are probably FAKOs but the 722 score seems about right. CK says my score is 604 right now, just a little more than one year later. I want to work on getting some things corrected before I pull a real score. Does anyone else know what their score was pre-, during, and/or post- BK 13?

[wvgirl_sunshine]

Hi Everyone

I have been reading a lot posted on this forum.  We filed chapter 13 in may 2008.So this month marks 5 years since we filed.  It does take a while from filing chapter 13  to being confirmed. We were confirmed in Nov 2008.  It has been a long journey, and one that takes a lot of discipline..I thought the trustee was our "friend" that she was there to help us, but my lawyer made the comment "Just remember she does not work for you, she is not on your side" and she is not your friend".. we got behind two payments last year, and next thing I knew we got a letter that our trustee was praying to have our case dismissed.  we wrote a letter to our attorney, and told him we had every intention of paying what we owed, and made arrangements to cover those two payments, so I suggest you don't get behind...we started out paying 2,000.00.  after 5 months, we got a letter that it had went up to 2,300.00 and finally 2 years later it went up another 60.00, so we have been paying 2,360.00 for the last 3 years. also, it did take alot of stress off  us..  I am hoping that this  payment sent out in May 2013 will be our last.. I wish everyone who is going through this process the best,  and there is a light at the end of the tunnel....Take Care