Rebuilding After BK - Advice?

[Anonymous]

Hello all, 

I had a small business fail and I had to declare personal and business BK which posted on 05/16.  I lost my house as well - it was sold off to pay for business debt with the SBA.  I checked my annualcreditreports and everything is posted correctly so no corrections need to be made.  

My hard inquiries will drop in July by two (I don't have many anyway).  And I have an old short sale dropping off at the end of this year which should help.  

Here are my FICO scores today: 

Experian 666

Equifax 668

TransUnion 639

The only current accounts are my student loan.  The auto loan won't post due to BK.  But it too is current.  In addition, my new landlord reports for me on Experian.  

Unfortunately I didn't see the awesome HOW TO post  until today.  

After my BK I got a secured MC from Capital One with a $200 limit.  It was opened on 10/5/16.  On 4/17 it was increased to $500.  I use it sparingly ever month and PIF.  I didn't have any open balances on any personal credit cards that were discharged in my personal BK.  I don't carry debt personally.  Only the business credit card balances were discharged but they don't show on my reports.  So none of the card companies should hold it against me - they close accounts automatically with a BK whether you discharge debt with them or not.  

It's hard to say how my credit has improved since I wasn't checking it that regularly other than on free sites which don't mimic the real FICO scores.  

Anyway, it's been a year and now I would like to try to get unsecured credit.  I get some offers but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. 

Any advice on where to start now that I'm already behind would be appreciated.  

Thanks

[Anonymous]

And I just tried to apply for the Cap One Platinum card and was denied.  I'll have to wait for the letter to see why.  This process is so frustrating.  

[Anonymous]

Have you tried applying for any cards (aside from the ones you've gotten offers for) aside from Capital One? And is the secured Cap One currently your only card - in fact, do you have any current loans besides that card at all? A lot of lenders, even rebuilders like Cap One, can get skittish around people with thin credit files.

One thing you could do is use the Shopping Cart Trick - with caution; only get cards that you actually want and expect to use - to pick up a couple of the better Comenity retail store cards (I have Overstock), in order to build your history and portfolio. You might also try applying for an auto loan, if you need a car, or a personal loan. Lenders like to see installment loans such as those which are being responsibly managed as part of prospective customers' profiles.

As for the offers you've gotten; if any of them are from Credit One or First Premier, you're better off throwing those in the trashcan. With other companies, it depends. You want to look for things like no annual fee if possible, and especially check the APR's they offer you. If that's a single figure or a small range (say, 3% between highest and lowest) you should go ahead and take the chance, as that in either case means you have a good chance of being approved (particularly with single figure).

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Have you tried applying for any cards aside from Capital One? And is the secured Cap One currently your only card - in fact, do you have any current loans besides that card at all? A lot of lenders, even rebuilders like Cap One, can get skittish around people with thin credit files.

One thing you could do is use the Shopping Cart Trick - with caution; only get cards that you actually want and expect to use - to pick up a couple of the better Comenity retail store cards (I have Overstock), in order to build your history and portfolio. You might also try applying for an auto loan, if you need a car, or a personal loan. Lenders like to see installment loans such as those which are being responsibly managed as part of prospective customers' profiles.

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Until today besides the Cap One Secured card - I have not applied for any credit whatsoever.  Besides the auto loan (which is current but not being reported due to BK) and my student loan which is still reported and current - I have no other active credit on my file.  (I'm in CA btw if that matters)

I'll have to look up the shopping cart trick - don't know what that is yet.  I suppose I could try it.  I don't need a car - I still have many payments on my current loan - just sucks they won't report it.  But it's not worth selling it and starting a new auto loan.  

I could look at personal loans just for credit - I don't need a loan but for credit rebuilding I could.  

[Anonymous]

I get offers from CreditOne all the time.  I don't take them.  I already have a secured card and their fee's are too high.  

I got one from Olla today - again new bank, various feedback on approvals.  

Now that I was denied today - how many times should I try to apply again in a short time frame?  I don't want to drive up hard inquiries if I can't get a card out of it. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello all, 

I had a small business fail and I had to declare personal and business BK which posted on 05/16.  I lost my house as well - it was sold off to pay for business debt with the SBA.  I checked my annualcreditreports and everything is posted correctly so no corrections need to be made.  

My hard inquiries will drop in July by two (I don't have many anyway).  And I have an old short sale dropping off at the end of this year which should help.  

Here are my FICO scores today: 

Experian 666

Equifax 668

TransUnion 639

The only current accounts are my student loan.  The auto loan won't post due to BK.  But it too is current.  In addition, my new landlord reports for me on Experian.  

Unfortunately I didn't see the awesome HOW TO post  until today.  

After my BK I got a secured MC from Capital One with a $200 limit.  It was opened on 10/5/16.  On 4/17 it was increased to $500.  I use it sparingly ever month and PIF.  I didn't have any open balances on any personal credit cards that were discharged in my personal BK.  I don't carry debt personally.  Only the business credit card balances were discharged but they don't show on my reports.  So none of the card companies should hold it against me - they close accounts automatically with a BK whether you discharge debt with them or not.  

It's hard to say how my credit has improved since I wasn't checking it that regularly other than on free sites which don't mimic the real FICO scores.  

Anyway, it's been a year and now I would like to try to get unsecured credit.  I get some offers but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. 

Any advice on where to start now that I'm already behind would be appreciated.  

Thanks

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What offers did you receive? Merrick Bank's double your limit is a pretty good one.

Don't discouraged by the denial from Capital One . . they are hard to figure out sometimes.

You have decent scores . . maybe Discover IT if you didn't burn them. Also recommend establishing a relationship with a credit union. NFCU would be great if you have a way in. They like to see a bit more history when it comes to granting unsecured cards but their secured could be a good start and will graduate to unsecured. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Have you tried applying for any cards aside from Capital One? And is the secured Cap One currently your only card - in fact, do you have any current loans besides that card at all? A lot of lenders, even rebuilders like Cap One, can get skittish around people with thin credit files.

One thing you could do is use the Shopping Cart Trick - with caution; only get cards that you actually want and expect to use - to pick up a couple of the better Comenity retail store cards (I have Overstock), in order to build your history and portfolio. You might also try applying for an auto loan, if you need a car, or a personal loan. Lenders like to see installment loans such as those which are being responsibly managed as part of prospective customers' profiles.

---

Until today besides the Cap One Secured card - I have not applied for any credit whatsoever.  Besides the auto loan (which is current but not being reported due to BK) and my student loan which is still reported and current - I have no other active credit on my file.  (I'm in CA btw if that matters)

I'll have to look up the shopping cart trick - don't know what that is yet.  I suppose I could try it.  I don't need a car - I still have many payments on my current loan - just sucks they won't report it.  But it's not worth selling it and starting a new auto loan.  

I could look at personal loans just for credit - I don't need a loan but for credit rebuilding I could.  

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Get a shared secure loan. Lots of info on them in these forums. You can use nearly all of the money from it to pay it way down right away . . then just keep making small payments on it each month to keep it reporting while minimizing interest.

[Anonymous]

Ok update - I just got one unsecured from Olla Bank for $2000.  I will start using it sparingly as well when it arrives like I do my cap one secured to show good payment history and low utilization. 

Any other suggestions on what else I should look at right now? 

Thanks,

Cap One Secured $500

Olla Mastercard Unsecured $2000

[Anonymous]

Thanks again, I will look into shared secured loans and see if I can start one too.  One month at a time I guess......

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your rebuild so far and welcome to myFICO!  Your scores are good enough to be approved for unsecured credit, and since you didn't burn any of the credit card lenders you should be able to have your pick. My advice is to read as much of this forum as you can to give yourself realistic expectations and make a plan that works for you to keep rebuilding.  Bankruptcy friendly credit cards is a good thread to check out if you haven't already.  In my opinion it's good to get decent cards from lenders you'll enjoy working with in the long haul as soon as possible so you can start to age those accounts.  

I also had an installment loan reporting but I did a secured, credit builder loan anyway to add another positive account to my file.

Good luck and have fun rebuilding!