Rebuilding after bankruptcy---how long---what to do?

[chasmith]

USAA is a member-owned insurance and financial services company that serves military (active duty, retired, honorably discharged) and their families (I have full membership through my father being retired Navy).  They own a savings bank (USAA Federal Savings), and an investment company.  Some of their products (banking and investments) are available if you don't qualify for membership.  They're sort of a bank that acts like a credit union.

A Bing search will get you to their website.

[scrubs]

dont waste an inq  BOA and Citi are not bk friendly. after your discharge go to orchard pre approval site and see what you are approved for. after my discharge in april 2009 orchard gave me 500 cc which i burned them in the past. now its at 700 dollars and next march i will let them go because my rebulding will be over and i refuse to pay any af on any cc.

[chasmith]

Be careeful, Orchard returned my deposit (with an annoying delay) for a secured card after initially approving me in writing because I discharged HSBA debt in my BK.  They are actually HSBC of Nevada now, Orchard is the product.

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, thanks for answering.

I stated some of the bridges I burned in my OP - alot of them being the BK friendly ccs that everyone's talking about including Cap1, Orchard, Merrick, etc.  I don't think I have many options for a secured card in the near future so I am going to talk to my CU about a secured loan which I will use to open a secured card and get two TLs reporting that way.  Hopefully after a while I will qualify for a few more secured CCs (to have maybe two or three total).  I figure that, coupled with my student loans will help my credit.  Apparently, on the advice of my lawyer, I will not be reaffirming my mortgage.  This is not going to help my FICO score

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey guys, thanks for answering.

I stated some of the bridges I burned in my OP - alot of them being the BK friendly ccs that everyone's talking about including Cap1, Orchard, Merrick, etc.  I don't think I have many options for a secured card in the near future so I am going to talk to my CU about a secured loan which I will use to open a secured card and get two TLs reporting that way.  Hopefully after a while I will qualify for a few more secured CCs (to have maybe two or three total).  I figure that, coupled with my student loans will help my credit.  Apparently, on the advice of my lawyer, I will not be reaffirming my mortgage.  This is not going to help my FICO score

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Cap 1 and Household will give you another card even if you burned them.

However I would not waste the 3 inq with cap1 unless you get an offer off the pre-qual site.

I found I was declined for Householdbank.com because of past history, but approved for Sears Solutions MC and Best buy MC.

[JM-AM]

Public Savings secured card comes to mind.... No credit check required and will be a way to start rebuilding if no other place to turn. Others here have used them and haven't heard any real complaints except that they never become unsecured. They also report to all 3 CRA's.

[scrubs]

public saving bank is good. i never used them.

[Anonymous]

Paying your bills on time is a great start. Secured credit cards are the shotest way to rebuilding your credit.  Go to myfico credit card tab,and you'll see a section for secured credit cards, select two or more with $200 to $250 limits, use them every month and do not exceed more 20% in balances every month, and finally, pay them in full if possible at month end.  When selecting a secured card, you need to make sure the providers report to all bureaus. Also, choose the ones with  no membership fee- at least the first year- and a shorter time to rebound to unsecured credit cards. There no waiting period following a BK to get a secured credit cards, and with a your new habits on paying on time, you credit scrore should rebound to high 680 or even 700 in as litle as two years. Good luck. 

[Anonymous]

I filed bankruptcy in August 2005 and it was discharged in Oct.  I got by first unsecured card from Capital One in December 2005 (they might give you one even if you discharged their debt b/c they most likely were not the final holder of the account especially if you had not paid in  years as they have to clear off their books after 180 days). I got a second one within a few months.  I have not had any significant barriers to credit since filing BK.  I rent new apartment in July 2006, brought a new car with loan from capital one at 7% interest rate in August 2008, and recently purchased a new home in August 2010 at 3.5% interest rate (it is an 5 year fixed then adjustable mortgage but I expect to have most of the mortgage paid within 5 years as I'm making more than double payments) I also received a new loan at 0% interest on $10k for 4 years with equal payments from CarpetOne for new wood floors.  I've also obtain several credit cards including one with a 14k limit.  I've been very carefully with my borrowing activities to ensure that I have significant cash reserves to payoff loans.  My credit score as of today is hovering right around 700 and mostly down due to some recent purchases and some credit balance above the 50% utilization which is only due to recent house purchase and prepurhcased plan European vacation next year.  In Jan and Feb (before my trip), I'll pay off 80% of all the balances except for the 0% revolving line and I expect my credit score to be in the 720ish range.

[Anonymous]

I tried getting a secured card with Citi (my former employer and my pension course) .  They deducted the amount ($2,000.) from my BOA checking a/c and after several days declined the app because of bankruptcy and mailed the check for $2000.00 back.  So I would not try to get a secured card with them.  Funny how they got bailed our  along with BOA and others but we aren't allowed to get assistance.

I got a card with Orchard Bank and paid off the balance every month in full.  They finally increased my line by 40% after one year and the interest rate is really OK by market standards (less than 15%).  I must also say that I was never late on any payments in over 30 years.  I filed for bankruptcy because of Cancer and other illness

that caused me to be disabled.