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Secured Cards

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credit_challenged09
Regular Contributor

Secured Cards

My 13, if lucky, will discharge within the next 50 days or so..... (i'm not counting  Smiley Very Happy  )  can i start applying for secured cards to start ramping up my credit score or should i wait until the discharge?  I've read about the USAA Secured card being an option and I'm a USAA member.

 

Thanks!

FICO Scores: (EX-735-11/12) EQ-757-12/03 (TU-750-11/12)
Discover FICO: 756 - 12/17 Walmart FICO: 750-1/06
USAA FAKO: EX-742 EQ-761 TU-761

Macys $7.2k - NFCU $24k - Discover $6.8k - Cap One $3500 - Nordstrom $3.5k - Wells Fargo $1k - Walmart $4.5k- The Limited $2.5k- Victoria's Secret $2.2k- Bloomingdales $2k- JCP $700
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3 REPLIES 3
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Secured Cards

I'd personally wait.

Message 2 of 4
MovingForward_2012
Valued Contributor

Re: Secured Cards

I would apply. I also filed Chapter 13 in 2005 with a 5 year repayment plan. I acquired an auto loan in 2008 and a unsecured Orchard Bank card in 2009. The auto loan was approved by the trustee and the credit card did not need trustee approval and I was also approved for the card with a $300 limit. Those two new trade lines helped jump start my recovery tremendously! By the time I was discharged in 2011, I had a credit limit of $1100 on the card and a year later was approved for a Capital One Cash Rewards card with a $2000 limit. The limit was raised to $2500 a couple of months ago. And I now have two more credit cards, a Chase Freedom and a Best Buy store card with limits of $1000 and $2500.

A 5 year Chapter 13 BK is too long of a period to wait to apply for a new credit. People need a car perhaps because one is aging and there are many other factors to why applying for credit before a Ch 13 discharge makes sense. One of those factors is the need to rebuild. The sooner you start, the sooner you will recover after BK 13 discharge.

I wouldn't have closed on a brand new home last month, have a brand new Acura TL with tier 1 lease financing, and 4 credit cards with a total limit of $7100 if I hadn't started the rebuild before discharge by establishing new credit.

Start now!
Cards: Orchard Bank ($1100) | Cap1 Cash Rewards ($2500) | Chase Freedom ($1000) | Best Buy ($2500) | Discover It ($1000) | Barclay Rewards ($2500) | Current scores: EX FAKO: 684, CK TU: 649, FICO EQ: 680, FICO TU: 698, FICO EX: 658 Happy Homeowner Since 2/6/13! Smiley Happy Last App: 4/5/13 Gardening until July 2014
Message 3 of 4
hrguy
Valued Member

Re: Secured Cards

I'd wait simply because many 13ers get unsecured cards right out of discharge once the DC is reported.  It is not uncommon for a 13er to have scores in the 700's after DC in a 5 year plan because the BK will be old and about to fall off in two more years, and most of your IIB accounts should have fallen by now.

 

Filed BK 7: 2/28/2012 | Discharged: 7/24/2012
POST BK APPROVALS:
NFCU nRewards Secured Visa: $1000 7/12| Apple FCU Secured Visa: $1000 9/12
Toyota Finance Lease: 0% | 0.0008 MF 10/12
Barclay Apple Finance Visa: $2200 1/13
NFCU cashRewards Visa: $2500 3/13

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