Hopefully my experience is helpful to you, as I am in the exact same boat, filed Chapter 13 in 2009, Discharged in December 2012. Prior to this, I had a Dismissed Chapter 13 in 2008 because we needed to refile, so I have 2 BK13s on credit.
Started re-establishing during the BK with an Orchard Bank Card, a Secured Cap1, and finally an unsecured Cap 1 Platium.
Here is what I've been able to get since December 2012:
November 2012
Car Loan with Toyota Financial @6.9% - BK wasn't discharged but we provided proof it was paid off in October and discharge was pending. That was good enough for Toyota to not require court permission.
May 2013
Got our FHA mortgage closed (the reason we paid off the BK early)
Discover IT - Applied and was denied. Reconned and was told they would like to see a year since BK
Barclaycard Rewards - Approved through recon for I think $1000 or $1500 - I have since received auto CLIs on this account to $2300>$5400>$5800
Local Credit Union - Applied for CC with $10k limit. They gave me $5000 (and I'm convinced that this $5000 limit was very helpful with future higher limit approvals)
February 2014
Discover IT - Approved for $1000 on recon. I guess a year WAS what they wanted
CapitalOne Quicksilver - Denied. Received denial letter a week later telling me I was denied for having too many Cap1 accounts. Closed my secured card, emailed EO, and didn't get the Quicksilver but the gave me a QuickSilver One with a $2000 limit.
May 2014
BMW Financial - Approved for a certified pre-owned at 2.99. Saw that my scores had climbed to about 700 give or take a few points.
July 2014
Bit of an app spree. My reasoning was that I now have just under 2 years left since my BK falls off, and my credit profile already is taking a hit for new accounts/inquiries. I decided to see what I could get now, and then just sit tight for 2 years for the BK and inquiries to age off. It went better than expected:
SSFCU - Approved for $3000 CC
Chase Freedom - Denied, but reconned. Explained the BK, pointed out the perfect credit since and low utilization. Was told he would recommend me for approval, and the next day was approved for $500. Not what I wanted, but glad to get in with Chase and begin a relationship.
Chase Amazon - I shop a lot at Amazon, so I gave it a shot. Turned down due to 'let's see how it goes with the Freedom card." So basically I would have been approved if I hadn't apped for the Freedom. With that knowledge, I had my wife apply for Amazon (same credit profile) and she was approved for $500 after having the same conversation I had on the Freedom.
Discover - Requested CLI from $1000 to $10,000. The approved me for $5000
Barclaycard Arrival + World Elite MC - Got 7-10 day, called in, and was approved for $5000.
Sam's Mastercard - Approved for $2500
PenFed Platinum Rewards VISA Signature - Approved for $7500
Kohls - Approved for $1000 (really only applied for the 30% off deals, I buy most of my clothes there)
Local CU - Refied my Toyota loan from 6.7% to 2.99%, upped my CC from $5000 to $6500
Alliant CU - Approved for $5000 - think I'm going to start doing my banking there.
Amex Green Card and Citi Simplicity - Apped for both, denied, reconned, and was told with a good amount of certaintly by both that I was denied only because of the bankruptcy showing up on my credit. I got the impression that if I had no inquiries and an 800 score, I still would have been denied due to the BK. I wouldn't waste my time applying with either again until it's off.
Capital One - Contacted them to see if I could upgrade my Quicksilver One with the annual fee to a Quicksilver with no AF. Was told no, but they COULD upgrade my $2000 Platinum card to a no fee QuickSilver with a $6k limit. Good enough.
Amazon Store Card - Approved for $2200
Another Local CU - Approved for $10,000
DCU - Approved for membership but denied for card. My first and ONLY denial based on too many recent inquiries.
I admit, I went a little overboard, but I wanted to maximize my spree. Despite all the new accounts, I didn't do too much damage on any one bureau: 7 INQ on Experian, 4 on Equifax, and 7 on TU. As I suspected, I was already maxed out on the new account/inq penalty anyway, my scores didn't change a bit. I was asked about the high number of recent inquiries by several reps during the recon processes, and I explained that I had a lot of useless cards that helped me rebuild my credit, and now that my scores are up I'm upgrading my cards and closing out my old ones. Nobody had an issue with that explanation.
Obviously, I now have more credit than I need, but thats a plus to me, as I rarely carry a balance, unless my wife has an unusual amount of business expenses one month (Realtor) or we have a slow month or 2 (both in commissioned sales, so income fluctuates at times), so this allows me to have low utilization at all times.
I figure I'll sit still for a couple years until the BK falls off, and I'll have a nice track record built up, no brand new accounts, and I'll be able to get the only card I really want that I can't have now, which is the Costco AMEX (shop at Costco a LOT).
I'm pretty happy, and franky suprised, with what I was able to get approved for. Here are some factors I think helped me:
1. Not a single negative credit item of any kind since 2009.
2. The fact that I started immediately after filing the bankruptcy to clean up my credit report to make sure everything was reporting correctly as unrated, and also started immediately to build a credit history with secured cards first and later unsecured cards.
3. I beleive the credit union giving me the $5000 limit a year ago had a big impact on some of the higher approved amounts.
4. I've kept a low utilization on all my cards, so I can show a few years of responsible credit card use.
5. Good income level with a very reasonable mortgage payment and low debt ratio.
6.. I suspect that I was also helped by the fact that I have a 39 year old account reporting on my credit which is a credit card with a very high limit and very low balance. Back when I was in college 20 years ago or so, my mother put me on her AMEX card as an authorized user so I had something available for emergencies. She never bothered to remove me as an authorized user, and so I have an account as old as me reporting. It did nothing to help me get an AMEX approval, but I do think it's calculated into my Average Account Age as well as my utilization in some way. I can't prove that this account has helped me, but it's the main difference between my wife's credit report and mine, and I seem to keep a score that's slightly higher than hers and get approved for higher limits.
That's all I've got. In summary, I'd stay away from AMEX, Citi (and I hear US Bank and BoA as well), most anyone else is doable even with the BK on credit.
Discover wants a year, Capital One limits to 2 accounts (not sure if that's with BK or for everyone), and it seems Barclay doesn't have a time frame but wants a history with each card before issuing another (I asked them when I reconned on the Arrival+ if they'd consider a Sallie Mae as well and they told me not for a while).
Chase opened thier doors but just slightly, and I'm guessing that's because it's a 13 and I can show good credit since 2009. Not sure I would have been approved if it has been a Chapter 7 discharged a year and a half ago.
