topic Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2 in Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:02:32 GMT

The other thread was locked due to it being so old. It probably had some out of date info anyway Thought I would start a new one since it seemed to help a lot. All of these are YMMV and not a guarantee

Last edited 06/29/2018 to add info on Capital One, NFCU and Chase

- AMEX: Recently we have come to the conclusion that 5 years post file date is the absolute earliest

- BofA: The little info we have shows they will approve around 4 years post d/c if not IIBK. We have now seen some approvals around 3 years post d/c. As always YMMV

- Barclay: They like to see about 6-12 months of some revolving history before approving. If denied make sure to recon!!!! Also YMMV

- BCU: Will approve a secured card fresh out of BK

- Chase: Based off the minimal data we have, 2.5 years post d/c seems to be about the earliest. Chase auto declines w/ BK so will require recon and good rebuild. Not so friendly if they were burned. Added 6/29/18 New stories of Chase not approving w/ BK on record, will report back with findings.

- Capital One: Very friendly and will approve as soon as the day you are discharged. YMMV but they also seem to let you back in fairly quick after burning them. When IIB there is some info that you may not be able to get back in until 1 year post (or one year post CO date)

- Credit One: Very friendly, just watch all the fee's

- Comenity: Sometimes will be the first to approve via SCT. Visa/MC products will be harder to get from them until about 1 year post d/c

- Citi: Will not consider until 7 years post d/c, Home Depot seems to be a different story. We have now seen an approval on the Costco Visa as early as 3 years 9 months post d/c (Citi was not IIB)

- DCU: Unsecured card requires 2 years post d/c, minimum 620 EQ, revolving history for them to review

- Discover: YMMV big time here. A year post d/c seems like an ok ish time to try. Some have been approved earlier and some have been denied later. Recently it seems more people are approved quicker after BK if they didnt IIB Discover

- Fingerhut: Very friendly and will often be the first to approve fresh out of BK

- Merrick Very friendly to recent BK's. They also like to send pre-approvals to people who have a recent BK.

- NFCU: Updated 6/29/18 Looks like NFCU has changed quite a bit unfortunately.. They like you to be one year post BK before approving an unsecured card. There have been a couple here and there who get in earlier. It does seem that the secured product is starting to graduate much quicker than before, multiple posts around the 6 month mark. May be an easier route to an unsecured product.

- NASA FCU: They like you to be 2 years post BK with rebuilding on revolving TL's

- PenFed: Seems they want some revolving history to look over and at least a 620. If denied make sure to take the survey and explain your dissatisfaction (this has worked as a recon for MANY.)

- Synchrony: Another YMMV. Sometimes as early as 3 months post d/c Others have luck around 1 year post d/c

Backdoor numbers thread: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Backdoor-Numbers/m-p/408066

I know I have missed a bunch so help me out everyone!

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Anonymous — Mon, 11 May 2015 17:56:15 GMT

CitiBank also seems to auto-decline with a BK... or at least 3 years out in my experience. Only reason listed for decline, at least.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

TRC_WA — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:22:02 GMT

@Scupra wrote:

- Chase: Based off the minimal data we have, 3 years post d/c seems to be about the earliest. Chase auto declines w/ BK so will require recon and good rebuild

No dice with Citi and Chase for me.

Despite my solid profile and $5-$10k CC experience I have been declined by both citing the BR. I was 71 months post filing and 22 months post discharge when I applied for both in March 2015. I was also denied on recon. I've given up until everything falls off my reports in the coming months.

AmEx denied 55 months post filing 6 months post discharge... approved $5k revolver 68 months post filing 19 months post discharge.

Same with Discover.

None of the above (Citi, Chase, AmEx, Discover) were IIB.

Citi and Chase seem to play hardball longer... probably the 36 months post discharge that you mentioned.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:10:04 GMT

Hmmm, Citi I have no info on really. I never looked as I heard they are very conservative. I was scared to add Discover to my list as they are all over the map!

edit: Does everyone want me to try and keep the OP updated, or just keep it as a running thread like the last one?

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

TRC_WA — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:11:05 GMT

Updating the OP would be good... with a date of last update.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:15:27 GMT

@TRC_WA wrote:
Updating the OP would be good... with a date of last update.

Now you're just asking for a lot! hahaha

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Anonymous — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:29:01 GMT

@TRC_WA wrote:
Updating the OP would be good... with a date of last update.

^^ This ^^

I should add that my Chase & Citibank declines were right at 36 months post-discharge (to the date), with optimized scores (had just closed on a mortgage that wasn't reporting yet).

Edit for request below: I didn't have any CCs in my BK filing. My husband had BoA and Synchrony, neither of whom we've applied with since (I detest BoA and Synchrony just hasn't come up).

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Anonymous — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:23:50 GMT

Would it be an inconvenience to include in the running list whether or not they were IIB? hopefully I worded that correctly, lol. I have several companies that are included in my filing and I'm wondering who I may have luck with in the future.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

TRC_WA — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:25:53 GMT

@Scupra wrote:
@TRC_WA wrote:
Updating the OP would be good... with a date of last update.
Now you're just asking for a lot! hahaha

Would be a lot easier to see the OP for all the updates rather than having to scroll through 10+ pages looking for the info.

But you knew that...

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:26:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Would it be an inconvenience to include in the running list whether or not they were IIB? hopefully I worded that correctly, lol. I have several companies that are included in my filing and I'm wondering who I may have luck with in the future.

I can absolutely try! I don't have any experience with it though. If we can come to a conclusion of a time period the lender likes, I can add it So far it seems to be a YMMV thing if the lender was IIBK

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

DaveInAZ — Mon, 11 May 2015 18:30:21 GMT

Thanks, Scupra for starting a new BK friendly CC thread.

Yeah, is Discover all over the place. I've seen folks post they were approved 1 yr post BK, I apped almost 4 yrs post BK7 w/668 FICO and they flatly rejected me, recon a waste of time.

I wonder about Bank of America/FIA card services? They're generally not BK friendly, and very, very touchy on any derogs with them. I want a Fidelity Amex for the 2% rewards when credited back to a Fidelity account, I have an IRA with them and would get the rewards as IRA contributions. I read Fidelity Amex threads in the CC forum and have seen folks rejected for a CO 13 yrs ago when they were a student in college! I have a BoA CC included in my BK7 and everyone says don't waste a HP apping, no way they'll approve me. I've actually been considering apping for their secured card to see if that can get me back in their good graces even though I'm way past needing a secured card to rebuild. But I'm not sure it's worth the effort for just one card, nothing else I want from BoA/FIA.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

StartingOver10 — Mon, 11 May 2015 23:46:19 GMT

I have Citibank info - I tried 6 years post d/c for a Citi Diamond Preferred and they declined me. When i called for a recon i was told that it is auto declined until 7 years. They said the rest of my profile was fine. it was only the Bk.

Tried Chase at about 4 years post d/c IIRC and Chase said no dice until 10 years. To be fair, I had quite a bit IIB with Chase in my Bk. I still have a Chase savings and checking and auto loan, no issues. But no cc's.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2015 02:06:43 GMT

I can vouch and say that if you are ok with a discover secure IT card i was approved 1 month after discharge. and it does graduate to a unsecure card after a year of good history.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Tue, 12 May 2015 04:10:52 GMT

Dave: no problem! The other thread was kind of old but I did like the idea of it. I have not given Bank of America a thought. When I was very young I had a CO for about $500 with them.

StartingOver: Thanks for the Citi info! I had no idea on that one

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Tue, 12 May 2015 04:11:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I can vouch and say that if you are ok with a discover secure IT card i was approved 1 month after discharge. and it does graduate to a unsecure card after a year of good history.

Are you able to apply directly for Discover IT secured?

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

CrashDouble — Tue, 12 May 2015 14:04:52 GMT

I don't post much, but I enjoy reading threads like this one. After BK a lot of people don't know where to turn for rebuilding and threads like this really helped me with which cards/companies to stay away from. My rebuild purpose was to get a home loan, now that I have that I'm just shooting for 700 scores like everyone else.

Here's my post-BK story with Discover and Chase:

Last year, January 2014, I applied for and was declined for the Discover IT. When I called to recon I gave my very convincing reason for BK, was put on hold for almost 5 minutes, but still denied. The rep told me the BK wasn't an issue, just they wanted to see more tradeline variety. She advised me to get a credit rebuilder loan and to reapply after a year. My BK was discharged Oct 2011 and at the time of this Discover application I only had one cc, a Cap 1 Platinum with $2,000 limit opened May 2013.

I never got the rebuilder loan. After the Discover denial I paid off my car loan and got a Target store card. The car loan dropped my score for a moment while the Target card increased it. Closed on mortgage in July 2014 with mid-score at 661. Then immediately increased CL on Cap 1 to $4,000 and approved for Barclay $1,300. It took a while for the mortgage to report, but I'm pretty sure that and my credit card usage finally helped me get approved for Discover IT in March 2015, $1,400 limit. I had to take the counteroffer though which has no 0% intro period and is 22.9% apr. High, but I'm in the door right?

I'm done applying for anything for probably the next 2 years. Just gonna continue nurturing what I have through CLI's, PC's, and utilization. I have absolutely no interest in applying for any Chase or Citi cards as so many don't get approved. March 2015 I accidentally applied for the Chase Amazon card when I was simply trying to get the Amazon store card and Chase denied me. The only reason for denial on the letter was bankruptcy. I didn't recon.

I am interested in applying for AMEX far down the road. We'll see how that goes when the time comes.

Good luck to all on your rebuilds! It will be so awesome when our BK's fall off!

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2015 14:06:31 GMT

Nope it's not advertised at all. I actually read on a money blog about it. What you'll have to do is apply for the actually unsecure Discover IT card and they will counter offer the secure card. I have heard people not get the offer and then that's when you call the recon line and ask about it. It's just like the unsecure card with rewards and all and NO Annual fee!! :-)

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Scupra — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:43:03 GMT

I applied for the unsecured IT card w/ an EQ FICO of 680 at 22 months post d/c. Declined and not offered secured card. Called to recon 4 different times and nothing. I'm not sure what makes them offer the secured version to some but not all.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

TRC_WA — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:59:37 GMT

@Scupra wrote:
I applied for the unsecured IT card w/ an EQ FICO of 680 at 22 months post d/c. Declined and not offered secured card. Called to recon 4 different times and nothing. I'm not sure what makes them offer the secured version to some but not all.

Weird...

@TRC_WA wrote:

AmEx denied 55 months post filing 6 months post discharge... approved $5k revolver 68 months post filing 19 months post discharge.

Same with Discover.

Discover approval was $1500 and is now $2k... EQ was about 690. My lowest limit but I'm in the door.

Re: Bankruptcy Friendly Credit Cards Pt.2

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:33:02 GMT

Yea that is weird. I just applied and they denied me for the unsecure but then asked if I wanted the secure. You didn't burn them in BK right?