topic Re: Discharged! in Bankruptcy

Discharged!

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 03:52:44 GMT

01/13/2020 was the last day for any disputes. Checked Pacer today and I show discharged! So happy this is finally over.

Now my focus is rebuilding the best way possible. I burned most major banks. Capital One, Chase, Synchrony, Discover. Citi and a few others had no balance but were closed regardless. I’ve read the “ From BK7 discharge to 700 in 24 months or less!” article, but not sure what is relevant based on all that I burned.

I have an auto loan that I reaffirmed and have student loans.

So, I’m waiting on the actual discharge paperwork and have signed up for the FICO Platinum subscription. Can someone walk me through what my next steps should be?

Re: Discharged!

Jnbmom — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 04:05:01 GMT

First and foremost make sure you give a little time for the dust to settle and then make sure all accounts are reporting correctly . 0 balance and IIB.

Cap one has been known to approve pretty soon after discharge even if you included them . Discover you need sometime with them.

Chase and ciiti forget them for quite sometime, they have LONG memories.

Try to stay away from the predatory lenders like first premier which will kill you with fees.

Not sure of your situation prior to BK, but get on a budget make savings a priority.

Rebuilding takes time but you will recover.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 04:25:00 GMT

Got it. How long would you say I wait? I thought I had read somewhere 10 days. Maybe I’ll just wait a couple weeks. I’m anxious to get started, but I can be patient.

Do you know if my reaffirmed loan will show back on my credit report? It’s like it disappeared and I haven’t seen it in months.

Should I try and get a credit builder loan from my local credit union?

And any recommendations on credit cards for someone in my position?

I’ve got my budget under control. I’ve been using YNAB and I love it. My bankruptcy was all credit card debit and a Payoff loan. Credit card spending got out of hand to a point of what seemed like no return. I’m going to be very mindful of this whole experience and not dig myself another hole.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 04:54:44 GMT

Congratulations!!!

You should wait at least a month, up to 2. It can take the credit reporting agencies a while to update everything properly, especially the auto and student loans. My discharge was at the end of November, and my student loans FINALLY got updated at all 3 CRAs this weekend, if that gives you an idea of how long it can take.

Once things get updated, check all your credit reports for accuracy. Once they look accurate, I think that is the best time to start applying for unsecured CCs. I personally wanted to avoid putting down deposits so I waited for my scores to go up with my updated account info. But if you want to get started earlier, secured CCs may be one way to go. Will let others weigh in who have more experience than me.

Re: Discharged!

FireMedic1 — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 09:34:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Got it. How long would you say I wait? I thought I had read somewhere 10 days. Maybe I’ll just wait a couple weeks. I’m anxious to get started, but I can be patient. Best to wait up to 30 days after DC.

Do you know if my reaffirmed loan will show back on my credit report? It’s like it disappeared and I haven’t seen it in months. It will. Takes time.

Should I try and get a credit builder loan from my local credit union? You only need 1 loan so no other loans are needed at this time.

And any recommendations on credit cards for someone in my position?

I’ve got my budget under control. I’ve been using YNAB and I love it. My bankruptcy was all credit card debit and a Payoff loan. Credit card spending got out of hand to a point of what seemed like no return. I’m going to be very mindful of this whole experience and not dig myself another hole.

Need to know who got burned and then we can lead you in the right direction. Theres no rush to get credit. Once all the smoke clears you will see a score boost like the poster above stated. Then it will be rebuild time. Sit back and let the system play out and enjoy financial freedom for a while.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 18:32:22 GMT

@twocats742 - How many points did your scores go up?

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 18:39:43 GMT

Chase, Discover, Synchrony, Capital One, Barclays, PayPal Credit, and a local credit union CC all had balances at the time of bankruptcy. I had a Citi and Kay card open at the time with no balance.

Re: Discharged!

twono — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 01:38:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Chase, Discover, Synchrony, Capital One, Barclays, PayPal Credit, and a local credit union CC all had balances at the time of bankruptcy. I had a Citi and Kay card open at the time with no balance.

I waited 45-60 after DC to apply for any new credit. Then i was approved for Credit One $2000 (now at $2200 after auto CLI after lst statement), and OLLO $1100.

I was DC'd in Oct. EQ 639, EX 615, TU 611

Take it sloooooooowwwww.....So many people don't 'rebuild properly' and stay stuck in the high 500's or low 600's a year or more after DC.

Just remember, 'more credit' doesn't equal 'better credit' and/or 'higher scores'.

Congrats and good luck.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:46:12 GMT

Thanks for the info.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any late payments on your report before filing? I didn’t have any late payments before considering filing, but got a bunch of lates because my attorney told me to stop paying when I had my consultation.

I’ll wait 30 days and see how everything is showing, then may wait longer. Probably try Credit One first and see how that goes, also try a pre-qualification with Capital One.

Re: Discharged!

twono — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 01:36:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any late payments on your report before filing? I didn’t have any late payments before considering filing, but got a bunch of lates because my attorney told me to stop paying when I had my consultation.

I’ll wait 30 days and see how everything is showing, then may wait longer. Probably try Credit One first and see how that goes, also try a pre-qualification with Capital One.

I had clean records up to the very last week or two where the statement cut date vs. filing date vs. trying to avoid 'preferential payment' would all work out. I had over 35 accts/payments to maintain and something had to give. I ended up with (2) 30 day lates .....but.....after DC and the proverbial dust settled, the lates were not and are not reflected on my reports.

It's unfortunate that most attorneys tell their clients to quit paying asap, and for most filers, it doesn't matter at that point because they're probably already drowning and their reports are riddled with lates, liens, collections, etc....So most attorneys don't realize or even consider that some clients are current and in good standing with creditors.

After i explained to my attny how i am current and have clean reports and want to keep them as clean as possible before filing, he said i could do what i wanted as far as paying another months worth of payments...but also said to pay them all, don't pick and choose.

The way i see it is:

Clean reports before filing + Bankruptcy = BAD

Derogatorys on reports before filing + Bankruptcy = WORSE

For me to have an Equifax FICO 08 score of 639, 3 1/2 months post DC, says something about clean vs dirty reports prior to filing.

My CreditKarma (which is only good for monitoring your accts) EQUIFAX looks like this.

The 1 derogatory is the BK/public record itself.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 04:21:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@twocats742 - How many points did your scores go up?

My FICO 8 for EXP went from 584 to 681 once the student loans updated. That's pretty extreme, but the 584 was counting 8 student loans as derog/closed, so my AAoA was 2 months with 1 credit card. After the update, AAoA went to 7 years (I've had the student loans for a while) with the 8 loans open and current. So it can make a huge difference.

Just restating for others who are recently discharged like myself...patience is key; need to wait at least 1 month for the dust to settle after discharge.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 00:05:03 GMT

Just an update on my progress. It's just a few day's shy of 30 days since DC. Went ahead and pulled my credit reports from Annual Credit Report and saw that all accounts show a zero balance and IIB. Student loans reappeared and scores went up.

Got an offer in the mail from Mission Lane. Showing a $39 annual fee and they just overall don't look as shady as Credit One, they have a credit steps type thing after 6 months, so I went ahead and applied. Not gonna lie, my finger was hovering over the "Apply" button for awhile like this was life or death lol

Anyway, I got approved for $1k! I know it's not a ridiculous amount, but I was expecting the worst and being stuck with some $300 limit.

A couple questions.

Can I go ahead and apply for Credit One as well? Or does anyone recommend any other cards?

Also, how should I use this card? Does it matter how much I use it, as long as I pay in full? Should I never go over a certain percentage?

Re: Discharged!

recoveringfrombk7 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 03:19:58 GMT

@twono wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any late payments on your report before filing? I didn’t have any late payments before considering filing, but got a bunch of lates because my attorney told me to stop paying when I had my consultation.

I’ll wait 30 days and see how everything is showing, then may wait longer. Probably try Credit One first and see how that goes, also try a pre-qualification with Capital One.
I had clean records up to the very last week or two where the statement cut date vs. filing date vs. trying to avoid 'preferential payment' would all work out. I had over 35 accts/payments to maintain and something had to give. I ended up with (2) 30 day lates .....but.....after DC and the proverbial dust settled, the lates were not and are not reflected on my reports.

It's unfortunate that most attorneys tell their clients to quit paying asap, and for most filers, it doesn't matter at that point because they're probably already drowning and their reports are riddled with lates, liens, collections, etc....So most attorneys don't realize or even consider that some clients are current and in good standing with creditors.

After i explained to my attny how i am current and have clean reports and want to keep them as clean as possible before filing, he said i could do what i wanted as far as paying another months worth of payments...but also said to pay them all, don't pick and choose.

The way i see it is:

Clean reports before filing + Bankruptcy = BAD
Derogatorys on reports before filing + Bankruptcy = WORSE

For me to have an Equifax FICO 08 score of 639, 3 1/2 months post DC, says something about clean vs dirty reports prior to filing.

My CreditKarma (which is only good for monitoring your accts) EQUIFAX looks like this.
The 1 derogatory is the BK/public record itself.

My CK shows exactly the same thing and I went late on my payments prior to filing on my attorney's recommendation - no lates at all prior to that. I also saved probably 3k by not making those payments, which really helped.

I managed to hit 700 on 2/3 FICO8s around 1 year post DC and I did not find this amazing place until I had buried myself in cards I shouldn't have applied for.

I'm not trying to brag, but rather point out that the BK itself is going to suppress scores for a long while and what is done is done. It is possible to have a really healthy recovery in a relatively short time after BK, even with the lates. My most recent cc has a rate of 12.49.

Soak in the information here and make deliberate moves. I was in a rush, I think a lot of people are, and recovering from bk is a long marathon. Best wishes to you OP. Enjoy the freedom you have, make a budget, ask lots of questions.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 03:30:44 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
@twono wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any late payments on your report before filing? I didn’t have any late payments before considering filing, but got a bunch of lates because my attorney told me to stop paying when I had my consultation.

I’ll wait 30 days and see how everything is showing, then may wait longer. Probably try Credit One first and see how that goes, also try a pre-qualification with Capital One.
I had clean records up to the very last week or two where the statement cut date vs. filing date vs. trying to avoid 'preferential payment' would all work out. I had over 35 accts/payments to maintain and something had to give. I ended up with (2) 30 day lates .....but.....after DC and the proverbial dust settled, the lates were not and are not reflected on my reports.

It's unfortunate that most attorneys tell their clients to quit paying asap, and for most filers, it doesn't matter at that point because they're probably already drowning and their reports are riddled with lates, liens, collections, etc....So most attorneys don't realize or even consider that some clients are current and in good standing with creditors.

After i explained to my attny how i am current and have clean reports and want to keep them as clean as possible before filing, he said i could do what i wanted as far as paying another months worth of payments...but also said to pay them all, don't pick and choose.

The way i see it is:

Clean reports before filing + Bankruptcy = BAD
Derogatorys on reports before filing + Bankruptcy = WORSE

For me to have an Equifax FICO 08 score of 639, 3 1/2 months post DC, says something about clean vs dirty reports prior to filing.

My CreditKarma (which is only good for monitoring your accts) EQUIFAX looks like this.
The 1 derogatory is the BK/public record itself.

My CK shows exactly the same thing and I went late on my payments prior to filing on my attorney's recommendation - no lates at all prior to that. I also saved probably 3k by not making those payments, which really helped.

I managed to hit 700 on 2/3 FICO8s around 1 year post DC and I did not find this amazing place until I had buried myself in cards I shouldn't have applied for.

I'm not trying to brag, but rather point out that the BK itself is going to suppress scores for a long while and what is done is done. It is possible to have a really healthy recovery in a relatively short time after BK, even with the lates. My most recent cc has a rate of 12.49.

Soak in the information here and make deliberate moves. I was in a rush, I think a lot of people are, and recovering from bk is a long marathon. Best wishes to you OP. Enjoy the freedom you have, make a budget, ask lots of questions.

Hey, thanks for the response! Glad to hear you rebounded so quickly. You said you buried yourself in cards, what did you do exactly? Did you apply for a bunch all at once, wait in between applications? I'm obvious anxious to build, but I can be patient, and I want to be smart about it. Any advice you can offer to get a score like that?

Re: Discharged!

recoveringfrombk7 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 03:51:32 GMT

I applied for cards I did not need and ultimately ended up canceling. If I could go back in time I would not have applied for:

Capital One Secured - thought it would get me back in with them, and it probably did, but the card does not graduate and was definitely not worth 3 hard pulls

Capital One QS - I got this in December because I was so happy to be prequalified for it, but again 3x hard pull a year after dc and a really crappy interest rate

Credit One - They were fine as a first year card, I only had an AF of 39 and canceled before it hit

Valero Gas Station - did not report to all 3 CRs, should have researched it more

Cards I'm happy that I got:

Merrick DYL 0 AF, just canceled but it was a good card with a generous rebuilder limit (1100, doubled to 2200)

Ollo 0 AF, just canceled but it was a good card with a generous limit (2000)

Discover Secured - mine has not yet graduated, but I started with 500 and added deposits on it over time getting it to 2500. I used it heavy, always paid in full, so even though it did not graduate I prequaled for a 2nd discover at 12 months and got a whopping 14.5k limit.

Target Card - I shop there and I use it. I got a good limit (2000), but you can get the same perks going the debit card route with them

If I knew then what I know now personally I would have saved the inquiries. I would have opened a Green Dot and OpenSky cards at 30 days DC and used them responsibly for 6 months. Then I'd have been inquiry free with established payment history and probably could prequalify for something decent, even my 0 AF Ollo or Merrick (or both) would have been fine on their own. I also would have pursued my NFCU relationship sooner and gone the secured route with them. I highly recommend a CU if you are not yet in one. They will evaluate you more as a human and less as a file with BK on it. Part of why I canceled the CapOne QS was it had a lower limit and 8% higher APR than the NFCU card I got literally 1 month later.

I was just in a rush to get back to where I was, but the reality is that most lenders are going to not want to be friends with us until we reestablish ourselves. As you can see in my signature I have a lot of EX inquiries. Many were wasted applications for folks who were never going to approve me.

Definitely follow advice you get here, I know a lot of folks will chime in, but look for people who are well advanced in their rebuilds. @FireMedic1 is super helpful and has absolutely slayed the rebuild process. Also continues to offer advice and help here. Look for the folks who are 3+ years out. They've learned a lot in that time.

Re: Discharged!

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 19:59:09 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7 - Congratulations on your rebuild. How many months after your discharge did you apply for your Target card? Do you remember your scores when you applied? I made sure I paid off my Target card and closed the account before I filed. I'd like another, I go to Target at least twice a week.

Thanks for your reply.

Re: Discharged!

recoveringfrombk7 — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 20:02:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@recoveringfrombk7 - Congratulations on your rebuild. How many months after your discharge did you apply for your Target card? Do you remember your scores when you applied? I made sure I paid off my Target card and closed the account before I filed. I'd like another, I go to Target at least twice a week.

Thanks for your reply.

I filed 7/2018, discharge 10/2018, apped/approved for target August 2019. I burned them for 2300 and they gave me a 2000 SL. Kind of crazy, still does not make sense to me honestly.

Re: Discharged!

twono — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 01:32:15 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
@twono wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any late payments on your report before filing? I didn’t have any late payments before considering filing, but got a bunch of lates because my attorney told me to stop paying when I had my consultation.

I’ll wait 30 days and see how everything is showing, then may wait longer. Probably try Credit One first and see how that goes, also try a pre-qualification with Capital One.
I had clean records up to the very last week or two where the statement cut date vs. filing date vs. trying to avoid 'preferential payment' would all work out. I had over 35 accts/payments to maintain and something had to give. I ended up with (2) 30 day lates .....but.....after DC and the proverbial dust settled, the lates were not and are not reflected on my reports.

It's unfortunate that most attorneys tell their clients to quit paying asap, and for most filers, it doesn't matter at that point because they're probably already drowning and their reports are riddled with lates, liens, collections, etc....So most attorneys don't realize or even consider that some clients are current and in good standing with creditors.

After i explained to my attny how i am current and have clean reports and want to keep them as clean as possible before filing, he said i could do what i wanted as far as paying another months worth of payments...but also said to pay them all, don't pick and choose.

The way i see it is:

Clean reports before filing + Bankruptcy = BAD
Derogatorys on reports before filing + Bankruptcy = WORSE

For me to have an Equifax FICO 08 score of 639, 3 1/2 months post DC, says something about clean vs dirty reports prior to filing.

My CreditKarma (which is only good for monitoring your accts) EQUIFAX looks like this.
The 1 derogatory is the BK/public record itself.

My CK shows exactly the same thing and I went late on my payments prior to filing on my attorney's recommendation - no lates at all prior to that. I also saved probably 3k by not making those payments, which really helped.

I managed to hit 700 on 2/3 FICO8s around 1 year post DC and I did not find this amazing place until I had buried myself in cards I shouldn't have applied for.

I'm not trying to brag, but rather point out that the BK itself is going to suppress scores for a long while and what is done is done. It is possible to have a really healthy recovery in a relatively short time after BK, even with the lates. My most recent cc has a rate of 12.49.

Soak in the information here and make deliberate moves. I was in a rush, I think a lot of people are, and recovering from bk is a long marathon. Best wishes to you OP. Enjoy the freedom you have, make a budget, ask lots of questions.

I guess i should have posted my annual credit reports or CCT or myfico 3B reports showing '0' lates? I knew better than to use anything CK as a benchmark. So does your 'real' credit reports show the lates? Surely they do?

It still cannot be disputed that clean reports before filing is better than bad reports before filing. It's just not possible.

My FICO 08 EQ is 646, 4 1/2 mos out of DC. FICO 09's are 670-690's. Your FICO 08 TU is 674 (16) mos post DC. I'm 28 pts behind you in only 4 1/2 mos. I hope to reach 674 in the next 12 mos. I have 6 inq's past 2 yrs, and 2 of those were by CU's that were IIB and pulled erroneously after filing. Removing an inquiry is nearly impossible. Mortgage will be my next HP in 18 mos.

Just pointing out how i think 'clean reports before filing' is ahead of your 'bad reports before filing' theory.

Re: Discharged!

twono — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 01:42:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Can I go ahead and apply for Credit One as well? Or does anyone recommend any other cards?

Also, how should I use this card? Does it matter how much I use it, as long as I pay in full? Should I never go over a certain percentage?

Credit One has a pre-qual on their site. Put your info in and see if you have an offer. I had a Credit One offer for $2000 shortly after DC so i took it. Approved for $2000 with a $200 auto CLI after 2nd statement. Another indicator as to how having clean reports prior to filing helped with a good SL fresh out of DC. Most filers seem to get $200-500 limits after DC and a lot of those are secured cards.

Use your card(s) a lot. I've been over 90% on my Credit One $2200 limit and OLLO $1100 limit. Just always pif except for that small balance that reports. I also have a $3000 KOHLS that survived BK. I had almost $500k in available credit. So it's a drastic change to say the least, but a **bleep** good one.

Re: Discharged!

recoveringfrombk7 — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 01:45:03 GMT

@twono wrote:
@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
@twono wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have any late payments on your report before filing? I didn’t have any late payments before considering filing, but got a bunch of lates because my attorney told me to stop paying when I had my consultation.

I’ll wait 30 days and see how everything is showing, then may wait longer. Probably try Credit One first and see how that goes, also try a pre-qualification with Capital One.
I had clean records up to the very last week or two where the statement cut date vs. filing date vs. trying to avoid 'preferential payment' would all work out. I had over 35 accts/payments to maintain and something had to give. I ended up with (2) 30 day lates .....but.....after DC and the proverbial dust settled, the lates were not and are not reflected on my reports.

It's unfortunate that most attorneys tell their clients to quit paying asap, and for most filers, it doesn't matter at that point because they're probably already drowning and their reports are riddled with lates, liens, collections, etc....So most attorneys don't realize or even consider that some clients are current and in good standing with creditors.

After i explained to my attny how i am current and have clean reports and want to keep them as clean as possible before filing, he said i could do what i wanted as far as paying another months worth of payments...but also said to pay them all, don't pick and choose.

The way i see it is:

Clean reports before filing + Bankruptcy = BAD
Derogatorys on reports before filing + Bankruptcy = WORSE

For me to have an Equifax FICO 08 score of 639, 3 1/2 months post DC, says something about clean vs dirty reports prior to filing.

My CreditKarma (which is only good for monitoring your accts) EQUIFAX looks like this.
The 1 derogatory is the BK/public record itself.

My CK shows exactly the same thing and I went late on my payments prior to filing on my attorney's recommendation - no lates at all prior to that. I also saved probably 3k by not making those payments, which really helped.

I managed to hit 700 on 2/3 FICO8s around 1 year post DC and I did not find this amazing place until I had buried myself in cards I shouldn't have applied for.

I'm not trying to brag, but rather point out that the BK itself is going to suppress scores for a long while and what is done is done. It is possible to have a really healthy recovery in a relatively short time after BK, even with the lates. My most recent cc has a rate of 12.49.

Soak in the information here and make deliberate moves. I was in a rush, I think a lot of people are, and recovering from bk is a long marathon. Best wishes to you OP. Enjoy the freedom you have, make a budget, ask lots of questions.
I guess i should have posted my annual credit reports or CCT or myfico 3B reports showing '0' lates? I knew better than to use anything CK as a benchmark. So does your 'real' credit reports show the lates? Surely they do?

It still cannot be disputed that clean reports before filing is better than bad reports before filing. It's just not possible.

My FICO 08 EQ is 646, 4 1/2 mos out of DC. FICO 09's are 670-690's. Your FICO 08 TU is 674 (16) mos post DC. I'm 28 pts behind you in only 4 1/2 mos. I hope to reach 674 in the next 12 mos. I have 6 inq's past 2 yrs, and 2 of those were by CU's that were IIB and pulled erroneously after filing. Removing an inquiry is nearly impossible. Mortgage will be my next HP in 18 mos.

Just pointing out how i think 'clean reports before filing' is ahead of your 'bad reports before filing' theory.

I did not say, at any point, that it was ahead. I pointed out that for some folks it's not possible and they should not stress it. My TU lags the other reports, it always has. I did not find this place until more than a year after I filed, so my rebuild was far from perfect. My point was that I'm doing just fine, I saved money by not making those payments, and I have qualified for some pretty good stuff. NFCU just gave me a cash rewards card at 12.49, when the lowest they offer is 11.15. The FICO9 and FICO10 systems both don't hold the same grudge that FICO8 holds, and with trended data being all the rage, odds are we will see some transitioning away from FICO8.

The point I was making with my post was that not everyone can have clean reports right up to filing, and they should not stress it, especially if it creates hardship. We are here to give advice and help people. There is more than one path through bk and to the other side. At no point did I say what I did was better than what you did. All I said was it turned out fine.