1 Year post BK. Seeking advice.

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2017

I wanted to start by saying how awesome this forum is and I'm very thankful for the information provided.

I was discharged from BK late July 2016. Right after discharge, I got an auto loan with Prestige Financial at a 14% (desperately needed a vehicle for work)

I got my first CC a few months post BK with cap one- quicksilver with a 500 limit. Unfortunatley, I did not try to get any other lines of credit through this time due to being declined by NFCU among a few others at this point.

In February, I found an opportunity to get into an equitable position on a different vehicle and lowered my interst rate to 8% though the total loan amount is higher than I like (though within my means for those who may be concerned)

I was recently approved by NFCU for an nRewards card with a $1,000 credit line and Cap One recently ICL to 750.

My credit has not really seemed to improve at all.

I was hoping to make one last car move and get into a cheaper vehicle with NFCU in hopes of obtaining an interest rate comparable to those I've seen on this forum coming right out of BK, but was not approved. I was a little dissappointed given my recent success and my last 12 months have been on time payments and no card utilization over 15%.

I did take this opportunity to also follow up on a pre approved letter I got from Discover, applied for the discover it card, was declined.

What am I doing wrong and what should be my next steps?

I know my biggest downfall has been the inquiries from the past 24 months which is high (mainly from the year prior to BK)

My reports show no innacuracies. I did surrender a car in BK due to negative equity and did have late payments reported prior to BK which was advised by my attorney to save money right before filing.

pizza1 · ‎07-20-2017

ok....what are your current FICO scores on the 3 majors...TU, EQ, EX? and how many INQ on each? (dont be shy either, its ok.)

When did you get approved for the NFCU cc?

Let me know those basics first before we start...

Anonymous · ‎07-20-2017

All 3 as of last month when I did a full credit review: EQ- 603 TU- 619 EX- 629

The Navy Federal CC was approved just this month ( not yet reporting )

Edit: sorry missed your last question, 44 total inquiries is what I see for EQ

Anonymous · ‎07-21-2017

Your scores are all above 600 so that's improvement right there. I'd suggest work on growing the cards you have now & your scores will increase with time. Perhaps open a store card for a good credit mixture.. Walmart card, target card or try getting a store card through comenity. Your NFCU card will grow though! My bk7 was discharged 2 months before yours & I've made great progress with NFCU. Be patience and don't feel discouraged.

pizza1 · ‎07-22-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
All 3 as of last month when I did a full credit review: EQ- 603 TU- 619 EX- 629

The Navy Federal CC was approved just this month ( not yet reporting )

Edit: sorry missed your last question, 44 total inquiries is what I see for EQ

Sorry for the late reply....this is what Id do for now.

You have 2 CC's right? Cap 1 and Navy. Its ok to use the limits, but to help maximize your scores, pay them off before the statement cuts, except for ONE of your cards. That one card, let it reports no more than 9% of the limit. 1-2% is ideal.

For example...pay cap1 down to $0 before the statement cuts, and pay Navy CC down to like $20, and let that report for the statement. Do that for the next 4-6 months, until your scores get a little better, and more history shows.

After youve had 4 statements cut with Navy, go online and ask for a CLI. Press the "max" button, they will counter back to you what your new limit is. Accept it!! LOL..

After another 4-6 months have passed (from now), apply for another cap1 card . FICO likes 3 revolving cards reporting for some reason. I say apply for cap1 one because you can combine limits later on down the road. These next 4-6 months have no INQ or new accts, and youll be surprised what just that short amount of time can bring you. You can always PM me as well if you have further questions about things, Im always available!