2 Days Post CH7 Discharge - My starting point and a few questions

[843dk5u39mcf]

Hi. I had my CH7 discharged a couple days ago. My Experian FICO 8 jumped 36 points to 676 when the discharge was reported. I opened several CCs after the first creditors meeting and have two AUs reporting. My auto loan was reaffirmed, awaiting the lender to (hopefully) report that trade again. 

I burned nearly every creditor under the sun in the BK.  Penfed, Amex, Barclay  US Bank, NavyFCU, Patelco, USAA, BofA, Wells, Discover, Capital One, Alliant, and a few others I can't think of right now. 

Capital One let me back in with a 3K Quicksilver.  Upgrade Card with 3K line. I have Ollo for $500 and Mission Lane for $750. Rent reporting for the last three years and a few other self-reported accounts. Experian reports 7 Year AAOA. 3% Util. I PIF every month. I have >200K in documented W2 income. 

I read most of the rebuilding and BK-related threads I could.

I aim to have at least one card with a 10-15K line and 720 FICO.  Rewards preferred over rate as I PIF.

I seek recommendations on the steps I need to take to reach my goal. I understand patience is my friend.  

[Jnbmom]

You filed a Chap 7 with a 200K income?

[843dk5u39mcf]

No. Also. the income test didn't apply because majority of personally guaranteed debt was from a business.

[Guyatthebeach]

843dk5u39mcf,

Welcome to the forum!  Given the cards you already have, I would hold off on applying for any additional cards, until month 7 post bankruptcy. I would follow up regularly on making sure your car loan reports on all your CR's. If it doesn't, I would look into getting a secured installment loan to improve your credit mix.

You indicated you want a $10-15k card. That make not be achievable until after years 2 and 3 post bankruptcy. I would give a local or regional bank that does their own credit card underwriting a hard look. The same thing for a local credit union. Given the number of banks and CU's IIB, you will have to find local or regional banks/CU's. You're goals are achievable, it's just going to include some patience.  

Guyatthebeach 

[FireMedic1]

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@843dk5u39mcf wrote:

Hi. I had my CH7 discharged a couple days ago. My Experian FICO 8 jumped 36 points to 676 when the discharge was reported. I opened several CCs after the first creditors meeting and have two AUs reporting. My auto loan was reaffirmed, awaiting the lender to (hopefully) report that trade again. 

I burned nearly every creditor under the sun in the BK.  Penfed, Amex, Barclay  US Bank, NavyFCU, Patelco, USAA, BofA, Wells, Discover, Capital One, Alliant, and a few others I can't think of right now. 

Capital One let me back in with a 3K Quicksilver.  Upgrade Card with 3K line. I have Ollo for $500 and Mission Lane for $750. Rent reporting for the last three years and a few other self-reported accounts. Experian reports 7 Year AAOA. 3% Util. I PIF every month. I have >200K in documented W2 income. 

I read most of the rebuilding and BK-related threads I could.

I aim to have at least one card with a 10-15K line and 720 FICO.  Rewards preferred over rate as I PIF.

I seek recommendations on the steps I need to take to reach my goal. I understand patience is my friend.  

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Congrats on the DC. You say several cards but list 3. Here goes. You have the 3 cards and a loan to satisy FICO for now. No more apps until your in the 700 range which will take a year or more. Keep applying in the 600's. You'll stay in the 600's. The AU's isnt a quick fix. Most lenders ignore them when apping. I keep using @IamWesty12 is a perfect example. She did it the right way. As myself it took a couple yrs. Below took 6 yrs. Time to garden and let what you have now age. Once past 700 then 1 at a time spread out. Many have come on here grabbing anyone who approves before DC and even after. Its a marathon and not a race. 720 if played right. 3+yrs.

[twono]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

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@843dk5u39mcf wrote:

Hi. I had my CH7 discharged a couple days ago. My Experian FICO 8 jumped 36 points to 676 when the discharge was reported. I opened several CCs after the first creditors meeting and have two AUs reporting. My auto loan was reaffirmed, awaiting the lender to (hopefully) report that trade again. 

I burned nearly every creditor under the sun in the BK.  Penfed, Amex, Barclay  US Bank, NavyFCU, Patelco, USAA, BofA, Wells, Discover, Capital One, Alliant, and a few others I can't think of right now. 

Capital One let me back in with a 3K Quicksilver.  Upgrade Card with 3K line. I have Ollo for $500 and Mission Lane for $750. Rent reporting for the last three years and a few other self-reported accounts. Experian reports 7 Year AAOA. 3% Util. I PIF every month. I have >200K in documented W2 income. 

I read most of the rebuilding and BK-related threads I could.

I aim to have at least one card with a 10-15K line and 720 FICO.  Rewards preferred over rate as I PIF.

I seek recommendations on the steps I need to take to reach my goal. I understand patience is my friend.  

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Congrats on the DC. You say several cards but list 3. Here goes. You have the 3 cards and a loan to satisy FICO for now. No more apps until your in the 700 range which will take a year or more. KEEP APPLYING IN THE 600's, YOU'LL STAY IN THE 600's.. The AU's isnt a quick fix. Most lenders ignore them when apping. I keep using @IamWesty12 is a perfect example. She did it the right way. As myself it took a couple yrs. Below took 6 yrs. Time to garden and let what you have now age. Once past 700 then 1 at a time spread out. Many have come on here grabbing anyone who approves before DC and even after. Its a marathon and not a race. 720 if played right. 3+yrs.

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I can attest to that....I got 3 new cards 45-60 days post DC....I waited for everything to report correctly and let my reports 'settle' down before I app'd for anything.  My KOHLS survived BK....14 mos after DC, i was approved for an RV loan ($20k) with my CU.....28 mos after DC, i was approved for a new motorcycle ($14k).....32 mos after DC i got 2 more small CC, which looking back was a mistake.  

So I have 6 CC's and 2 installment loans:  I am 38 mos post DC and my current FICO 08's are TU 662, EQ 673, EX 683.  INQ's are TU 3, EQ 0, EX 1.  Utilization around 9%.  Those 2 CC's 6 months ago really hurt my AAoA.  Big mistake on my part and I knew better.

I'm not applying for chit.  Gonna get down to 0 INQ's and 2% utilization before I even think about applying for higher limit card(s).

Not to be a ball-swinger, but listen to Firemedic.    

[Jnbmom]

Also any newbies reading this thread WAIT until after your dc before applying . You never want to risk your DC and after your DC and your reports have updated and everything is reporting correctly you will get a little bump which might get you better starter cards. We can't stress this enough, yes I know others don't wait and rush after filing but it's always best to wait. It's not a sprint it's a marathon .

[843dk5u39mcf]

Some attorneys I reviewed suggested that applying for credit is OK after the first CH7 creditors meeting. However, as JNBMOM suggested, the safest option is to wait until discharge. 

[843dk5u39mcf]

Hi FireMedic1, 

I appreciate the candid advice—no new apps until I'm in the 700s.

It'll be interesting to see how the updated reporting of my auto loan will impact my scores.

Pulled 12/17 FICO 8 for TU and EX, 650 and 629, respectively.  The delta between EX could be explained by more INQs on TU and EX hasn't updated with the discharge + I have a split file. 

[843dk5u39mcf]

Hi twono, 

Quite a journey. I appreciate you sharing! Thanks for restating key advice. No more apps until I'm in the 700 club. . 

In retrospect I would not have app'd for Mission Lane or Ollo so early.  The tiny limits are nearly useless.  I have subscriptions being paid to them and auto PIF for usage.  

I'm hoping CapOne gives me a nice CLI in a few months with a SP since I run 1.5x of the 3K limit on the card each month.