4 years after BK, what can I work on?

Bonafacio · ‎11-27-2016

It's been 4 years and now I'm looking for my next move.
I've been considering opening up a bank account with the credit union here. Unfortunately they were on my burn list so I don't know about a credit card there one day.
Not entirely too sure who was burned. The BK should have been filed long ago, but I sat around on it for a couple years. Some I swear were burned, but they show in good standing on my credit reports.
What would you recommend?

I was considering maybe a Marvel or PayPal ( I have a lot of PayPal and eBay activity.) Mastercard since it's Synchrony or an Amazon store card, since they do 5% back. Is Synchrony considered a subprime lender?
Tried to research about opening up multiple cards with one issuer, but didn't now if that's good or bad. Maybe a Venture/Venture One? I would like to acquire a Chase Sapphire Preferred eventually. But saw Chase was bleh on BK. Reports show paid as agreed and closed. Maybe try for NFCU? I think I had NFCU before when I was in.

Burn List:
Capital One

Citi
HSBC Best Buy

HSBC Yamaha

PSECU

WFNB

Comenity Express

BK Discharged 10/2012

Credit One 3/2013 - Closed 11/2013
Barclay 10/2013 - CL $7500

School Loan 2/2014 - Paid Off 3/2016

Car 6/2015 - 1.9%

Discover 12/2015 - CL $2000

Capital One QS 4/2016 - CL $13000

Mortgage 10/2016 - 3.375%

I ddn't pay for these scores it was from Discover and Experians site.
FICO
EXP : 685
TU : 666
EQ : ?

pizza1 · ‎11-27-2016

before we can give any real solid advice, I suggest you look at your BK "schedule", and see all lenders that were IIB. That will tell you who was burned in your BK.

you might also pull your actual reports and see how everything is reporting, and make sure its all on the up an up too if you haven't done that in awhile.

Also pull a 3-B here, and get your true FICO scores for TU,EQ,EX. FICO scores will also have some to do with approvals, as well as lenders.

AMEX....forget it. They are 5 years post BK D/C IF you DIDNT burn them. Would help to know the lenders you burned first. Find your BK schedule, they will be listed there, you should have a copy at home regardless....and keep all your BK paperwork for at least 15 yrs....minimum.

azguy13 · ‎11-27-2016

@pizza1 wrote:
before we can give any real solid advice, I suggest you look at your BK "schedule", and see all lenders that were IIB. That will tell you who was burned in your BK.

you might also pull your actual reports and see how everything is reporting, and make sure its all on the up an up too if you haven't done that in awhile.

Also pull a 3-B here, and get your true FICO scores for TU,EQ,EX. FICO scores will also have some to do with approvals, as well as lenders.

AMEX....forget it. They are 5 years post BK D/C IF you DIDNT burn them. Would help to know the lenders you burned first. Find your BK schedule, they will be listed there, you should have a copy at home regardless....and keep all your BK paperwork for at least 15 yrs....minimum.

If being a veteran and also having worked for the Federal Government has taught me anything it is to always keep hard copies stashed away. Make sure to have copies of the copies.

Bonafacio · ‎11-27-2016

I did check credit reports and everything does show good standing, pays as agrees, $0/IIB.

I'll have to dig up the schedule and see who I burned exactly. I tried to make the list from the credit reports, but it was hard to tell. I'll check here shortly.

Burn List:
Capital One

Citi
HSBC Best Buy

HSBC Yamaha

PSECU

WFNB

Comenity Express

Thanks!

Scupra · ‎11-28-2016

So it looks like you have 3 revolvers and an installment TL. This is the fun part You now have whats needed to optimize FICO, it's all about what you need/want now.

Bonafacio · ‎11-28-2016

I want to add another card or two to be able to maximize travel and point rewards to specific things. So since I have the main ones, maybe a card or two more then just garden and pay things off. Thanks!

Scupra · ‎11-29-2016

@Bonafacio wrote:
I want to add another card or two to be able to maximize travel and point rewards to specific things. So since I have the main ones, maybe a card or two more then just garden and pay things off. Thanks!

Great idea! What are the categories that you spend most in? Lets find a card that fits your spending

Bonafacio · ‎11-30-2016

It's a pretty even spread mix of everything. Stuff, groceries/dining out, gas and bills.
Think I should try Chase Sapphire Preferred now or wait? I'm just wating to hear back from NFCU before applying for things.
Any order to apply? Chase first? Chase last? Which NFCU card would you say I should go for first?

Figured 1 NFCU and try for a Chase or travel card, then garden from there.

Scupra · ‎11-30-2016

@Bonafacio wrote:
It's a pretty even spread mix of everything. Stuff, groceries/dining out, gas and bills.
Think I should try Chase Sapphire Preferred now or wait? I'm just wating to hear back from NFCU before applying for things.
Any order to apply? Chase first? Chase last? Which NFCU card would you say I should go for first?

Figured 1 NFCU and try for a Chase or travel card, then garden from there.

Hmm.. The CSP was always a goal card of mine but when I first went after Chase I chose the Freedom. The Freedom actually seems to fit your spending better, even with rotating caregories. Have you thought about getting a Freedom and adding a CSP later? Freedom / CSP is an amazing combo, especially for travel

Bonafacio · ‎12-02-2016

I was just considering that. Would you recommend an order to apply?

Figured I'd pick a NFCU card and a Chase card. Didn't know if there was a recommended order or how fast hard pulls hit.

On the 3 cards now, 2 carry a $0 balance which I use monthly. The one card is 30% ish. The recent CLIs probably haven't been reported yet.
So total utilization is around 20% post CLI. Should I wait and pay that down or just go for it now? Which NFCU card would you recommend if I was to just go with 1. Figured 5 cards in the lineup would be good.

Thanks Scupra.