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Hello,
A friend of mine has told me about this forum and told me to do a post because people are very helpful here.
It's been three months since I've been discharged and I am still waiting for my credit reports that my lawyer offered to see if all the reports were correct 30 days after discharge. I am currently waiting for that report, but can I start my rebuilding journey?
If so I was thinking of starting with Opensky and Penfed for a start. The credit cards that I have had were NavyFed & USAA. Any advice would be very appreciated!
Sercaasi,
Welcome to the forum. You're among people that have been in your exact footsteps.
You're absolutely correct to review all your CR's to make sure your accounts are reporting correctly. Since your lawyer is helping review your CR's, ask the lawyer if he or she knows any credit unions or banks that are bankruptcy friendly. I and many others had better success with credit unions.
I would take a few minutes to read Soulmaster's guide to 720 in 24. It's in this forum, just search for it. You can use it as a template for your rebuild. I would check the local banks around you to see if they have an preapprovals, like BB&T and Regions for example. I would also check Capital One and Discover. You never know you may get lucky right off the bat. Another thing to do is get a secured loan for $1k for a year term. It helps with your credit mix, positive payment history, and adds a new trade line that's post bankruptcy to your CR's.
More importantly create a realistic budget that will prevent the situation that caused your bankruptcy. Also understand that in this part of your rebuild, you may see more declines than approvals. Don't let this discourage you. I got declined all over the place and was declined again after doing recons.
You mentioned you burned NFCU and USAA. That's ok, because there are other CU's and banks out there that will help you. Take a look at PenFed and SDSCU. They have been very helpful to me. Definitely look around your community, I'm sure you can find a bankruptcy friendly CU and bank.
My bankruptcy falls off this year. I've learned a lot about getting credit, loans, and saving money on myfico. If I can do this, so can you.
Guyatthebeach
Your doing the right thing for now. Once all your reports reflect IIB and $0 balance. You'll get a score bump upwards. Wait till then. Once that happens. Give Cap1 prequal a shot. If you didnt burn them. Try to steer clear of fee/secured cards if possible. I never had either. Let us know once its all in the past. It will take time. Everything I did after BK below came from here. So it can be done.
@Sercaasi, I agree with the others, you're taking the correct steps.
A few comments:
I have learned so much in here. I too am fresh out of bankruptcy and learning again. I have tried to grasp the 720 to 24 but I was not understanding. I shall try again. Good luck to you, it's such a relief moving forward with a clean slate
@janelle79 & @Sercaasi - How are you guys holding up?
How's your application selection going so far?
So I did sign up for Capone but not secured. Is this a bad move? I didn't receive the card yet.
@Sercaasi wrote:So I did sign up for Capone but not secured. Is this a bad move? I didn't receive the card yet.
I don't think so. Did you get the Platinum?
But anyway, you should be ok with that card for a while for the purposes of your rebuild.
Sercaasi,
I think you will be fine. You're in a rebuilding phase, you're going to be fine. Personally I would also sign up for their free Creditwise app. It's a great tool to check your TU CR.
Guyatthebeach
Yes, it is the platinum card and that's a relief. I was told to stick with it for 6 months.