C7 discharged. New fresh start. Need a good CU. Please help.

[AviatorFL]

Hello everyone,

On OCT25, I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after a change of careers did not initially go as planned. After 27 years in Law Enforcement, it was time for me to pursue my life-long dream of becoming an airline pilot. Long story short, I retired but the transition ran into severe turbulence and I ended up unemployed for 8 months, time during which I simply could not make any payments and had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

I had $130,000+ in debt (8 credit cards and 1 personal loan). At the time, my credit score was 830+ across all 3 major credit bureaus. Never missed a payment in the last 20+ years.

My C7 was discharged a month ago on 10FEB26. It still hurts because like I said, I have always been a responsible person with my obligations but this was my only option at the time.

In the process, I burned AMEX, CapOne, Barclays, Citi, BoA (x2), Virginia FCU, Synchrony and NFCU (x2).

Since all 3 CRA have been updated to reflect all accounts discharged, I am ready to embark on rebuilding my credit once again.

I applied for the Mission Lane card but was declined. At least it was a SP.

I also applied for the NFCU Secured card and also was denied. Of course it would be, I burned them big time! I asked for a recon and they said no for the same reason as stated before.

I applied for the Discover it card and low and behold, my first success story after BK! They approved me for the card with an initial CL of $500. Just waiting for them to pull the money out of my checking account and send me the card. This really made me feel good about this whole rebuilding process.

Now that I got the Discover card, I'll definitely garden it and just let $$25-$30 post to my CRAs every month and pay it off before due date.

I will not apply for any more cards until 6 months from now.

As of now though, I am looking for a new CU to bank with. I can safely say after all the research I've done, my days with NFCU are over. I burned them for $63,000. They will never let me access any of their credit products ever, unless I oay that off. It was a good run and although I feel terrible about this, I did what I had to do. They are an AMAZING CU, highly recommend them to ANYONE.

With that being said, I'm looking into other CUs that are BK-friendly. I don't plan on applying for any credit in the next 6 months, but I want a good CU with whom I can start building a good relationship with for all my checking and saving needs. And of course, one that will be more forgiving on my discharged C7 once I'm ready to start appliying for credit again.

I live in FL and was thinking about PenFed, Justice FCU (can get in since I'm retired LE) or Wings FCU. I just found out about Wings FCU and they have a branch about 30 mins from my home. Justice FCU would just be online and over the phone contact because they don't have a branch in FL. As far as I can tell.

What you guys think? Anyone has experience with Wings FCU? Which one would be better between these 3?

[CaneVariant]

Might want to try Fairwinds CU. Only mention them because they are the Dave Ramsey "recommended credit union" so possibly more BK recovery friendly.

[AviatorFL]

Already a member with them! I never really used them much honestly since 100% of checking and savings were done exclusively with NFCU. I opened up Fairwinds when I filed for BK because I had no idea what to expect with NFCU once they were notified of the filing.

I had no idea they were recommended by Dave Ramsey.

[CaneVariant]

Good deal. Let us know how it goes. I'll be 2 years post-discharge next week so I still have a long way to go. Another option for you might be the new Chime prime card. Secured visa card but offering 5% cb up to $1500/month on one-category if you DD $3k per month. Thinking of combining this with my other 5% cb debit cards and get 5% across dining, grocery/Costco, Amazon, utilities, streaming and gyms plus some catch-all. Good luck on your rebuild.

[AviatorFL]

I just got off the phone with Fairwinds. They said they do secured credit cards starting at $1,000. She said they'll hold $1,250 from my savings account but the CL will show as $1,000. I would also have to pay $25 as an application fee.

The card also does not auto-graduate. She said after one year, I can request to move up to an unsecured credit card but she advised it's best to wait two years post discharge before applying for an unsecured card, as that's what their underwriters prefer to see.

And even then, it's not a guarantee that I'll be approved for the secured card.

[CaneVariant]

Bummer. I was hoping they would be better than that. Plenty of cb debit cards out there. I've been pulling over $100 cb a month and might hit $200 this month just with debit cards on ~ $4k monthly spend.

[AviatorFL]

I agree but I was referring to their secured credit cards.

I just joined Wings CU a few minutes ago! 💪🏼

I'll start building a relationship from now on with Wings CU for all my day to day checking, savings and hopefully, get a secured card with them down the road maybe in 3-6 months once my score starts rebounding with the secured Discover it card I got approved a few days ago.

I'm all set for now, I think. lol Just gotta have patience now and water the garden! 🙏🏼

[Snow-Leopard]

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@AviatorFL wrote:

Hello everyone,

On OCT25, I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after a change of careers did not initially go as planned. After 27 years in Law Enforcement, it was time for me to pursue my life-long dream of becoming an airline pilot. Long story short, I retired but the transition ran into severe turbulence and I ended up unemployed for 8 months, time during which I simply could not make any payments and had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

I had $130,000+ in debt (8 credit cards and 1 personal loan). At the time, my credit score was 830+ across all 3 major credit bureaus. Never missed a payment in the last 20+ years.

My C7 was discharged a month ago on 10FEB26. It still hurts because like I said, I have always been a responsible person with my obligations but this was my only option at the time.

In the process, I burned AMEX, CapOne, Barclays, Citi, BoA (x2), Virginia FCU, Synchrony and NFCU (x2).

Since all 3 CRA have been updated to reflect all accounts discharged, I am ready to embark on rebuilding my credit once again.

I applied for the Mission Lane card but was declined. At least it was a SP.

I also applied for the NFCU Secured card and also was denied. Of course it would be, I burned them big time! I asked for a recon and they said no for the same reason as stated before.

I applied for the Discover it card and low and behold, my first success story after BK! They approved me for the card with an initial CL of $500. Just waiting for them to pull the money out of my checking account and send me the card. This really made me feel good about this whole rebuilding process.

Now that I got the Discover card, I'll definitely garden it and just let $$25-$30 post to my CRAs every month and pay it off before due date.

I will not apply for any more cards until 6 months from now.

As of now though, I am looking for a new CU to bank with. I can safely say after all the research I've done, my days with NFCU are over. I burned them for $63,000. They will never let me access any of their credit products ever, unless I oay that off. It was a good run and although I feel terrible about this, I did what I had to do. They are an AMAZING CU, highly recommend them to ANYONE.

With that being said, I'm looking into other CUs that are BK-friendly. I don't plan on applying for any credit in the next 6 months, but I want a good CU with whom I can start building a good relationship with for all my checking and saving needs. And of course, one that will be more forgiving on my discharged C7 once I'm ready to start appliying for credit again.

I live in FL and was thinking about PenFed, Justice FCU (can get in since I'm retired LE) or Wings FCU. I just found out about Wings FCU and they have a branch about 30 mins from my home. Justice FCU would just be online and over the phone contact because they don't have a branch in FL. As far as I can tell.

What you guys think? Anyone has experience with Wings FCU? Which one would be better between these 3?

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Affinity FCU in New Jersey and Ascend FCU in Tennessee both have no-HP secured cards.

I really like Cabrillo CU in Southern California. I applied for a secured card with multiple paid COs, including one that was still showing unpaid on the day that underwriting did the HP, and Cabrillo CU offered me an unsecured card at 15.15% instead. All that underwriting needed was a statement from the other creditor showing that the unpaid CO was in fact fully paid.

[Firestorm]

Don't listen to Dave Ramsey.  

Justice Federal Credit Union

BK‑friendly and perfect for law enforcement / government ties

Wings is extremely bk friendly. PenFed Credit Union is very BK friendly.

[AviatorFL]

How BK friendly is Wings? Any data points? My score is in the 570ish right now. Maybe wait until mid-upper 600s before trying with Wings CU for their secured card?