CH7 discharged today!!!

[masscredit]

My attorney sent me an email to let me know my bankruptcy was discharged today. I quickly signed into Pacer to view it for myself. This is a huge relief!

First I'd like to thank the Academy... wait, wrong speech. I'd like to thank everyone here would put up with all of my questions and gave me advice before I made the big move. I know some of you were probably thinking "Will you just pick and attorney and file!!!". It took a while but I finally did it. I actually did it a year later than I planned. I stopped paying on my cards in February 2021. I thought I'd file in April but I kept putting it off. One, because it seemed like a lot of work on my end. Between interviewing attorneys and all of the paperwork I'd have to get together. The infomation I had to get together wasn't bad at all. It was just statements for each credit card and for each bank account. Very simple. Finding an attorney I was comfortable with was the hardest part. I first interviewed one who had offices all over the area. He seemed very experienced (35 years?), had an impressive office and like I said, many others in the area. I thought he'd be the one before I walked in. But he told me things I didn't like. He said there was no way a CH7 would go through because of the dollar amount of my case (all credit cards that totalled about $150K). That had me concerned. I then talked to a different attorney who was late and operated out of a small building. He seemed okay but I still wasn't feeling it. I found the one I went with after 2-3 more interviews. That one was done on the phone. It was very straight forward. He gave me a check list of what to provide and his fee ($2K for him plus filing fees). The whole thing with very smooth. Pacer showed 6/21 as the date for objections. It was discharged this morning. I wish I would have filed a year ago. I would have been further ahead with my rebuild. But now I am debt free and it feels great!!!

As for my rebuild, I jumped the gun. I started getting secured cards less than two weeks after my creditors meeting. btw - that meeting lasted a few minutes and was no big deal. For the people who are going to file, don't sweat it!  So I got 4 secured cards (TD Bank ($5K) and SDFCU ($6500)). They will graduate at some point. I also have Andrews ($3K) and OpenSky ($3). They won't graduate. I'll cancel them after I can get decent unsecured cards to replace them. I went with these cards so I didn't have to have toy limits. I don't have to deal with "You are pre-approved for "up to" $2500. then roll the dice to see what I get. I also got a $1500 SSL from Andrews to have a loan in my mix. Doing this has allowed me to add just over 100 points to my EQ score. That's with two cards reporting balances that bring utilization to 7% and the loan is currently reporting 94% UTI. 

Advice for anyone thinking about filing, it's not that bad. I thought it would be soooo much work. It wasn't but all cases are different. Finding a good attorney is important. I think the first one I talked to just told me things to get the case and try to make more off of me with a CH13. The worst part was finding one I can trust.

The only hiccup I have is one of my utilities. The electric company closed out my old account number and set me up with a new one. The gas company still hasn't done that. I was approved for fuel assistance just after I filed. They made a payment of $880.00. The gas co applied that towards the old balance. They still haven't set up a new account. I'm waiting to hear back from my attorney so I know how to handle this. Other than this, I now have a clean slate and a fresh start. It feels soooo good!!! 

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

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@masscredit wrote:

My attorney sent me an email to let me know my bankruptcy was discharged today. I quickly signed into Pacer to view it for myself. This is a huge relief!

First I'd like to thank the Academy... wait, wrong speech. I'd like to thank everyone here would put up with all of my questions and gave me advice before I made the big move. I know some of you were probably thinking "Will you just pick and attorney and file!!!". It took a while but I finally did it. I actually did it a year later than I planned. I stopped paying on my cards in February 2021. I thought I'd file in April but I kept putting it off. One, because it seemed like a lot of work on my end. Between interviewing attorneys and all of the paperwork I'd have to get together. The infomation I had to get together wasn't bad at all. It was just statements for each credit card and for each bank account. Very simple. Finding an attorney I was comfortable with was the hardest part. I first interviewed one who had offices all over the area. He seemed very experienced (35 years?), had an impressive office and like I said, many others in the area. I thought he'd be the one before I walked in. But he told me things I didn't like. He said there was no way a CH7 would go through because of the dollar amount of my case (all credit cards that totalled about $150K). That had me concerned. I then talked to a different attorney who was late and operated out of a small building. He seemed okay but I still wasn't feeling it. I found the one I went with after 2-3 more interviews. That one was done on the phone. It was very straight forward. He gave me a check list of what to provide and his fee ($2K for him plus filing fees). The whole thing with very smooth. Pacer showed 6/21 as the date for objections. It was discharged this morning. I wish I would have filed a year ago. I would have been further ahead with my rebuild. But now I am debt free and it feels great!!!

As for my rebuild, I jumped the gun. I started getting secured cards less than two weeks after my creditors meeting. btw - that meeting lasted a few minutes and was no big deal. For the people who are going to file, don't sweat it!  So I got 4 secured cards (TD Bank ($5K) and SDFCU ($6500)). They will graduate at some point. I also have Andrews ($3K) and OpenSky ($3). They won't graduate. I'll cancel them after I can get decent unsecured cards to replace them. I went with these cards so I didn't have to have toy limits. I don't have to deal with "You are pre-approved for "up to" $2500. then roll the dice to see what I get. I also got a $1500 SSL from Andrews to have a loan in my mix. Doing this has allowed me to add just over 100 points to my EQ score. That's with two cards reporting balances that bring utilization to 7% and the loan is currently reporting 94% UTI. 

Advice for anyone thinking about filing, it's not that bad. I thought it would be soooo much work. It wasn't but all cases are different. Finding a good attorney is important. I think the first one I talked to just told me things to get the case and try to make more off of me with a CH13. The worst part was finding one I can trust.

The only hiccup I have is one of my utilities. The electric company closed out my old account number and set me up with a new one. The gas company still hasn't done that. I was approved for fuel assistance just after I filed. They made a payment of $880.00. The gas co applied that towards the old balance. They still haven't set up a new account. I'm waiting to hear back from my attorney so I know how to handle this. Other than this, I now have a clean slate and a fresh start. It feels soooo good!!! 

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Congrats!   You are my perfect student.      Going for high limit secured cards is the smartest thing you can do.   While others are wallowing with $300 limits on crappy Comenity cards, or getting screwed by Credit One, you are on your way to $25K-$50K limits with decent lenders that can offer you future car loans and home loans.   And when you close out those secured cards, guess what?   You get ALL your money back!   You didn't pay $300 in fees for a $300 credit limit with no grace period and a 35% interest rate.

I did what you did and I have never seen anyone with better success than me.   Ever.   Not one person.

Stick with your path.   It is a marathon and not a sprint, but get out way ahead in that marathon, and if you have to walk before you can run, walk really, really fast.  

Don't  believe the BS stories about how you must wait and serve your time in purgatory.   It's not true.

Congrats.

[MileHigh96]

Congratz @masscredit on your DC! It's always such a great feeling going forward.

[MileHigh96]

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@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:
Congrats!   You are my perfect student.      Going for high limit secured cards is the smartest thing you can do.   While others are wallowing with $300 limits on crappy Comenity cards, or getting screwed by Credit One, you are on your way to $25K-$50K limits with decent lenders that can offer you future car loans and home loans.   And when you close out those secured cards, guess what?   You get ALL your money back!   You didn't pay $300 in fees for a $300 credit limit with no grace period and a 35% interest rate.

I did what you did and I have never seen anyone with better success than me.   Ever.   Not one person.

Stick with your path.   It is a marathon and not a sprint, but get out way ahead in that marathon, and if you have to walk before you can run, walk really, really fast.  

Don't  believe the BS stories about how you must wait and serve your time in purgatory.   It's not true.

Congrats.

---

Completely unfair to say that is the only/smartest way to go.  After a BK7, not everyone has $3K or $5K or $10K or any large amount of money to throw at secured cards.  Sure, more power to you if you do, but I would venture to say that the vast majority of people do not have that kind of cash laying around, especially knowing it's going to be tied up for a year or more before the card graduates.

There are plenty of ways to go about it without burdening yourself with a $300 limit card with 35% interest.  None of the cards I have are secured and the lowest limit I have is $1K (which I am closing this year) and the highest is $17.5K.  I even have a PenFed card with a $6K limit I got just 4 months post DC.

And then there are the people who don't have any money for secured cards and either don't have the income or their credit is COMPLETELY shot, even post BK7 discharge.  And unfortunately their ONLY choice are those predatory cards.  And if that is your only option, people shouldn't be feeling shamed because that's the route they have available to them to travel down.  And if done right, even with those predatory cards, in 6 to 12 months you can definitely be on the path to better, more traditional cards and lines of credit.

[masscredit]

For myself, my budget greatly improved after I stopped paying my cards the beginning of last year. So I was able to start saving money every month. I took most of that savings and put it towards getting the secured cards. I’m very grateful to be able to do that,

Something I didn’t mention in the first post, I kind of feel complete now. No more having to use a debit or gift cards for purchases. I don’t have to have my girlfriend book trips and rental cars.  I’m back to having credit cards so I can do it myself.

One other thing, the whole process was pretty quick. We filed on March 23rd, the 341 meeting was April 20th and discharged on June 22nd.

[righthererightnow]

Congrats on the rebuild, and moving forward!

[masscredit]

During my BK research, I saw a number of people ask if their scores would change after their DC (I believe I did too). No change at all. All of my accounts were listed as IIB before the DC. I pulled my three reports last night. They all show the update. Scores are the same. Well, one of them went up a point after my 4th card started reporting around the same time. 

I'm probably just going to lay low when it comes to getting new credit. I may check some pre-qualification sites once in awhile. I'm wondering if I may be able to get back in with Cap1. My first late payment with them was February 2021 so it's been 16 months. A handful of my cards were theirs so I don't know if that will matter.

[FireMedic1]

Congrats!

[user365735]

Congrats!! May I ask what your income was during filing?

And how was your spending before filing? I am paranoid of every dollar I spend. I feel trapped and not being able to do anything, like even a drink etc. McDonald's almost every day. Are we allowed to spend? I don't mean shopping sprees or vacations. I just wanna be human...

[masscredit]

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@user365735 wrote:

Congrats!! May I ask what your income was during filing?

And how was your spending before filing? I am paranoid of every dollar I spend. I feel trapped and not being able to do anything, like even a drink etc. McDonald's almost every day. Are we allowed to spend? I don't mean shopping sprees or vacations. I just wanna be human...

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My spending before I filed was either cash, debit card or gift cards. I kind of felt like you in some ways. I wasn't taking any $10K trips or buying high priced items. My bank statements showed normal living expenses and day to day spending if I used a debit card. Nothing out of the ordinary. The list of expenses exceeded my income which was about $60K when I filed.