Chapter 7 Discharged! Moving on

[Streydog]

I recieved my discharge last week and the case is closed!  I have read through the steps to 700 in the pinned post.  Currently my FICO scores are TU-575, EX-582, EQ-597. 

Against the advice on this forum 2 weeks prior to discharge I responded to mailers from Capitol One and Mission Lane and was approved for a $3000 CL each.  These are not showing on any of the credit reports yet.  My Dell account as of right now shows a available credit of $5,000, somehow this made it through bankruptcy.

 I burned BOA, Chase, AMEX and Citi Bank.  The week I filed I received notice from Citi bank that they had sold my balance to another company.  Since that time Citi or the company that bought it has not been on any of the credit reports.

My short term goal is to be in a position to get the best rate possible on an auto loan if the need arises.  My vehicle has issues but I plan to keep it working as long as possible.

I know I should join a CU and take out a secured loan.  I am researching this now.  

A couple of questions.

Credit Karma is is offering me the $50 guarantee that I will be approved for an Ally no AF reward card.  At this stage would applying help or hurt me?

How much should I expect my scores to increase, if any, when my 2 new cards start to report?

I have been at my current job for 4.5 years.  My credit reports list previous employers, one of which was 20 years ago.  Is this normal?

Thanks for the support of this forum.

[FireMedic1]

Forget what CK says. Its all marketing. Congrats on your 2 cards.  But its the account that matters. Give it 6 months for the third card. Auto rates will be up there for a few yrs. Yes if you can get into NFCU for a SSL or PENFED. That will help with your credit mix. Congrats on your DC!!!! New life. Now the work begins to rebuild. Step by step and spread out apps. Dont go app crazy cause your out of debt. Rome wasnt built in a day.

[md_rebuild]

Concur with @FireMedic1 on CK.   It's not guaranteed and best to treat it as just a data point in a world with a lot of data points.

If you can get in with NFCU, do so.   They are very understanding with BKs.  

Yes, if you don't have a SSL, you need one (assuming your car is paid for).  Other than that, I wouldn't get any cards for the next 6 months.  You did good with the 2 you have, and more than likely any card you get now is going to be have a low CL.    Just use the 2 you have (I'd put a lot of churn on Capital One, but that's me).   See where you scores are in 6 months and then re-evaluate.   Remember, repairing after a BK7 is a marathon, not a sprint.

[MileHigh96]

Congrats on the discharge!

The whole CK guarantee thing only works if you open either a savings or a spending account with them, I don't remember which it is off the top of my head. So unless you were planning on doing that, it's not worth the time. Although I will say that my Ollo (now Ally) card worked out great for me. It started at $1500 and now sits at $4800. But as is with everything credit, YMMV.

Also FYI, Dell may close your account even if it looks like it survived right now.  I had a Dell account prior to filing and at the time of filing it had a zero balance and was an account I was never late on.  It ended up being quietly closed by them.  I had no issue getting a new one several months after discharge though.  It started at $3K and they gave me an auto increase to $5K about 12-ish months later.

[FireMedic1]

$50 isnt worth it to take the chance for a HP and denial that will stay on your reports your a year. Didnt you post somewhere else you were approved/

[ForwardLooking]

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@Streydog wrote:

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Credit Karma is is offering me the $50 guarantee that I will be approved for an Ally no AF reward card.  At this stage would applying help or hurt me?

...

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Congrats on the discharge!

Credit Karma is a more about marketing as others have said.  However, I have the Ally Platnium no AF card (no rewards).  It was a low limit card ($500), but was a good starter card because of no annual fees.  My experiance with Ally is good and I have both the card and a car loan with them.  I got the original card offer on Experian's site and not Credit Karma.  I just checked my latest credit reports I pulled and they did Hard Pulls from both TransUnion and Experian.

It looks like you got decent cards from Mission Lane and Capitol one already.  Was the Mission Lane card the no AF card?  If so, I would probably just stick with those two and let things rest for 6-12 months or so.  Getting too many new acounts quickly may damage your score more than adding another card at this point.