@Anonymous wrote:
Due to bad luck, bad choices and a bad divorce I filed for Chapter 13 in April of 2010. I burnt just about everyone imaginable but finally got it together and successfully complete a 5 year plan, the discharge came thru in May 2015. I am here today to report that my credit has finally recovered!!!!
There is no way I could have done it without this board. To give back, inform and hopefully inspire (like so many did for me) here are my milestones:
Day of discharge: EQ 581
- Open Sky secured card for $200. Fees were thru the roof but I never had a problem with them – closed card at 11 months
- Existing BOA 1st Mortgage, 3 baddies
- Existing BOA 2nd Mortgage, 7 baddies
- 3 old/closed accounts are still reporting, all in good standing.
Discharge + 3 days – EQ 581 – Heavy use, paid weekly and ran at about 11% utilization
- Capital One Platinum SL $1500. Received steady SP CLIs the next 20 months to reach 5.5K. Combined with QS and closed account
- Capital One QS1 SL 2K. Received steady SP CLIs the next 20 months to reach 10K CL. Combined with QS and closed account
- Menards’s Home Store (Cap1) SL $500. Current CL is $2K. Just about ready to ditch this card, Lowes is treating me much better
Discharge + 3 to 4 months – EQ 664 - Heavy use, paid weekly and ran at about 11% utilization
- Capital One QS SL $7K. With steady CLI and account combo current CL is $23K
- Shot down by Barclays (forget which card)
- Discover IT SL $5K. Steady CLIs have taken me to $17,700
Discharge +6 months – EQ 704 - Heavy use, paid weekly and ran at about 4% utilization
Discharge + 8 months – EQ 722 - About 9% utilization
- Barclay Rewards SL $2K. Finally received a CLI after calling for APR reduction, the $1K CLI came around the 11 month mark. I don’t have a lot of love here so I plan to close account at 2 years.
Discharge + 12 month – EQ 745 - No change in spending/utilization patterns
- Lowes SL 3K. Steady CLIs have taken me to $21K
- Kohl’s SL 1K. One CLI took me to 2K. I really have no interest in getting more, just use it for discounts.
- Baddies are dropping
Discharge + 16 months – EQ 738 - About 4% utilization
- Old positive accounts are dropping. AOA plummeted
Discharge + 19 months- EQ 731
- Capital One Venture SL $15K
- Overstock $6500 SL – dumb dumb dumb!!!! SCT experiment, I don’t even shop there.
- With the exception of the PR all baddies are gone
- AOA down to 2.7 years
Discharge + 20 months - EQ 736 –Still using cards heavily but keeping utilization around 1%
- Requested early PR removal and signed up for 3b
- EQ told me to pound sand but the others removed the PR - TU 811, EX 805 I about had a heart attack
- American Express BCE $12K
Discharge + 21 months – EQ 807
- YEAH THAT IS A 71 POINT INCREASE!
My advice to anyone starting out… DO NOT GIVE UP. Chapter 13 can be brutal at times so focus on the long term, take little wins where you can and stick to the plan (ie don’t piss of the trustee). You can recover and maybe even come thru stronger/more financially stable than before. Read the posts on this board, search for answers and soak up knowledge. Feel welcome here, others wouldn’t be reading unless they are in the same boat as you.
Very nice work kgotcha. Has EQ removed your BK yet?
