Re-establishing credit after Chapter 7...what next?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone! I’ve been peeping at the various topics on this forum for a few years but finally decided to join. My motivation for joining is this: I filed for ch7 in February 2019 and got discharged in May 2019. I have a son who was born with severe medical issues which landed me $85k in medical debt (after paying $62k) in addition to mismanaging a credit Card using it to make ends meet. In any event, the BK dropped my scores from the low 500’s to the mid-low 400’s. I waited until discharge and was immediately sent an offer in the mail for a new Cap1 unsecured card w/a $300 limit literally 3 days post discharge (amazing since I included 2 cap 1 cards and an auto loan in my Bk). I accepted and have done well raising my scores from the mid-low 400’s to: TU 664, EQ 642, EX 599. But I don’t know what to do (or not to do) next. I applied for a few offers on credit karma but got denied - so I expect a slight drop next month due to inquiries. But I so desperately want to raise my TU and EQ to 700 and try to get EX to 650 by year end or early 2020. The only things in my credit are student loans with 100% on time payments and this $300 cap1 card. Any advice on next steps or what to avoid is much appreciated 😊

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry to hear about what you've had to go through. I'm sure others with more experience will chime in. I would say check the discover prequal site to see if you have any offers. If nothing else go for the secured version which many have had success in graduating to unsecured. You can also get a secured nfcu card if you qualify for membership, that card also graduates. I would not listen to credit karma as far as scores or offers but if you get a pre-qualified offer directly on the issuer's website (like discover) that is usually more reliable. Good luck!

[FireMedic1]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone! I’ve been peeping at the various topics on this forum for a few years but finally decided to join. My motivation for joining is this: I filed for ch7 in February 2019 and got discharged in May 2019. I have a son who was born with severe medical issues which landed me $85k in medical debt (after paying $62k) in addition to mismanaging a credit Card using it to make ends meet. In any event, the BK dropped my scores from the low 500’s to the mid-low 400’s. I waited until discharge and was immediately sent an offer in the mail for a new Cap1 unsecured card w/a $300 limit literally 3 days post discharge (amazing since I included 2 cap 1 cards and an auto loan in my Bk). I accepted and have done well raising my scores from the mid-low 400’s to: TU 664, EQ 642, EX 599. But I don’t know what to do (or not to do) next. I applied for a few offers on credit karma but got denied - so I expect a slight drop next month due to inquiries. But I so desperately want to raise my TU and EQ to 700 and try to get EX to 650 by year end or early 2020. The only things in my credit are student loans with 100% on time payments and this $300 cap1 card. Any advice on next steps or what to avoid is much appreciated 😊

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Any website and even here on MyFICO when it comes to card offers and approval rates you could say are worthless. Theres ways to get it done. Congrats on the Cap1 approval. As the poster above stated. Try and see if anything pops on Disco if they werent burned. On the pre-qual page that is. Or try their secured card website. Since you have no loans it seems. Go after a self lender for the installment portion of the credit mix. If Disco pulls thru. Take a few months off apping since you said you did a few HP's already. So they may hinder the second card for a few months. Or with no HP. Grab a Open Sky and everyone is approved or Merrick Bank even. No complaints about them on the forums. Good Luck and let us know how it went. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you!!! Question: I’ve read on here a few times that self lender won’t help if you already have a larger loan on your CR...do you know that to be true? I have $48k in student loans - paid 100% on time. I just don’t want to waster the $100/mo on self lender if it won’t make a difference. Any insight is appreciated 😊

[Anonymous]

I just tried and it gave me an error message and told me to try again later 😞. I’ll give it another go tomorrow. I’ll also do the navy federal (already a member) secured cc as well once I stack the deposit money. Thank you for the advice!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you!!! Question: I’ve read on here a few times that self lender won’t help if you already have a larger loan on your CR...do you know that to be true? I have $48k in student loans - paid 100% on time. I just don’t want to waster the $100/mo on self lender if it won’t make a difference. Any insight is appreciated 😊

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I wouldn't bother with the self lender since you already have an installment through your student loans. I don't think it would hurt but I also don't think it will make any difference for you.

[FireMedic1]

My bad. Didnt notice the part about the student loans you had. So ix nay the self lender part.