WHEN CAN I REAPPLY?

[Anonymous]

Hello! Exactly 8 months post CH7 BK.

Just pulled all 3 credit reports and my FICO scores suck. Credit Karma has been lying to me :/

As of today, CK shows a Transunion score of 584, Equifax 679.

ACTUAL FICO SCORES as of today:

Experian: 596 (Fair)

Equifax: 539 (Poor)

Transunion: 496 (Poor)

I have yet to see any CC offers in the mail, and yes, all my accounts show that they were closed/discharged in BK.

I do have a discharged auto title loan (no affirmation signed) that I am still paying on wth no issue, and it appears it is only being reported to Experian, which gives me some hope. 

I had thought of applying for some CC's (or even just 1 CC) based on my Credit Karma "score", but now with my FICO'S am rethinking that. 

Should I wait longer?

Should I also avoid applying for the same accounts I included in BK? 

I had cards with EVERYONE: Am Ex, Barclay's, B of A, Capital One, Comenity, Mastercard, Visa, Synchrony....Am I pretty much screwed in attempting to reapply with them since I included them in BK?

I was in over my head BUT I was making on time minimum payments on ALL accounts (no late history at all) up to the day when I decided to file for BK. Making my minimums was getting to the point where I had almost nothing left over every check. My lawyer advised I stop making payments and so I did, and then everything of course went down the toilet. 

I see people saying they applied and were approved within a month of discharge, but I feel like 8 months is not yet enough time for me? Help

[Anonymous]

I don't see Discover on the list of burnt victims, I would hop over to their prequal and hope for the secured card.

Moving forward, make sure that you have a realistic budget, always live within or under (start putting savings away) your means, never charge something that you can't afford to PIF every month, never carry a balance and pay interest again. Good Luck.

[xaximus]

CK does not give you FICO scores. It is only good for monitoring. For any cards that were burned - most likely you'll get denials (sorry to be blunt) until you pay off your old balances. Either that, or wait it out (which can be many, many years). I would recommend seeing pre-qual websites and go from there. Depending on balances - it may be worthwhile to pay off the smaller ones and try to get back into good standing with them.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Sadly, my downward spiral was a result of being unable to say no to an immediate family member everytime they needed help. Pay day loans, auto title loan, lending cash and thus having to use credit cards myself since said cash was loaned out. Prior to helping them for a few years (STUPIDLY, might I add), left me with the BK. Never again. Lesson learned.

No, Discover actually was NOT a card I had! Didn’t even think of them. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, they were all in the thousands. I had asked my lawyer if trying to repay them back after discharge would be helpful and she strongly discouraged it saying why even file for BK. Honestly, it would take about $65k to repay them all. Thank you for being blunt. Sugar coating won’t help me now

[Anonymous]

You might check Cap 1 prequalify site as well. I burned (not for much) and they let me back in via the credit steps program. I totally understand your frustration. I am only over 3 months discharged and trying to rebuild myself to refi my house I’m buying on contract. But I have to wait 2 years

[FinStar]

Baby steps for a while OP. 8 months out of BK 7 is still a bit like wet paint.

Unfortunately, a variety of the lenders that were IIB, will be out of reach for a very long time. AmEx will take beyond 10 years (if not longer), Barclays will likely be never since their memories are long and permanent, BoA might be doable after a few years, Capital One as mentioned above is forgiving after a set period of time, Comenity will be a long time (if they even budge), Synchrony might be doable after several years. Chase will need to see BK off your reports and Citi might take several years. FNBO might be an option after a while.

Some good advice given upthread on how to get started with rebuilding. It will take time so you'll need to endure lots of patience. Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Have you gone through your reports and made sure everything is correctly reporting $0 and included in bankruptcy?

While everyone is different, your scores strike me as potentially containing some incorrect information unless you've had more derogs since the BK.

[Anonymous]

Yup. Just pulled all 3 credit reports with scores from the Fico site this morning. Everything shows as discharged. Only negative Mark is the BK under public records for all 3 reports. The title loan is only showing under experian as current (everything paid on time). I called the credit union who I originally opened the account with and they said they do not report to Experian, only equifax, but since the loan was discharged, they are not reporting it at all. I was told that experian voluntarily pulls the info themselves but that the credit union themselves are no longer reporting it since no affirmation was signed. Other than that everything is good. My sibling will be adding me to 3 of her synchrony accounts as an authorized user. One account owes less than $300 of $3k limit, one is $2500 of a $6k limit (I have been paying this since she opened the account over 1.5 years ago-furniture set for mom-and since she (sister)needed to get credit going after college, she opened the account but I’ve made every single payment) and one is a zero balance on a $3k account, all through synchrony. Basically the largest of the debts was agreed beforehand that I would pay for in full, but under her name. We just now realized she should have added me as an authorized user right after my Discharge so I could receive payment credit. I have it scheduled to be paid in full by feb. 2019 anyway......

Hopefully it kick starts my credit and can apply myself and eventually she can remove me as an authorized user.

[MrDFinance]

As others have said I would try Discover and Capital one because they are more forgiving with BK's... If that doesn't work I suggest a Open Sky Secured card (No credit Check) and a Self lender. Loan....