Applying for a Credit Card after a DMP

[Anonymous]

I initially posted this in the "rebuilding credit" section, but I wasn't sure if more of it applied to this forum.  Thanks for all the insight!

First time poster long time lurker.  I just made my final payment to my DMP and will be credit card free for the first time in 15 years (have been on the DMP for the past 4...and knocked out 14k in total debt).  I still have some school loans but those are relatively easy to manage.  I've got a few questions on when I should apply for my first credit card since, per the agreement of the DMP, all my accounts were to be closed once I started the plan.  My credit scores should be good as they were all around the 725 mark 2 years ago to the month.  The only changes in my finances are obviously the CC debt paid off and I paid off a car loan but I also recently (6 months ago) aquired a new car note.  I plan on checking my scores before I apply for my card but since my reports are frozen I'd rather hold off until I'm ready to pull the trigger.  I can't imagine that my scores have done anything but go up (got a 0% rate on my car).  This is where I need your help.

I don't need the card for any particular reason other than for emergencies and to build up a history on a revolving credit line.  Should I apply immediately before the last of my debtors report to the agencies that my accounts are now closed, or will the difference be negligible?  Should I wait a few months?  Will it really matter in my situation?  I'm going to be going through my credit union (of which I have never had a CC from...and my car loans have been through) if that makes any difference. 

Thanks for all the great advice this forum has offered me.

[Anonymous]

Hello all!

First time poster long time lurker.  I just made my final payment to my DMP and will be credit card free for the first time in 15 years (have been on the DMP for the past 4...and knocked out 14k in total debt).  I still have some school loans but those are relatively easy to manage.  I've got a few questions on when I should apply for my first credit card since, per the agreement of the DMP, all my accounts were to be closed once I started the plan.  My credit scores should be good as they were all around the 725 mark 2 years ago to the month.  The only changes in my finances are obviously the CC debt paid off and I paid off a car loan but I also recently (6 months ago) aquired a new car note.  I plan on checking my scores before I apply for my card but since my reports are frozen I'd rather hold off until I'm ready to pull the trigger.  I can't imagine that my scores have done anything but go up (got a 0% rate on my car).  This is where I need your help.

I don't need the card for any particular reason other than for emergencies and to build up a history on a revolving credit line.  Should I apply immediately before the last of my debtors report to the agencies that my accounts are now closed, or will the difference be negligible?  Should I wait a few months?  Will it really matter in my situation?  I'm going to be going through my credit union (of which I have never had a CC from...and my car loans have been through) if that makes any difference. 

Thanks for all the great advice this forum has offered me. 

[myjourney]

Welcome to the forum

Since your car loan is through your CU I think that's an excellent choice for a CC

I would wait until the last payment has posted to your CR's before applying 

Nice job of paying off the debts and good luck going forward 

[Creditaddict]

I don't like the unknowns so lets start with that:

When did you get the car? who is it with? and what were scores then? if you are saying over 2 years then i don't care about any of my first questions.

unfreeze your reports and pull them and then lets decide on all your other questions.

seriously I have heard so many people think they have 700's to only find out that they didn't monitor ANYTHING during the DMP and payments were made late or something that they didn't know about and they come out of the DMP with scores in the 500's... it scares me that you say you have not looked in 2 years and they are frozen....

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply! 

I've been monitoring the indivudual credit cards on a monthly basis to ensure that payments were made.  I'm about to pull my reports and my score and I'll post the results within the hour.  Thanks!

[Creditaddict]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the reply! 

I've been monitoring the indivudual credit cards on a monthly basis to ensure that payments were made.  I'm about to pull my reports and my score and I'll post the results within the hour.  Thanks!

---

Fantastic... Can't wait.

AND CONGRATS on getting through the entire DMP and being Debt free of credit cards... a great accomplishment

[myjourney]

Welcome to the forum 

Please do not post on multiple forums 

I'm having your other post merged with this one 

Thanks 

MJ

[thelethargicage]

Before you app for anything, check all 3 of your CRs and make sure that any notations to the effect of "Payments managed by debt management/financial coinseling program" are removed. Trust me, that little remark will get you an instant denial every time, even with recon. some creditors remove it as soon as you pay off the card in question while others (BofA) can take up to 90 days, so in the meantime don't app for anything!

[thelethargicage]

PM me if you have any questions. I was on a DMP myself. 

[Anonymous]

Ok, just pulled them and a few accounts have "mcc" (managed by credit counseling) next to them.  How would I go about getting rid of those other than waiting?  If just a few and not all of the cards that were enrolled in the DMP.

I have 0 negative items on any of my reports....and it's probably been at least 5-6 years since I have had a last payment on anything.  I only pulled 2 of my 3 scores because I didn't want to enroll in one of those monitoring schemes that I really don't have the use for (given my credit is always frozen).

My Equifax score is 767 and my TransUnion score is a 749.

Should I wait 90 days and check again in hopes that the "mcc" will be removed from my report?

Thanks for all the help, and sorry for posting in two forums!