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Rebuilding credit after Chapter 7 bankruptcy

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horsecreeker
New Member

Re: Rebuilding credit after Chapter 7 bankruptcy

You'll find different experiences. Capital One (CreditOne is a different bank I'm pretty sure) is good post bankruptcy although you'll find people who say otherwise.  I'd just research 2 or 3 banks and pick one - only one.  If approved use that as your base to rebuild.  If declined try 2nd best right away (same day).  If declined again you'll probably need to wait.  That's why important to take your best shot first. Best of luck.

Message 21 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Rebuilding credit after Chapter 7 bankruptcy


@ColonelSandurz wrote:

So I was hoping for some guidance about getting a credit card to start rebuilding my credit after bankruptcy. Here's the info:

 

- Declared personal (Chapter 7) bankruptcy at the end of Feb, 2013 - it was discharged in June 2013
- I included the following banks in the chapter 7 bankruptcy: Bank of America, American Express, Barclays, Chase, Citibank, and Sears (not all of these had active accounts with balances I owed, but my bankruptcy attorney had me include everything)
- I pulled my credit reports a few months after the bankruptcy was discharged and then begin correcting what I could on there - pulled them again recently and Equifax still has some mistakes but Experian and TransUnion seem to be correct now
- My FICO scores are:
   - Equifax: 617
   - TransUnion: 645
   - Experian: 615
- I applied for a business credit card from Bank of America a few months ago and was told I didn't qualify but could get it through a secured means if I wanted (I have an LLC)
- Last night I applied for an unsecured card from Capital One and was turned down (am waiting for the letter to arrive to request reconsideration over the phone); also applied for a Barclays card and was turnd down (also was turned down on request for reconsideration because I had included them in bankruptcy - I know it was unlikely that I would get this card, but given that they seemed to use TransUnion for their credit pulls based on creditboards.com and my TransUnion score was the highest, I figured I'd give it a shot).

 

Now that I've already had these two (actually three if you count the Bank of America app a few months ago) hard pulls on my already damaged credit, I am not sure what to do next. I'd very much like to see if there's any way to get an unsecured/no annual fee card to help rebuild my credit (even if it's a small credit line) since I'm being very careful in watching my money since the bankruptcy and would prefer not to spend money on an annual fee or security deposit. Anyone have any ideas?

 

If there is really no way to accomplish this, I guess I'd consider a secured card with an annual fee (although if that's the only choice, I might just opt to do nothing right now since I'm surviving OK using cash/debit card). I've read that the capital one secured card is the best (in that it has a low annual fee and a small security deposit required). Any thoughts?

 

Also, is there anything else I could be doing to rebuild my credit? I believe (although am not 100%) that if I could get a co-signer I could probably get some of these unsecured/no annual fee cards and use that to rebuild credit, but unfortunately can't find one currently. Any ideas are welcome regarding rebuilding my credit.

 

Thanks!


You are going to have to bite the bullet and start out with a couple of secured credit cards. I would suggest Cap One and a credit union such as SDFCU. You would also benefit from a small secured personal loan. 90 days after getting the secured cards app for unsecured Cap One cards.

Message 22 of 24

Re: Rebuilding credit after Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Hmm...not sure why this post was resurrected after all this time, but I figure I'll provide an update since it seems that some people are still providing advice based on my early 2014 post (which I do appreciate, but my circumstances have changed significantly since then):

 

- ended up getting a secured Cap One credit card with a very low annual fee

- for some reason (possibly cleaning up my credit, or just being diligent with paying my bills on time and being a good, careful consumer) about 6 or so months after getting the secured Cap One card, Cap One offered to let me upgrade to a non-secured no-annual-fee premium card with a higher credit limit, which I took

- also more recently got a business card from Cap One (for my LLC) with a pretty high credit limit (no annual fee and unsecured) and they report this to the business credit reporting agencies and the consumer credit reporting agencies (so it helps with my credit score as well)

- also had a card provided to me by a family member that I was able to get added to my credit report which helped me as well (Gold Amex)

- through the above and just being diligent and cognizant, my credit scores are now in the mid to high 700's

 

While I still have the negative mark on my credit report for the BK, after almost 3 years I think I've done a good job of rehabilitating my credit - hope this info can be useful for others!  And thanks to all who posted on here with advice/suggestions.

Message 23 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Rebuilding credit after Chapter 7 bankruptcy


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm wanting to use this formula after my ch 7 discharges. Credit 1 was included in my bankruptcy will this still work for me?


You don't need to go Credit One, there are better alternatives to those predators.

Message 24 of 24
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