What to do next? Need to rebuild again

[6speed]

Back to start on the rebuild for me. Again.

Long story short, about 5 years ago I cleaned up my credit, had lots of prime cards, was making a bunch of money, etc. 3 years ago, I was laid off. I let *a lot* of stuff go - tons of cards, a car, checking accounts... keeping a roof over my head was more important. I got a job that allowed me to survive, but not enough to fix the mess and too much to file Ch. 7. Everything I did manage to maintain was obliterated a few months ago when I again found myself jobless, thanks to COVID. I was all set to file Ch. 7 when a few weeks ago, a Hail Mary pass I threw pre-COVID actually paid off - I again was offered a position that paid very well. Needless to say, I quickly accepted it.

This isn't so much a sob story as it is a "what the hell do I do now?" inquiry. I'd assumed all would be liquidated with a Chapter 7, that I ironically couldn't file when the courts were all closed, and now there's no way I will qualify to file. I've burned many of the lenders for secured cards in the past few years - Discover, BofA, Citi, Cap1, NFCU - pretty much all Tier 1 lenders except Amex and Chase. All of those were unsecured when the ship went down and understandably I will not be apping to any of them anytime soon.

So here's what I *have* done so far:

1) opened a Self loan to have a positive TL reporting, and will be taking their Visa offer in a few months to have at least a temporary secured card. I've been denied by US Bank for a secured card due to debt:income from the COs and collections, and Cap1 due to two COs. I assume most others will say similar things until I clean this up a bit.

2) I made a PFD deal with Portfolio Recovery for half on 2 Cap1 cards and a Paypal credit/Comenity collection, about $9k out of pocket in total. Haven't contacted any other agency for my other half dozen smaller collections yet.

So! What would you do/where would you go to start rebuilding if you'd burned practically every bank and had a crapload of collections?  I really don't know where to go from here, but I'd like to avoid the OpenSky and First Premier type cards if I can; the fees are exceptionally offputting. My goal is to have 3 unsecured, permanent TLs so I can get a mortgage in a few years; I don't ever want to have 6+ figures of open credit again. This entire process was exhausting enough the first time, and now without so many of the default options available to me, is likely to be even more difficult now.

Thanks in advance to any and all who help on this one. It's overwhelming to say the least, but I'm happy I can at least start to rebuild.

[Anonymous]

It's credit union time...

Most SSLs would work better than Self loan, IME. Could try opening a couple SSLs and secured cards with CUs to build that relationship/internal scoring, maybe look to them for more products like mortgage in the future, too.

Secured CU cards would also be better than Self Visa.

Cap1 may let you back in even if you burn them 2x, but CUs will probably do you better than them for your goals of less unsecured credit and more rebuild.

Build up a good savings too

[6speed]

CUs are a good point, @Anonymous. Any in particular you'd recommend? I was looking at DCU's secured card. My employer's CU also offers one, but their physical branches aren't open for a few more weeks. While not a CU, I also have access to USAA, who I did not burn, but it would appear their secured cards are gone (for good?).

[Anonymous]

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@6speed wrote:

CUs are a good point, @Anonymous. Any in particular you'd recommend? I was looking at DCU's secured card. My employer's CU also offers one, but their physical branches aren't open for a few more weeks. While not a CU, I also have access to USAA, who I did not burn, but it would appear their secured cards are gone (for good?).

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I will have to say you mentione DTI issues with US Bank. In my experience, CUs are *heavily* DTI dependent. I couldnt get approved for a secured card or a secured loan for the minimum $300! The COs and CAs they calculated into monthly payments. It was ridiculous, they couldn't calculate less than $25/mo, so even the tiniest CA for $105 they counted as a $25/mo obligation. Super annoying...

Not trying to rain on your parade with CUs, just something to consider.

Did you try TD bank (not sure if they are geofenced or not)? They have a nice secured CC with CB, even. It also cangraduate to an unsecured card, I believe.

Remember, worst case scenario there are others, like Open sky or Merrick. You just want to start somewhere, even if it isn't with the "big banks", as you will want the positive reporting history to start building in your CRs.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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@6speed wrote:

CUs are a good point, @Anonymous. Any in particular you'd recommend? I was looking at DCU's secured card. My employer's CU also offers one, but their physical branches aren't open for a few more weeks. While not a CU, I also have access to USAA, who I did not burn, but it would appear their secured cards are gone (for good?).

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I'd start local, the ones with larger holdings are better IMO. Your employer CU and DCU could be good.

I don't think there's any harm in shotgunning a handful of new CU accounts, especially SSLs and secured cards; I've found many CUs have different lending standards, so going for a bunch on secured products and new accounts could yield some positive results.

By different lending standards I mean things like DTI, derogs, etc.

I think USAA does selected pre-qual so you could wait around for an offer to come around later while you rebuild.

I'm sure others have some good suggestions on CU, but local would be good for convenience at the least.

Many of us non-locals in a certain small FCU had to do over-the-top ID and IV to get in. At my local CU, I didn't have to do either : )

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@6speed wrote:

CUs are a good point, @Anonymous. Any in particular you'd recommend? I was looking at DCU's secured card. My employer's CU also offers one, but their physical branches aren't open for a few more weeks. While not a CU, I also have access to USAA, who I did not burn, but it would appear their secured cards are gone (for good?).

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I'd start local, the ones with larger holdings are better IMO. Your employer CU and DCU could be good.

I don't think there's any harm in shotgunning a handful of new CU accounts, especially SSLs and secured cards; I've found many CUs have different lending standards, so going for a bunch on secured products and new accounts could yield some positive results.

By different lending standards I mean things like DTI, derogs, etc.

I think USAA does selected pre-qual so you could wait around for an offer to come around later while you rebuild.

I'm sure others have some good suggestions on CU, but local would be good for convenience at the least.

Many of us non-locals in a certain small FCU had to do over-the-top ID and IV to get in. At my local CU, I didn't have to do either : )

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That is why I said "in my experience". Even local CUs I had been woth over a decade was the same. YMMV, as always.

[6speed]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@6speed wrote:

CUs are a good point, @Anonymous. Any in particular you'd recommend? I was looking at DCU's secured card. My employer's CU also offers one, but their physical branches aren't open for a few more weeks. While not a CU, I also have access to USAA, who I did not burn, but it would appear their secured cards are gone (for good?).

---

I'd start local, the ones with larger holdings are better IMO. Your employer CU and DCU could be good.

I don't think there's any harm in shotgunning a handful of new CU accounts, especially SSLs and secured cards; I've found many CUs have different lending standards, so going for a bunch on secured products and new accounts could yield some positive results.

By different lending standards I mean things like DTI, derogs, etc.

I think USAA does selected pre-qual so you could wait around for an offer to come around later while you rebuild.

I'm sure others have some good suggestions on CU, but local would be good for convenience at the least.

Many of us non-locals in a certain small FCU had to do over-the-top ID and IV to get in. At my local CU, I didn't have to do either : )

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That is why I said "in my experience". Even local CUs I had been woth over a decade was the same. YMMV, as always.

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Noted, thank you both! I've got enough to play with right now that I can try for a SSL and secured card at my employer's CU. If I get declined for them, I'll take that as a sign for now and dump it all into collections until the debt:income is less disastrous.

Re: collections, though - in particular BofA. When I login to online banking, it still shows my (charged off) account and shows the collection agency that bought it, but then prompts me to make a payment. If I pay BofA in full, on their website, would you think I'd be paying the original creditor or the CA? If it's going to the CA, unless it's PFD, paying in full is a waste in my opinion. If it goes directly to BofA, I'll PIF.