My understanding was that the better secured cards i.e. Bank of America wouldn't approve you with a recent bankruptcy. Also, what's the chance of someone who just had to declare bankruptcy having as significant amount of money to put down on a secured card? I'd guess between slim and none, our they wouldn't have had to declare bankruptcy.
@northface28: I've never had to declare bankruptcy, so I've never needed to look into who might approve a fresh out of bankruptcy person, but I assume it's no one the average person would want to do business with. I know several people who have made credit mistakes in the past, and a few don't even have the money to put down on a secured card, not even $300 or $500. And when this person did apply for a secured card with bank of America, they were turned down multiple times. So I always assumed it would be difficult to rebuild after bankruptcy, since this person didn't even go bankrupt (they just have collections). Didn't mean to offend you if I did.
I've kept this thread here because it related to credit card usage. If it begins to spin into a bk what, why and how it will be moved.
Just a warning. 
@Anonymous wrote:
@chwebb1 wrote:
@northface28: I've never had to declare bankruptcy, so I've never needed to look into who might approve a fresh out of bankruptcy person, but I assume it's no one the average person would want to do business with. I know several people who have made credit mistakes in the past, and a few don't even have the money to put down on a secured card, not even $300 or $500. And when this person did apply for a secured card with bank of America, they were turned down multiple times. So I always assumed it would be difficult to rebuild after bankruptcy, since this person didn't even go bankrupt (they just have collections). Didn't mean to offend you if I did.You know what they say about assuming? It seems that every point made in this thread about BK comes from hear say and "I know a person/people" or "a friend once told me" type statements? I've never declared bankruptcy but I know who it felt to be broke and not care about debts and/or credit score.
chwebb, what you are describing is an individual who doesn't care about their finances and spends recklessly. Since I've cleaned up my credit, the veil has been lifted. And the only things family, friends and associates hear is me preaching the gospel of good credit. A person who doesn't have the $300 to $500 to rebuild their credit is generally the same person who can find all kinds of money to buy worthless goods such as concert tickets, nights out on the town and fad clothing (sneakers and jeans). See the post on "From hood credit to Good credit".
People who declare BK generally just got over their heads and need a life line to reboot whereas, what you are describing, is an individual who is apathetic about their credit from the start. So you may see that person recover more quickly and the credit card companies are willing to help them reestablish their credit lives. Note: someone just said that he/she has purchased his/her fourth car since BK discharge. He/She obviously isn't broke, and lenders know this. Even if they had to go with Credit One, First Premier or some other secured card, this person has the income and means to add deposits up to the max of what the lender will allow to make this card a little less "useless".
Yeah, the more I think about what you said, I think you're right. I've tried to help out this person by lending them a little bit of money (which hasn't been repaid yet, and that was months ago for a few hundred dollars), and they still seem to make the same financial mistakes over and over again. But I think that with them, I need to just give up that battle until they're ready to change their habits. Thanks for opening my eyes to that!