New car loan. what can I expect

[pipes]

I was discharged from my chapter 13 almost 2 years ago. It will be 7 year from filing next June, and all the bad debt that was discharged will also be off the credit report at the same time. All that will be left on credit report is good debt like house, general bills. So what kind of interest rate can I expect to get? Can I get the 0% type rates that the dealers are offering, or a 3.6% rate for a used car?

I'm just hoping something out there has been in my shoes and has had good experience.

thanks for your help,

[dspii]

Have you checked your credit with all 3 bureau's? You probably can get close to the best rate if you have been pretty stable through your C13. I was discharged last December and recieved 3.8% on a new car loan....not bad I thought....almost free money!

I learned on this forum that typically there is a car loan FICO score most lenders use for cars. I was shocked, but is is correct. Test the waters, you may not need to wait.

[backtoschool]

I agree with dspii that you will most likely get a good rate if you have a clean credit report and a stable job history. If you have a history of paying auto loans in full with no lates and no repos you will get an even better rate. I am only 10 months post discharge on a chapter 7 and I got 4.42% and this must be because of my auto payment history, which is perfect, even with the chapter 7. I think you will get a good rate. Not sure about the 0%, but you probably could get a rate in the low single digits.

[Flamingo]

I was discharged from my chapter 13 almost 2 years ago. It will be 7 year from filing next June, and all the bad debt that was discharged will also be off the credit report at the same time. All that will be left on credit report is good debt like house, general bills. So what kind of interest rate can I expect to get? Can I get the 0% type rates that the dealers are offering, or a 3.6% rate for a used car?

I'm just hoping something out there has been in my shoes and has had good experience.

thanks for your help,

Our Chapter 13 came off 4/09. What we did was wait until the end of May 2009 and obtained all three credit reports. The BK was totally off and there was very little to change. What may hurt you is that any good past credit prior to your filing may be gone and you might not be approved for lack of credit (seriously!). In your situation, what you should do is go to a dealership where you had a prior, paid in full and all payments on time car loan (i.e., Ford credit, GMAC) and that will work in your favor.

We were still in Chapter 13 in 4/06 and obtained 0% financing (were told we qualified due to our past excellent credit with two GMAC loans for the advertised, good credit rates) on a new vehicle. With our trade (paid off in our 13) with that we got an excellent deal and recently just paid off the vehicle. A Lot depends on your credit prior to your filing, how you conducted yourself during your Plan years (i.e., all plan payments and other bills paid on time), etc. But you will encounter the removal of all or most of any of your good credit accounts prior to filing...do your homework and be prepared.

[pipes]

Our credit prior to the circumstances that prompted the filing was good. Our 1 vehicle loan was paid off with chapter 13, and we haven't had any other loans to speak of since before the filing. During the chapter 13 our bills were current, but we had no credit cards and no new loans. I have took some loans from my 401k, because I didn't think we could get any loans the conventional way. That loan will be paid off next June, so that's why I'm waiting till then along with having all the negative off the credit report. So I would imagine our problem will be a lack of credit history.

How do I build it up now without buying a car now. I'm thinking what I'll do is apply for a credit card and hold a small balance and make regular payments. Any other ideas to build it up before we try for the new truck?

I did apply via lending tree a couple months back because we were thinking of seeing if we could get us a temporary vehicle. I used lending tree because I wanted to see what I could get. Lending tree came back and said they couldn't find us a loan. They didn't elaborate on why either, needless to say I didn't go to a dealer to see what they could do just to let them turn us down. I just figured it was because of the chapter 13 and all the negative debt was still on our report.

I got our credit reports and they both looked the same with the positive of mortgage and bills, and the negative of bad debt and filing. It couldn't get us a credit score either. Again i figured it was because all the bad debt and filing.

[Flamingo]

If I were you and going through all this myself with our 13, now is the time to apply for a credit card...I would suggest Orchard Bank as a first start as they are BK friendly. You will get a low initial credit limit and a yearly fee of maybe $39 or so (make sure you read EVERYTHING before applying or after getting any approval) and be as prudent as possible. Also try for a department store card like Target or Wal-Mart - both appear to be BK friendly. Buy something now and then and pay it off, or buy something and pay it off with more than minimum payments in a few months. That will get something new on your reports. However, it may not be long-term enough to help you now but the main thing to do is do NOT be late with anything (including mortgage, rent, utilities, etc., etc.) and know that time is your friend after discharge...it will all eventually go away and resolve itself...most people get too eager to jump into the credit trap again and find out they just can't do so right away as the delclines will occur. Slowly start getting some credit...you will have a nice trade-in also with your vehicle which will help you also tremendously in lowering any amount borrowed for a new vehicle. Shop around and be prudent...

[backtoschool]

I totally agree with Flamingo's excellent advice. I am concerned that you are not able to get a credit score however. There might be a fraud alert on your report, or something that is causing your reports to not be able to pull. You should have a credit score, even without any new credit post chap 13. I would go to the fico website (not sure if we can post the link here, but go to the site run by fico, not by the credit reporting agencies) and try to pull your report. You should be able to get a score. If you cannot get a score then that is definitely the reason you did not get any approvals from lending tree and you need to figure out why there is a lock on your report.

[pipes]

Its concerns me as well. I just went through mine and my wifes reports again, and there is nothing about any fraud alerts mentioned. everything listed is accurate. I will try the fico website and see how that goes.

[pipes]

Ok, I went to myfico.com to get my scores. It asked me some security info, that I answered. site told me I had to call in to verify my information. I called in and was told that they couldn't pull up my report on-line. Now I'm worried.... In June I pulled mine and my wife's credit reports and there was a home address that was wrong in California on both our reports. We've never been in California, much less lived there. I disputed it then, but never heard back. I guess I forgot about it, is that why nobody can pull up my report on-line? Today I called Experian again and disputed the addresses again, but said the dispute will be settled by November this year. Is there a phone number I can call that I can actually call and talk to a person, that can tell me why this is going on? I'm starting to freak out!

[backtoschool]

Ok, I went to myfico.com to get my scores. It asked me some security info, that I answered. site told me I had to call in to verify my information. I called in and was told that they couldn't pull up my report on-line. Now I'm worried.... In June I pulled mine and my wife's credit reports and there was a home address that was wrong in California on both our reports. We've never been in California, much less lived there. I disputed it then, but never heard back. I guess I forgot about it, is that why nobody can pull up my report on-line? Today I called Experian again and disputed the addresses again, but said the dispute will be settled by November this year. Is there a phone number I can call that I can actually call and talk to a person, that can tell me why this is going on? I'm starting to freak out!

Disputing addresses usually puts a fraud alert on your report so that nobody can pull your report. You will have to get the fraud alert removed in order to make your report pullable again. This is why you are not able to apply for anything online or get your report online. You will most likely have to do this with all three bureaus.

[pipes]

That does make sense and makes me feel a little better in that its only because of the wrong addresses. Although I will need to make sure all 3 bureaus take the incorrect address of mine and my wifes reports. so this could take till years end to get corrected.

I have the dispute listed with Experian for my report. Equifax couldn't pull up my report so I was charged $7.95 to send the report and score, then I can dispute those addresses. Will have to call Transunion tonight and do the same. There has to be an easier way!

[pipes]

Ok, Update on the situation, The incorrect addresses have been removed as of this morning. Is the possible fraud alert now removed from the credit report? How soon can I check to score again? Should I wait a week to give time to update? I also did alot of searching for information and did find a FAQ that said any change to my credit reports will be communicated to the other 2 bureaus.

[backtoschool]

Ok, Update on the situation, The incorrect addresses have been removed as of this morning. Is the possible fraud alert now removed from the credit report? How soon can I check to score again? Should I wait a week to give time to update? I also did alot of searching for information and did find a FAQ that said any change to my credit reports will be communicated to the other 2 bureaus.

You will need to proactively remove the fraud alert from all three of your reports. This will require you calling them and explaining the situation. Once that fraud alert is removed you should be able to pull your reports again without issues.

[pipes]

Another update... I have removed the incorrect addresses from the experian, and trans union reports. I'm waiting on a mailed credit report and score from Equifax (not sure why I had them mailed). once I recieve their report I will have that address removed. I did get an actual person at Trans Union to talk to me on the phone the other day, and they said even with the incorrect address that there was no alerts on my account that would of raised a red flag with getting a credit score. I really don't have any active accounts listed on the credit report other than the mortgage. Maybe that's why I couldn't get a score?? I'm going to apply for a credit card this week to get something going.

I want to be in a new truck by this time next year, so I need to get on the ball.