Cap one told me no

[Pepsibottle1]

I received my discharge for my Chapter 7 on the 17th and pre-applied for a Cap One card today to begin rebuilding. Prior to filing, I was a user on my wife's card and we had excellent, on time, 100% paid in full status with them for 6 mos prior to filing.

They told the both of us no, and that sucks because we were banking on getting another card based on our good history with them. I burned discover in the bankruptcy. We were planning on going to Navy Fed and applying for secured cards. I have money in the bank there to put down towards a deposit and Dec marks a year that I've been banking with them. (my wife has been there for years before we were married)

Please advise

[shipo]

A Secured Card is a good way to go; I applied at CapitalOne shortly after my Discharge and promptly got denied; I applied again a month later and got approved. Here's the wrinkle with the CapOne Secured card; the max credit limit you can obtain with a deposit of $849 is only $1,000; nowhere near enough to be even remotely useful for my normal monthly spending habits. I tried paying it off once per week so I could keep using it, but apparently that triggers some sort of an Anti-Money Laundering protocol which in turn means they put a hold on the funds you paid for 12 days (meaning even though the card is paid off, you can't use it). After two months I paid the card off and closed it.

My next step was to research banks which have Secured Credit Cards which allow for much higher credit limit possibilities. I found three good options, Bank of America (my then current bank) with a max deposit/limit of $5,000, Wells Fargo with a max deposit/limit of $10,000, and TD Bank with the same limits of BofA.

My BofA experience: I applied at BofA and they also declined me because of the Chapter 13; I'd been banking with them for eight years by then and moved a fair amount of money through the accounts and was stunned with I got the denial. I appealed, and got denied a second time. I then wrote the CEO and made suggested they were going to lose my business. After two weeks without a response, I closed all of my accounts.

Wells Fargo: I decided to make them my third option as there are exactly zero branches in my region of the country.

TD Bank: Lots of branches in my region, and best of all, there was no issue opening a Secured Credit Card with a $5,000 limit. I anticipate they will unsecure the card in February and free up the "locked" savings account with my security deposit in it.

[May2014]

Absolutely get a secured card! Shop around, some have lesser deposit amounts required or lesser annual fees. After a few months if you do it right, you should be able to qualify for a small-limit unsecured card. Rule of thumb...use the card for no more than 30% of balance and pay it off.

[justbroke]

I started nearly the same as shipo only I went straight for the $5,000 FNBO American Express Secured card. It's still in my wallet. I travel for work, so it was my lifeline. It had enough elbow room to travel 2-3 weeks which was plenty of time to be reimbursed and to pay down the bill.

[shipo]

Absolutely get a secured card! Shop around, some have lesser deposit amounts required or lesser annual fees. After a few months if you do it right, you should be able to qualify for a small-limit unsecured card. Rule of thumb...use the card for no more than 30% of balance and pay it off.

One thing I would add to your comments is, in the case of the three banks I listed above which offer Secured Credit Cards, once you fulfill the "good behavior" requirements (which typically range from five to seven months of usage coupled with a stellar payment history), they refund or release your security deposit and you end up with a secured card in the same amount as you originally secured. Said another way, I am over five months into using my TD Cash Credit Card which has A) a $5,000 deposit kept in an interesting bearing locked savings account, and B) an identical limit of $5,000; come February of 2021 the savings account will be unlocked and I will end up with an Unsecured Credit Card with that same limit of $5,000.

[Layla55]

I think it’s just to soon. It’s been almost a year since my discharge and my husband got approved for capital one so I tried and was denied . He added me as a authorized user. I’ve noticed positive activity all of a sudden. I’ve got increases in credit lines without asking . The first year of filing its hard to get much more then a department store card. But hey, it’s a start .

[shipo]

I think it’s just to soon. It’s been almost a year since my discharge and my husband got approved for capital one so I tried and was denied . He added me as a authorized user. I’ve noticed positive activity all of a sudden. I’ve got increases in credit lines without asking . The first year of filing its hard to get much more then a department store card. But hey, it’s a start .

Agreed, the point many of us are trying to make is, there are some credit card issuers willing to grant Secured Credit Cards with reasonably high limits as soon as 4-weeks post-discharge. Obtaining a Secured Credit Card, in addition to providing you the flexibility and benefits of having a card for things like car rentals and rewards, having one effectively jump starts your road back to a good credit rating.

My thinking is this, if one cannot afford to tie up some money in the form of a security deposit for roughly six months, then having a credit card of any type is probably not a good idea. However, if you have the liquidity to tie up that chunk of money to secure a credit card, then it is a fair bet you will be financially capable of managing having a credit card without abusing it.

[Pepsibottle1]

I screwed up



So my wife got 2 of the letters in the mail with the pre approval codes. Ran hers, yeah looks good they're gonna get in touch in 7-10 days. Figure it's the new address we're moving into but looks like she got it.



I tried for a card too since I was on a roll. Denied. Hard inquiries on both of us



I'll do what we did last time and roll with her card, and have me on as a user? That seemed to help me



Waiting to get paid and have a subsequent off day so that we can both go to Navy and try there

[shipo]

Pepsibottle1, then I take it you have no desire to try a Secured Credit Card; yes, no?

[Pepsibottle1]

Pepsibottle1, then I take it you have no desire to try a Secured Credit Card; yes, no?

I do when I have enough capital built up to go into the branch and try. I'm just afraid they're gonna tell me the same thing Cap did - too many inquiries.

Effing dealer shot gunned me when I traded my wife's car in

[shipo]

Pepsibottle1, you should easily be able to obtain a Secured Credit Card today.

[joshuagraham]

I received my discharge for my Chapter 7 on the 17th and pre-applied for a Cap One card today to begin rebuilding. Prior to filing, I was a user on my wife's card and we had excellent, on time, 100% paid in full status with them for 6 mos prior to filing.

They told the both of us no, and that sucks because we were banking on getting another card based on our good history with them. I burned discover in the bankruptcy. We were planning on going to Navy Fed and applying for secured cards. I have money in the bank there to put down towards a deposit and Dec marks a year that I've been banking with them. (my wife has been there for years before we were married)

Please advise

Cap 1 is strange. They are generally very interested in extending credit to the newly discharged, with an annual fee of course. And they have been begging me for years to take out a new car loan.

[joshuagraham]

Effing dealer shot gunned me when I traded my wife's car in

What do you exactly mean?

[shipo]

Cap 1 is strange. They are generally very interested in extending credit to the newly discharged, with an annual fee of course. And they have been begging me for years to take out a new car loan.

I've gotten two credit cards from CapitalOne since my discharge earlier this year, and neither was attached to any fees, initiation, annual, monthly, or otherwise.

[Pepsibottle1]

To update, since last posting my wife first was approved and now I am approved. All is well, we are going to make small purchases and pay these off in full to boost our credit score. Woohoo!