Kohl's charge

[EdytaHome]

Quick question?
I had a Kohl's credit card which only had a $250 balance on it. I paid it off before filing BK and in my scheduales it was listed as one of the things I wanted to "keep" (along with a travel trailer which I now will be surrendering). Anyway, I want to keep this credit card open in order to use it for rebuilding credit. Do I have to reafirm on it? If it doesn't have a balance and has always been in good standing for the past 3 years, how do I go about keeping this credit card.
Thanks in advance.
My bk will be final mid April or early May so I think I still have time.

[HHM]

You should be fine. Creditors don't automatically close accounts because you file BK, If there was a zero balance on the card when you filed, then nothing was discharged, hence, there is nothing to reaffirm. Odds are, the account will be open and usable after discharge.

However, there is no way, through the BK process to force them to keep the account open. Incidently, why keep only a "store" card open. They have unimaginable interest rates with little benefits.

[EdytaHome]

Thanks, I'll give Kohl's a call to see if they'll keep my account open.
The only other 3 credit cards I had were, 2 visa's and a MC, each of them had a balance of over $5,000. I need to get these cards discharged. As I understand, after they are discharged I will no longer owe anything. If I choose to keep one of them than I will have to pay a portion of the debt. Is this correct. I don't want to do that of course!

[HHM]

That is not necessarily true. It depends on the internal policy of the credit issuer. Sometimes they will offer reaffirmations with the incentive that they will keep your account open. Sometimes, if the amount discharged is small, they will just leave the account open without any reaffirmation.

However, if after discharge, you attempt to use the card, and it works, then your account is open, and yes, any prior debt is still discharged.

[EdytaHome]

Great info, Thanks!

[EdytaHome]

Will I be able to tell if an account is open or not by looking at my credit report post BK?

[HHM]

Probably, when an account is closed, most creditors will make an entry that the account is closed.

[EdytaHome]

Called Kohls after my discharge papers came in and the account is still open and OK to use! I plan to use Kohls and my student loans to rebuild credit for a while until we get some good offers in the mail.
This should be enough to rebuild credit right now, shouldn't it?
By the way, should I put my husband on my Kohls account as well, he has student loans too but is not on my Kohls account and he has no other CCs.

[robivi3]

Edny, if you carry more than half of your available balance it will lower your score significantly. If you keep it under 40% and pay on time over time it will help your score. Personally, I have one Visa with a $2500.00 limit and that will be enough, hopefully forever.