Bankruptcy Filed 2 years ago

[mvanz9999]

Hello all!

I filed a Chpt. 7 two years ago and really haven't done any credit rebuilding. It's also not really been much of an issue.

I do have a car loan and student loan outstanding (both paid on time for the lives of the loans).

My question is...."Now what"? I'm sure I'll eventually want or need credit. The car won't last my lifetime (at least I hope not!)

I am not interested in getting caught up in either cards that cost a fortune in start-up fees, or in tying up hundreds of my precious dollars in a secured card (see below). So that leaves me confused.

I've heard that Capital One, Orchard, HSBC, etc all suck. I have enough to do as it is without fighting conglomerates. In addition, I tried applying for a Juniper card (denied - not enough consumer accounts) and Target Visa (waiting to hear).

The reason I hesitate to get a secured card is that I am returning to graduate school in January '08 and simply cannot afford to tie lots of money up. I'm terrified that my BK will prevent me from getting enough in loans - but only time will tell.

Finally, I have attended some BK crapinars that attempted to sell me costly Bankruptcy recovery kits/books/CD's, and other useless junk.

Been there, done that. So now I need to start re-establishing credit without paying costly fees or tying up large amounts of money. When you become a grad student, $300.00 is a lot of money.

Anyone have advice on what to do now, or do I just wait until after grad school?

Regards to all!

[JollyGG]

Well first thing first - you need to check out your credit report. http://www.annualcreditreport.com/
Get a free copy of your credit report and check to see that everything you included in bankruptcy is listed that way. It should say IIB (included in bankrupcy) and show a $0 balance. Your car and you student loan will hopefully be showing your payment history.

Once everything is cleared up start looking at the preapproved offers in your mailbox. Choose a few with no (or low) fees and start applying. Pay your balance in full every month and you won't end up "fighting conglomerates".

[mvanz9999]

I have my credit reports. They are accurate. I forgot to mention....

I have a past due for $98.00 (past due 120 days) for 2 years. I haven't paid this off or done anything with it.

The reason being that most advice says that paying it off does not affect FICO scores, since it stays on there (120 days past due) whether you pay it off or not.

So, do I pay this off right now, or wait another 5 years for it to fall off? The advice is conflicting.....

(That should have been included in my bankruptcy, but my attorney did not put this in, and I'm not paying $120.00 to have this added, when it's only $98)

[lrprn]

(That should have been included in my bankruptcy, but my attorney did not put this in, and I'm not paying $120.00 to have this added, when it's only $98)

Since you filed under the old bankruptcy law, you're in luck. Under the old law, if what you owe a creditor would have been discharged if it had been included in your bankruptcy two years ago, in most bankruptcy districts it's considered discharged even though it wasn't included.

Send the letter with a copy of your bankruptcy discharge included registered return receipt. Chances are the creditor will remove the $120.00 overdue from your credit report and change it to IIB. You have nothing to lose but a little postage and everything to gain

[mvanz9999]

I see....do I say "this charge should have been included in bankrupcty" or "....was included"?

Do I send this to the creditor (NOT the 3 bureaus)?

Is there any other wording I should use?

I'll post an update if/when this changes.

[mvanz9999]

Worked!

Hey, lrprn:

That WORKED. I've gotten letters from credit bureaus that state my credit report has been modified to report this overdue balance as IIB!

Thank you so much!

[lrprn]

That WORKED. I've gotten letters from credit bureaus that state my credit report has been modified to report this overdue balance as IIB!

Excellent news, mvanz! Glad the fix was so easy for you!