Why It Never Hurts To Ask

[yoyoma51]

Next month my wife and I are traveling. We need to rent a car at our destination but have no credit card. Our Ch. 7 bankruptcy was just discharged on 2/29/08.

I started looking online at the secured cards, wondering if I could have it in time for our trip (April 12). Is starting filling out an application then stopped. I thought "I should just stop at our credit union and tell them the situation."

It never hurts to ask, right?

We joined this credit union in October, just before we BK'd our old credit union of 10 years.

I sat down with a personal banker and told her about our BK. She pulled our credit scores. Mine was 512, my wife's 587.

She explained that we would not be approved for their credit card, but she would call underwriting, explain the situation (BK, etc.) to them and call me tomorrow.

She called me back 45 minutes later to tell me that they would give me a card with a limit equal to whatever I deposited into a 12 month CD. 8.99% interest, no annual fees or any other fees.

Tomorrow I am going to move $1000 into a CD and order my card.

That is why it never hurts to ask.

[cali girl]

WOW! That's great news. CU's are always so understanding with their members. Awesome!!!

I am cut from the same cloth, where I also believe it never hurts to ask. If you don't give it a shot, you never know what you may have missed out on!

[arkienurse]

WOW! That's great news. CU's are always so understanding with their members. Awesome!!!

I am sorry, this line just made me want to laugh. Several members here would vehemently disagree with this statement. Here is one very memorable thread:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=15394&highlight=chapter+13+credit+union

[epiphany]

I am sorry, this line just made me want to laugh. Several members here would vehemently disagree with this statement. Here is one very memorable thread:
http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...3+credit+union

Yeah, I almost said something but I figured if you don't have anything nice to say..........

My CU was sending me nasty letters when I was keeping them just short of 30 days late....the later I get the less I hear from them. In fact, I have not heard anything at all lately. I'm waiting for them to pounce!

Oh, and way to go YOYO! It pays to speak up and not bury your head in the sand. Your success is inspiring.

ep

[yoyoma51]

I was very surprised when they agreed to help us out.

Obviously, not all credit unions black-list you.

After reading some of the threads here, I assumed there would be no way they would help us. Especially since we BK'd another local credit union for $10k.

The personal banker said "We'll find a way"...and they did.

Once again, the moral of the story is you can't assume all credit unions are bad.

[krielly]

True, they aren't all bad.
The CU we had been with for years pulled the cross collateralization thing with us.......long story.

Anyhow, it was another CU that approved a vehicle loan for us back in November, even though we are in an open Chapt 13 (yes, we did get trustee approval). They were the only ones who would. No one else would touch us in a 13 without a discharge. All things considered, 12.25% didn't seem like too bad a rate considering we are in an open 13. No, it's not great, but I've seen worse rates AFTER discharge.

K

[Boscoe]

CU's are great if you don't screw them. As long as you have never defaulted on anything, they generally will try to help.

That memorable thread was a good read. Obviously there are bad apples in the bunch that give all a potential bad name.

[ann1073]

I am sorry, this line just made me want to laugh. Several members here would vehemently disagree with this statement. Here is one very memorable thread:
http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...3+credit+union

Okay, I just read the thread and I'm dying to know - what happened??????

ann

[arkienurse]

Okay, I just read the thread and I'm dying to know - what happened??????

ann

If you read through to the end- this person completed a 5 yr ch13, only to have their car repoed when they asked for the title after bk discharged. In the end, they ended up winning over the CU, as this is a big no no. I was glued to my computer the whole time this was going on

[yoyoma51]

OK, so now an update.

My wife and I went in to the credit union to sign the paperwork for the credit card. It was a one page, very short statement stating we offered the $1000 in the CD (paying 3.85% interest) as collateral for our new credit card.

We sign the paperwork, transfer the money and Rachel tells us we should have our new Platinum card in about a week. No annual fees, no monthly fees, 8.99%, etc. Same card as everyone else receives and it reports to all three CRAs.

THEN, she tells us that if anything comes up and we need a loan for our cars (we have 2 newer and paid for cars, and she asked about our cars when I applied for the credit card), to just let her know and she can arrange that also at the same rates as everyone else.

Just to be funny, I reminded her that my credit score is 512...and my wifes is 587. She said she knew and the credit union is there to help us....

They looked at our credit reports...do they not see just BK'd a credit union about three miles away for $10k?

Anyway, that brings me to my final thought.

My wife and I were talking this weekend. We both agreed we wish we would have BK'd earlier and are amazed that the whole thing has had very little negative consequences so far (at least for us). We can't believe how easy for us to get new credit (at reasonable terms, too).

For those out there struggling rebuilding their credit after BK, there IS HOPE! Find a credit union or bank that will listen!

[PaKettle]

Thanks for this info, yoyoma51.
I have a very similar situation: one cu I filed against for $7k and the other one across town I owed nothing to and seldom used their card, ever. So I wonder if they MIGHT give me a credit line even without a deposit? Like you say, it doesn't hurt to ask.

I feel embarrassed to call and ask them - hate to admit I filed bk - but I guess it might be worth doing, so I'll do it. Worst case scenario - (or perhaps best case scenario!) - they might do what they did for you. I could put $1000 from our tax return into a cd if they'd be willing to give us a secured card and report to the credit unions.

So thanks for the idea - I'll report back here when I get an answer!

[ann1073]

If you read through to the end- this person completed a 5 yr ch13, only to have their car repoed when they asked for the title after bk discharged. In the end, they ended up winning over the CU, as this is a big no no. I was glued to my computer the whole time this was going on

Thanks, arkienurse - after they won did they get the title and the car back so they could sell it? did the cu get fined? this one was better than a soap opera!!