Recommended Credit Cards

[StaciMM]

Highhopes-
Orchard reports at the end of the month, after the card has been open for a full month. So if you open the account in the middle of December, it will report at the end of January. Depending on the bureau, it will take between a few days or a few weeks to show on all your reports. (My experience is that TU is the slowest.)

For a mortgage, 2 years is required for FHA. It can be done in less w/ sub prime lenders-if you are agressive at cleaning up your reports, and getting your score up. I am already working with someone, and expect to do financing in August. My goal is to be above 640 mid score at that time, though a 620 will suffice. (Obviously, better scores result in lower rates.) If rates were to stay the same, I'd be looking at a rate around 6.5%.

A credit score is a useful thing, but my efforts to rebuild credit are in no way an effort to rebuild debt.

[bkfiler]

staci, what do you know about FHA for 2 years stuff. i was aking you about that earlier. do you know know something new?

i heard that if you have no lates and can show payments for 2 years after bk then you can get a prime home loan regardless of scores. is this true? is it through FHA? is it guaranteed?

i havnt seen anything published on this yet.

[StaciMM]

For FHA, I understand there has to be nothing derogatory within 2 years of applying, and that credit score isn't necessarily an issue. The requirements (home inspections, etc.) may be more complicated.

For FHA, you may be able to get payment history on utilities, etc. to help w/ tradeline requirements.

I don't plan to wait that long. We're in our house now, leasing it, and I'd rather get the mortgage in my name sooner if possible. And, everything that I've found says sooner is not an unrealistic expectation. Besides, there is no guarantee that rates won't be higher on average in a year or 2...

[bkfiler]

prices might be going down now too. or are you paying rent to own already on a set price. something to consider.

[StaciMM]

We're all set-as long as the person we're buying from doesn't get tired of waiting!

We agreed more than 3 years ago on a price, and when the appraisal was done, turned out our price was below by a decent amount.

[jeffstrikesback]

HSBC - also Best Buy?

OK,

My discharge date will be in two weeks (the 28th). I have received a notice for a pre-screened offer from HSBC (says FINAL NOTICE - CREDIT PROBLEMS IN THE PAST ARE JUST THAT - THE PAST).

They are offering me a $300 limit with no fees except $69.00 annual fee. Should I wait until discharge or is this an acceptable offer. BTW - I had a $2000 balance with Best Buy who I believe is with HSBC - Household Bank.

Also, is there a way to know if there would be a reaffirm contingency on any of these offers I have or will be receiving? Thanks in advance for a reply.

Jeff.

[bkfiler]

my first offer was from orchard for a pre-approved at $39 annual fee and no monthly fees.

you can keep that one and always use it later if you had to imo. i bet they would take you any time. from what i hear 2 months after discharge is when the offers start coming in more and more. probably gives them time to get the discharge reported and get the card offers printed and in the mail.

[robivi3]

Still stringing along with Aspire Visa. Limit is now $2000.00. Yearly fee $50.00 plus that 6.95 per month. But it has helped my credit reports as they report to all three. They have dropped the fee for online payments to zero. No problems whatsoever so far. My regular Visa still has the same 2500.00 limit as aleways. Interest still 12%.

[highhopes]

Well, I don't think Orchard will be offering me a dime, I included them in my BK, along with union plus card. But to my suprise Chevron sent me a letter saying after my bk has cleared that its possible to get an account with them again.

[StaciMM]

I BK'd on Household-who is the parent company to Orchard. They gave me a card...

Well, I don't think Orchard will be offering me a dime, I included them in my BK, along with union plus card. But to my suprise Chevron sent me a letter saying after my bk has cleared that its possible to get an account with them again.

[jeffstrikesback]

Household Bank - approved

OK,

I got approved with Household bank, actually got $500 limit, more than the $300 they had on offer with a $39 annual fee (39/12 months = $3.25/month) - still not bad!

My next account I was interested in is a Sears Card. Has anyone had any luck???? They are part of Citibank and I had a Sears MC and Citibank Visa included in bankruptcy.

I have read that certain banks are more bankruptcy friendly - anyone heard of that also? Thanks!

[highhopes]

Citibank is notoriuos for blacklisting folks, some people have been known to slip between the cracks.

[StaciMM]

Citi is known for being anti-BK, and the fact that you BK'ed on Citi puts another strike against you. For a store card, I'd suggest Target.

[nk29]

I filed Ch 13 on August 30, 2005, and was just approved for my first CC, an HSBC Mastercard! It's only a $300 limit, before I was used to nothing less than $5,000, but hey you have to start somewhere, right? Plus I have to get it in my mind that I don't want those high limits anymore, that's what got me here in the first place and I am so scared of CC's that I really don't even want them. I only applied because I know it will help my credit.

I've also been really successful in cleaning up my credit report, just by disputing incorrect information I raised my Experian score 47 points in a couple of weeks! Now if I could just get Trans Union to get their act together, I've disputed with them 2 times on one of my accounts that they are showing with late payments, I was never late and the creditor has emailed me that the credit bureaus have been notified. But when TU sends me the results of my dispute, they say the info was verified as correct, which makes no sense because Experian has it perfectly right. I know the creditor is not providing different info to the 3 bureaus, Trans Union is just messed up! Hopefully it gets cleared up in the next couple of months since they say corrections can take 30-60 days or so. It just sucks because I got a pre-selected offer from Providian for their card, and I am waiting to hear a response, but I bet I don't get it because they pulled my report from Trans Union.

[baybreeze]

Capital One

Hi,

Has anyone received any pre-approved, unsecured credit card offers from Capitol One? I seem to be getting one every other day.

My discharge was in Aug '03 but i have not tried to apply for any credit cards yet. I figured I would just give it some time before I tried.

Ive gotten plenty of these solicitions from other companys that have these outrageous fees, interest rates, application fees, yearly fees, etc....but I wont even bother with them

This Capitol One offer is unsecured with a line from $500 to $5000, with a 16.9% variable rate.

My question is...has anyone rec'd an offer like this, applied for it..and then got denied anyway?

I recently got my Fico score & reports from all 3 agencies and saw the tons of inquiries from various card companies checking my credit reports. Capitol One's inquiries were very numerous. So they must have some idea of my creditworthiness already....