new wife, new life... can I use her credit to build mine?

[ljfromnj]

divorced, 4.5 months post BK - Chapter 7...

received car loan for used car $17,000, no money down...

denied credit union credit card - $5000 requested limit

authorized user on father's credit card which is used for work ($3000/month paid in full monthly)...

mortgage company started foreclosure, then stay issued just prior to filing foreclosure, they fought stay and won.... discharged in Chapter 7 foreclosure 4 months ago, am sitting on a zombie home and bank has not started foreclosure yet...

need to re-establish credit...

firstly, amex credit card was included in discharge... if my company guarantees credit, will AMEX approve a charge card?

secondly, I have since gotten remarried... wife's credit is poor - no bankruptcy however... Do you think I will have any success in getting her credit card company to put me on as a joint holder to her account in order to rebuild credit? my only debts is a $17,000 car loan... $100k+ salary - no other debt...

my theory on this is that creditors of all types LOVE having more than one person on the account to help minimize their risk... while I do have a Chapter 7, I also have a high level of income with no debt and by adding me to her accounts I woul strengthen the banks position... do you think this will work?

look forward to responses!

[ljfromnj]

TTT... bumping to the top in hopes for some feedback!

[jadams]

You *definitely* won't get any personal or small business products. They do blacklist, so you'd have to pay what was discharged to even be considered. A shame since I liked my Amex.

A real corporate card -- i.e. a very large corporation, might be ok. Just be clear that business does not equal corporate. Many business cards are just personal cards in sheep's clothing.

I've read of some people getting their corporate cards closed or being denied when the company does the application. But I've read just as many people who had no problem. If that's what you want, hopefully it works for you.

If your wife's credit is poor, are you realistically going to get any advantage when you add yourself to her accounts? What you're looking for is an account with a high limit, great payment history, and very low usage. If her account has high utilization and/or some late payments -- it won't help.

I would try the HSBC/Orchard/Household bank pre-screener to see if they'll qualify you for a card. Or, it sounds like you should be able to swing a secured card. A $5000 secured credit card from a local credit union would probably help more than most other things you can do. Even $500 or $1000 would be good.

Put a few very small charges on the card to keep the utilization low (like a NetFlix membership or something) and pay in full. After 6 months, pull your scores again and try some new unsecured options.

But first of all, I would suggest pulling all your reports to make sure your accounts are reporting $0 balance and included in bankruptcy. If not, send in disputes.

[ljfromnj]

thank you, JA... the Amex would be a corporate card, guaranteed by the company by which I am employed... who knows what will happen there...

I appreciate your comments... yes, my wife has poor re-payment history as of late... I am mostly interested in rebuilding both our credit in the hopes of getting a mortgage in two years if possible...