Capital One offers just months after discharging an account with them

[nceguyfromne]

I have been discharged for a few months and have been receiving credit card offers fairly regularly. A couple were those ridiculous $300 cards that start you with a $175 balance right out the gate but I am also now receiving offers from Capital One with no fees at all. My discharge included a small (<$2000) account with them, yet they seem perfectly happy to sign me up again. While I have no need or desire to "charge" anything going forward, I know I have to start rebuilding credit somewhere, somehow. I also know I am responsible, having had ~800 credit prior to my divorce several years ago. I have no plans to purchase a home anytime in the next several years and have a reaffirmed auto loan that will be paid off within the year with no plans to finance another vehicle for a long time.

Any thoughts? Is Capital One really on the level about wanting me back? Should I? I suppose, in their view, they might as well regain my business and start making money off me again, plus my "discharge" button is broken for the next 8 years. I figure I can use it to pump gas and pay it off each month with my "gas budget."

P.S. Yes, I am sure it is not Capital One's copycat, "Credit One." I've been receiving those, too.

[onthefence]

We BK'D about 23K with Capital One on 2 cards and both DH and I have received new credit cards with them - just 2 weeks after discharge! Hard to believe, I know! We are on the opt out list, so we never received any offers, just applied on their website. We each qualified for a card with a $19 AF, which is waived the first year. DH CL is $1000, mine is $750. Terrible interest rate (24.9% variable), but we don't plan on carrying a balance at all, so it doesn't really matter. Hopefully, with time and several on time payments, our CL's will increase (only for credit building!).

That's my story, your mileage may vary. Let us know how it turns out for you, if you decide to apply.

[Ann]

I just realized why we have not gotten any offers...I was getting one too many credit card offers in the mail about 4 years ago and decided to opt out. I called a number on one of the offers and was put on the list. Now it explains to me why nothing has come in. I was waiting to see because I have heard about offers pouring in to people who have barely been discharged. Interesting. I really hate to go looking for these cards but I know I have to eventually.

[RichM]

They sent me one that I don't even remember applying for, and I stiffed them for about 10 grand in the BK.

I frankly don't think most issuers give a rat's ass whether you had debt with them discharged in the BK. They're either willing to consider applications from the recently BK, or they're not. I think they look at things in the aggregate and decide whether, as a class, BK people represent an income opportunity for the bank. Whether you happened to stiff them in the process of going belly up doesn't really make a difference in terms of their decision whether to pursue business from the class.

We tend to think as if there's actually some human at the bank who's thinking about us and pondering our application, when in most cases it's just a computer making a decision based upon a number of factor that are weighted however the bank decides to weigh them.

-Rich