Best BK friendly banks and credit unions?

[discombob1]

I've seen this asked in other threads but have never seen the suggestions all in one place except for the credit card sticky thread. For me, I've been with Fifth Third bank for several years and didn't have credit through them so am fine. However, annoying fees and low rates on savings are sending me searching for a credit union. In about five years I would like to buy a house, and I like the idea of having one "main" financial institution. Not having a way to get into Navy Federal, any other suggestions for BK friendly institutions with great customer service? Maybe we can get all the recommendations in one place

[Amy26]

Alliant CU - very friendly after 3 years and moderately friendly around a year. I was able to get a 500 CL CC with them but they told me I should be grateful because they usually deny if not three years out. This is a good alternative CU if you can't get into Navy. You can join via a donation to an orphanage.
Partners FCU - BK friendly ( they don't like a lot of new accounts post BK)
PEnnsylvania State Employee CU - 3 years post BK
PenFed CU - 5 years
Apple FCU - BK friendly

Navy is the most BK friendly ( from what I have seen )

[discombob1]

Thanks Amy! I haven't heard of any of them before. I am also checking out Addison Avenue FCU, someone suggested it in the credit cards thread. There do seem to be many more to choose from than I thought.

[Amy26]

No problem... there are TONS of credit unions out there. The trick is to just find which ones are BK friendly and how long of a history they require post BK. I was actually thinking about putting together a spreadsheet of somesort that put together all that info. Its nice to know what creditors are BK friendly but I would think it would be helpful to have just one master spreadsheet of all BK friendly CUs specifically and their lending requirements from people's experiences.

[bkdone]

My opening deposit for Navy Federal was posted yesterday and I applied for a Platinum Visa at the same time. The online application was pending for "Review" overnight and this morning it says "Approved." I dont know how much the limit is yet, but I'm curious to see. I'd love to transfer what balances I do have to this new card...interest rate starts at 7.99%...not sure what mine will be.

[backtoschool]

I agree with all of Amy's suggestions and I would add a couple more:

Patelco CU is bk friendly. They are a large bay area CU with online banking and online applications. I bk'ed them so I can't use them now, but they are very bk friendly and easy to work with.

Digital CU is somewhat bk friendly. They will give out car loans and secured cards one year post bk. Not sure about usecured visas though. They are a bureaucratic mess though to join.

Both of these credit unions have organizations that you can join to become a member.

[scorpion35]

i'll give anyone $100 if u can help me get in with NAVY CU
any takers?

[Amy26]

i'll give anyone $100 if u can help me get in with NAVY CU
any takers?

While that may seem like a really good to offer to people, I strongly advise against it. For the most part, Navy has strict guidelines on membership and they do a lot of verification to make sure people are getting in based off the critieria that they said.

The only way anybody here would be able to get you in is 1. claiming that you are their roommate or 2. Claiming that you are a family member... both of these options could land the person that helps you and you in a lot of trouble.

Because of Navy's policy on letting in family members & roommates... its usually not terribly hard to find someone to sponser you even if its like a 6 degrees of separation thing. There are also options if you are a gov't contractor (aside from the easy in with being in the military).

[discombob1]

My nephew is a Marine but that's not on their list of family. I did try and talk my sister into it but she has accounts at two credit unions already. Oh well. There's a good one for me somewhere!

[bkdone]

Soooo....I got the "Approved" status this morning. Spoke to a really nice lady there and she gave me the details... $17,500 credit limit, 12.99%. Platinum Visa...no annual fee. No fee balance transfers...2.99% for one year, then up to 12.99. I'm still in shock! I was expecting maybe $5K or $7500. This is huge! Once I transfer all my balances over I'll still have half my credit line left. I'm going to throw as big of payments I can at the balance as to pay off as much as possible in the 1 year at 2.99%. Amazing....

[Amy26]

I agree with all of Amy's suggestions and I would add a couple more:

Patelco CU is bk friendly. They are a large bay area CU with online banking and online applications. I bk'ed them so I can't use them now, but they are very bk friendly and easy to work with.

Digital CU is somewhat bk friendly. They will give out car loans and secured cards one year post bk. Not sure about usecured visas though. They are a bureaucratic mess though to join.

Both of these credit unions have organizations that you can join to become a member.

Ah poop, I was gonna get excited about Patelco for a minute there but then I saw that they pull Experian. :/ I can't bump inqueries off experian and its my TU and EQ reports that are the pretty ones. I wonder if they would pull another bureau if I froze EX.

[IBroke]

So before I contact Navy CU directly, can anybody of you guys/girls define the term "All Department of Defense (DoD) uniformed personnel—Army, Marine Corps, Navy and
Air Force retirees and annuitants"?

Does this mean you are eligible if you joined the Army in the past but are no longer with the DoD? Does it matter how long you were with the Armed Forces? I'm not an expert so I'm really curious...but my definition is that if you were enlisted at some point in time, you can join.

[egeitz]

no you have to be active miltary either part or full time. you can work for dod if not in the miltary.

[bkdone]

You can become a member if you are retired from the military, or you are the relative of someone that is. Their Memebership Inquiry page will explain all of it. If you still arent sure, click on the Membership Wizard and it will take you through a series of questions. I got in because my father is retired from the USAF.

[IBroke]

no you have to be active miltary either part or full time. you can work for dod if not in the miltary.

Well, I know for sure that this is NOT accurate.