Time to probably close Orchard after 2 years

[CCsAreEvil]

Well, Orchard gave me my 1st CC right after discharge. It was a $300 limit but with a $59 AF. Going into the 2nd year, I got them to drop the AF to $29. They did increase my limit to $500. However, we really shouldn't hold onto any card that has an AF longer than we have to.

Since then, I've gotten 2 other CCs with no Annual Fees. I've paid 0% interest on any CC since discharge (proud of myself for that). However, all my CCs have 20-25% annual interest rates (haha!).

I will give it a shot and see if they will waive the AF, but I somehow doubt it. Has anyone tried this?

The great thing about Orchard was they reported to all 3 bureaus. But, it's not worth keeping a card with an AF, even if you never pay interest on it.

[budgetgal]

Glad to hear that they have helped you rebuild! There was a thread a few weeks ago asking about them and if they did indeed report to all three credit bureaus. I finally took the plunge and applied to one of the offers they sent to me and I got approved! I was so relieved that it wasn't an unnecessary hit to my credit report. I'm coming up on two months after discharge. It is a $39 annual fee, 0% interest first year and 16.99 after that. I was very surprised that I got a $1000 line of credit. Maybe because I had an Ikea card through them that I had paid off prior to the BK. Let us now how it goes getting the annual fee waived!

[JackBondLove]

I've got a CapitalOne card that I plan on giving up - since I've been approved for a Barclay's card. I will give them the ultimatum to either stop charging the $39/yr fee or lose my business.

[Flamingo]

Orchard probably will not waive your $39 annual fee. I also obtained that card getting approved toward the end of our bankruptcy. I kept the card for a while past discharge using it and paying it off and they gradually increased my credit limit but would never waive the $39 fee. My AP was 14.99%. I called specifically a few times to get the fee waived but they would not do that. It is probably due to their certain cards being in a "higher risk" category. The only thing one can do is to close the account to get rid of the fee. If you are few years beyond discharge and your credit rating is good, the hit of closing the account may not be that big of a bite. Otherwise, for credit purposes, leave it open for several years and pay the annual fee to help better your credit and close it later. It all depends on one's credit standing and what one wants to do.

[mountanddo]

I also obtained that card getting approved toward the end of our bankruptcy.

You obtained credit before your discharge? I thought that was strictly forbidden?

[tobee43]

orchard never reported to the credit agencies for us. even though we used them for some time. after getting the last copy of our reports and didn't see them for the 4th time reporting, i called and got rid of the cards.

also, they did say they would lower the fee to $29 but not waive the entire costs. since we have a cap one and barleys, that actually do report and have no annual fees we just told them close the account. so, for us they were no help to rebuild our credit. i did ask why, the lady did say they were a reporting company, but it had been at least 2 years and not one time did they report anything.

cap one was much better, reports, no fees and a fixed 15.99%, not that we use that as when we do use if for i.e. car repairs or such we pay it off before the 30 days.

[CCsAreEvil]

My scores are 680+ right now. I think that should be good enough? Scores should still slowly increase as time goes on.

I forgot to mention I opened a Firestone card which gave me a decent $1,900 CL. Interestingly enough, there must be some threshold where your score jumps regardless of your debt to credit limit ratio. Because once I obtained the Firestone card, my score went up just a few points instead of decreasing (the usual with opening a new credit line which is supposed to make your score take a minor hit?). The Firestone card is great because you can pretty much use it only for car repairs and such and not go crazy buying TVs, etc.

tobee, this might be a dumb question but did you look for "HSBC BANK" on your credit report? That's what Orchard reports as. Also, that is definitely odd they are not reporting for you. The vast majority of threads I've read, Orchard was definitely reporting to the 3 agencies (EQ, EX, TU) for most people.

[tobee43]

My scores are 680+ right now. I think that should be good enough? Scores should still slowly increase as time goes on.

I forgot to mention I opened a Firestone card which gave me a decent $1,900 CL. Interestingly enough, there must be some threshold where your score jumps regardless of your debt to credit limit ratio. Because once I obtained the Firestone card, my score went up just a few points instead of decreasing (the usual with opening a new credit line which is supposed to make your score take a minor hit?). The Firestone card is great because you can pretty much use it only for car repairs and such and not go crazy buying TVs, etc.

tobee, this might be a dumb question but did you look for "HSBC BANK" on your credit report? That's what Orchard reports as. Also, that is definitely odd they are not reporting for you. The vast majority of threads I've read, Orchard was definitely reporting to the 3 agencies (EQ, EX, TU) for most people.

CC yes, HSBC is many cards and i am aware that is how they report it. like many i.e. my virgin american visa is barcley bank and is reported as such. i think best buy might be GE (i'm not certain).

since we only had a few newer items showing up on our reports, it was clear they didn't report. we thought maybe it was because we paid off the bills monthly, but that wasn't it. it should have said "paid as agreed' but nothing!

[IBroke]

You obtained credit before your discharge? I thought that was strictly forbidden?

Not in a CH7 BK. Everything after the filing-date can't be discharged but there is no law against new credit (or accounts) while being in a CH7. Also keep in mind that applying for a CC doesn't mean that you actually obtained new credit. A new credit-line doesn't mean new debt.

[mountanddo]

Not in a CH7 BK. Everything after the filing-date can't be discharged but there is no law against new credit (or accounts) while being in a CH7. Also keep in mind that applying for a CC doesn't mean that you actually obtained new credit. A new credit-line doesn't mean new debt.

yes, but she was in a 13. Maybe got it after she started the early buy-out process?

[ValleYum]

I have read on here that some Chapter 13 trustees will allow a debtor to obtain a certain amount of credit - like $500-$1000 without their express consent. I am sure this policy varies widely by district as well as by trustee.

[Flamingo]

The credit limit at approval was only $300. Our attorney said it was no problem. If one checks with with their attorney prior to any financial moves during one's Plan, not everything is "strictly forbidden." We also had two retail cards with zero balance that survived the bankruptcy filing that we used now and then to help re-establish credit (paying off way prior to the due date).

[mountanddo]

The credit limit at approval was only $300. Our attorney said it was no problem. If one checks with with their attorney prior to any financial moves during one's Plan, not everything is "strictly forbidden." We also had two retail cards with zero balance that survived the bankruptcy filing that we used now and then to help re-establish credit (paying off way prior to the due date).

That would be nice to be able to get a small card to establish some credit before discharge so I could come out of chapter 13 with at least some credit rebuilding. Silly question but does paying your chapter 13 payments on time improve your credit rating at all while you are in it?

[CCsAreEvil]

update: I called and got the annual fee lowered again to $29. It seems what Flamingo is saying seems correct. There appears no way to "rid" of the annual fee, just discounted. Since my overall total available credit is not high, I will hopefully keep this card for just another year so it increases my overall limit by $500. I plan to get an increase with one of my other cards then close this sucker.

In the long run, it's probably worth it for $29/year.. but I could not justify it at $59/year.