Applying for new credit card

[PhillyGuy]

I have been reading all the posts on this site for a few months now.

I was told yesterday that my asset case was in line to finalize the trustee report. I was also told it would take 6 to 12 months to close. I was discharged in Feb 13, and am thinking it’s time to start looking for a cc, capitol one seems to be the best.

I make good money, credit scores in the upper 600's - lower 700's, reaffirmed my house and car and never stopped paying them, have never been late.

I was wondering if anyone has gotten a new card while your asset case was discharged but still open. If so, what was your credit scores?

Thanks

[ValleYum]

We were not an asset case but I think the CC companies look for the discharge rather than the "administrative close" of a BK case.

Cap One is good as is Barclay.

Hubby got a Cap One Card ($19 annual fee) 1 month after discharge with scores in upper 600s with $1500 limit. Limit has stayed the same.

3 or 4 months later, he got a Barclay Rewards Card (no annual fee) with scores in low 700s with a $2500 limit. They have increased limit twice without being asked and it is at $7500 now. We like having that line of credit available as we have family back east and want to be able to buy a plane ticket, rent a car, etc. in case of an emergency.

You should do fine getting a good credit card to use. Good luck!!

[tobee43]

i'm with valle with suggesting those two companies in particular. they both have been the best for us. and, also now as wells fargo, but we we are further out that you. none of our cards have annual fees but we didn't get them immediately after bk.

the ones we got right away were like orchard bank, a fee plus high interest, for us, for reasons i don't understand they never reported to any of the CA's. best buy use to be easy, but they were brought out by cap one.

interesting about cap one and barcley's was we had accounts with both of them listed on our bk and they were the first really legit offers we got. (wells fargo also but we talking a few plus years before that happened). you also may want to try merrick, again, i think they have a fee but they are bk friendly.

i wanted to rush and close the others after getting wells, i wanted to only keep open the barcleys and the wells, but as ladyinthered pointed out, the longer the account has been open the better your you credit wise.

[SadPanda]

I got a Merrick card (no annual fee), but I think the only way to apply for a Merrick card is if you get one of their pre-approved letters in the mail. After seven on-time payments, the credit limit is supposed to double. My score was somewhere in the 600s, but I don't remember the exact score.

I also keep getting letters (three times already, if not more) from Barclay saying I'm pre-selected for their Barclaycard Rewards card (also no annual fee). I'm not sure how easy it is to be approved for that card, but I've heard that the Barclay iTunes card is one of the easier ones to get - I'm not sure if they still have that card, though.

I've also gotten letters from companies like Credit One and First Premier, but their fees are too high, so I've never applied. Also, it seems like Credit One tries to trick people into thinking it's Capitol One, since their logo is so similar.

If you search for "Credit Pulls Database," you'll find some sites where people who've applied for different credit cards post their results, so you can search for different card names/companies and see the scores of people who were approved (or not approved), and the people also often note the credit limit they got, which credit report was pulled (TransUnion, Experian or Equifax), and if they had anything negative on their credit reports (bankruptcy, charge-offs, etc.).

[tobee43]

i don't remember how long it was before i got anything from merrick, but it was via an offer they sent through the mail. your right, we have no annual fee with them and i think we started out with maybe $500 and now it's up to $4800. right now i owe them $500, i get FREAKED out LOL!!! but i'm going to wait the 30 days. for a while i use to use the cards after our bk and then run home and pay it off in full, but that doesn't help because they really want to see you can make payments. for us as i have said before cc's were never an issue that drove us to file for bk. but still, it's a tool now to re-build our credit so that for an example we need a new car i would pay cash or at least if i re-establish our credit be able to take advantage of the best interest rates.

now that we are a bit older we don't NEED anything anymore. but not so when one is trying to raise kids with all those unexpected expenses etc.

[SadPanda]

I'm not sure if there are any Merrick cards with annual fees - I was just noting that mine doesn't have one, because I think a lot of post-BK offers do have fees. I think my pre-approved letter from Merrick arrived about three months after my discharge. The first offers from places like Credit One and First Premier had pretty high fees (and I still receive those letters too). I got some pre-approval or pre-selected offers from some other cards with no fees, but I researched them and they don't sound BK-friendly, or they're not for at least two years after discharge.

My first post-BK cards were some of those store cards that only do a soft credit check (Brylane Home, Buckle, etc.). Then I received a catalog from Fingerhut with a pre-approval, so I decided to apply, and the credit limit they gave me was higher than it said in the catalog. I used Fingerhut and some of the store cards, carried a balance for a little while and paid them off. My Merrick card's limit is $900, and I still have a balance on the card, because they'll double the limit after seven on-time payments. I just looked at Merrick's site and it looks like people can apply for a secured card, but they need to have received a letter from Merrick before applying for a regular card.

[SadPanda]

I just realized I should clarify what I wrote above about Brylane Home, Buckle, etc., being soft credit checks, for anyone who didn't know what I meant. I don't know if they still do this (I assume they do), but I meant when you're going through the checkout process on the sites (the ones that issue cards from Comenity Bank, which used to be WFNNB - Brylane Home, Buckle, Victoria's Secret, One Stop Plus, King Size, Woman Within, Avenue and I think some others) and you get the message saying you're pre-approved for a store card, and they usually tell you the credit limit your card will have. That's when they do a soft credit check (either during checkout or when you accept the offer, I'm not sure) and you're still able to get a store card. I think you're also able to use the account right away, even before you receive the actual card. If you go through the regular store card application process (if you don't get the pre-approval message and you choose to actually apply), I think it's a hard pull.

[CCsAreEvil]

I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary with my (still open) "asset" BK case. However, I applied for 2 CCs right after discharge back in late 2009. They were credit cards with "toy" limits, but I really feel it was these first steps that started helping with my AAoA and rebuild process. About two years later, my credit scores were good enough for me to land a used car loan at 2.9% fixed for 4 years.

I don't recall my exact credit scores.. but they were around 640-660 or so at the time (right after discharge). Good luck.