Rent a car in CH13

[ABC]

Budget is telling me if I use the Visa part of my debit card they will still pull credit with Equifax either saying to rent or do not rent. I am Leary of flying across the country with this being such an open question. Any thoughts ?

[goon]

Using the visa part of your debit card does not reflect on your credit report at all and is not an issue (as long as you are not overdrawing your account) I use mine all the time and am nearly half way through my plan.

That being said some car rental companies either do not take (visa/mc) debit cards and/or require additional information/ paperwork, and in some cases an additional deposit.... depends on the rental company (and where you are going, small towns seem to be easier to deal with the rental companies). I had to rent a car a couple months ago after I flew somewhere for a job interview, because I only had the debit card I just had to let them take a copy of my returning flight confirmation and sign an extra paper, but it varies.

[walkthaplank]

I have had to do this a few times and the idea is scary especially when I have traveled with a family member who does not know we filed BK. I use my debit card that acts like a credit card and I haven't had any problem, but if you shop around there are some who do not do that. What I have done in the past is make a backup reservation at one that doesn't require a credit card or credit check. When the deal is done at the original rent-a-car place, I call the backup and cancel it. You can usually do that right up until the time of the reservation without any expense. If you have any real doubts, you can go to a local budget rent a car and rent one for the day and see what happens.

If you do a search on the topic, you will find a lot of suggestions for other rent-a-car companies.

[ABC]

In this case I called the exact rental counter at this particular airport and they pull Equifax at the point of sale. They treat a debit card with Visa logo different than a CC with Visa logo.

That all seems odd to me since I prepaid it in Full , so they have the money. They want $200 extra for buffer I am ok. They're also asking for an Electric Bill, Passport ID, and roundtrip ticket.

It's the part about flying 5 hours then swiping a card to get "GO" or "NO GO" from Equifax I don't like. Has anyone ever called Equifax to see if this can be determined ahead of time?

[SMinGA2]

Equifax doesn't say yes or no. They supply information and in this case Budget makes a decision based on that information. You can do some internet research - before you go - to see if another rental company does things differently.

[LadyInTheRed]

Did you talk to a manager at the rental counter? Maybe they can check your credit ahead of time or at least tell you whether the Chap 13 would prevent them from renting to you. You may want to have a back up reservation with another company just in case. I know that doesn't help with the fact that you prepaid for the rental, but at least you won't be stranded. I rented from Enterprise with my debit card while in Chap 13. They had me fill out an extra form listing my employer and insurance information, but I don't remember them actually running a credit check. They asked for a utliity bill and if I remember correctly, they only asked for the employer information because I didn't have one.