questions on credit cards and car before filing

[allalone22]

Hi All-

I am ready to file soon. I had a few questions and needed some advice if I should wait.

1) I have 2 credit cards. One of them is a Best Buy with a 300 limit (current) and the other is a capital one secured card (current). Neither of them have been late since opened. How should I handle that?

2) I recently wrecked my car and I need to get a new one as I need it for my job. My insurance company is trying not to cover it, but seems it may be a battle. Should I wait until after I file or can I do it before since it's urgent.

thanks

[ccmisery]

You can reaffirm the secured credit card but odds are if your filing you will lose both, if your not late and there is no balance that's how it is.

If you have a good FICO score, now is the time to get a new car.

[keepmine]

Get your transportation needs taken care of prior to filing.

What do you mean, "your insurance company is trying not to cover it?"
If, you expect some cash, unless you can exempt it, the trustee may be able to get there hands on it. A little detail is needed here.

[allalone22]

You can reaffirm the secured credit card but odds are if your filing you will lose both, if your not late and there is no balance that's how it is.

If you have a good FICO score, now is the time to get a new car.

my score is 530ish right now, so I am not sure if that will work for a car.

also, I do have max balance on both of the cards. I just wanted to make sure I am doing it correctly since I am filing pro se

right now, I am under the means test and basically all my previous debt is old debt 5-6 years ago, but is cash strapping me now and making it difficult to move on

[allalone22]

Get your transportation needs taken care of prior to filing.

What do you mean, "your insurance company is trying not to cover it?"
If, you expect some cash, unless you can exempt it, the trustee may be able to get there hands on it. A little detail is needed here.

I learned an expensive lesson in making sure you have paperwork. My car was to be covered under full insurance, but the agent never put in the documentation, so they're stating they probably won't cover it, but they're doing an investigation.

I just can't wait much longer without a car. I may be able to exempt it. Basically all my assets consist of a computer, a 250 dollar tv, about 400 dollars worth of close, 400 dollar guitar, and the 2.15 I have in my bank account

[IBroke]

On the secured card, you could also pay off the balance shortly before filing and list the security deposit as asset (it will be an asset no matter what - even if you don't pay off the account prior to filing). A day after filing, you can get your money back by using the card again - maxing it out for utility bills might be an option in case you are short in cash and would have used the money to pay off the CC for other necessary expenses..

That's how I handled my secured CC and since the balance on filing date was $0, it was not considered "included in bankruptcy" and therefore, kept as a positive tradeline on my credit report.

Usually, CCs automatically close accounts due to BK but since this is a secured account, you might have a chance that it stays open if you have a $0 when filing and therefore, technically excluding it from your BK. After all, when they elect to close your account, they would have to return your security deposit. And even IF they decide to close the account, you won't get hit by a negative IIB-notation which really hurts on a positive, never late tradeline.

[keepsmiling]

You need to know what exemptions are available to help you decide on how to buy a car.

[allalone22]

You need to know what exemptions are available to help you decide on how to buy a car.

I live in PA, so I think I'll be using the federal guidelines. The car I am looking at is 4.5k

[ccmisery]

my score is 530ish right now, so I am not sure if that will work for a car.

also, I do have max balance on both of the cards. I just wanted to make sure I am doing it correctly since I am filing pro se

right now, I am under the means test and basically all my previous debt is old debt 5-6 years ago, but is cash strapping me now and making it difficult to move on

I have a 530 FICO score and was able to get a financing with Ford Credit at 9.99% APR, not the greatest APR but a lot less than what I read and was told, 15 to 25% range. I have a current lease with Ford Credit and am not behind on payments so that helped. Keep in mind that buying a used car often equals a higher APR, new car APRs are lower.

The only caveat with Ford Credit is they will ask you to reaffirm the debt, which equals signing away your rights that you get when you file. That is, if you lose your job down the road and can't make payments, they can sue you and garnish wages without any protection.

I do not know about your credit cards, all of mine are unsecured.