How soon after discharge to apply for a secured credit card?

[Epic]

I filed in March 2011 and I was discharged in July, do I need to allow a good buffer (say six months) before I start applying for secured credit cards to start rebuilding?

[angelasdad]

I applied with Cap 1 the day after my 341. By the time I was discharged it already upped my credit score by 30 points and was able to apply and get a Cap 1 unsecured a month later.

[justbroke]

I applied for a Hooter's MC 3 months after discharge and received an unsecured card with a $1,000 limit. Of course, what your credit report looks like will have some bearing. I was in the low 600s immediately after discharge.

Your limit, or approval, may vary. Don't just chase cards just to have them. I'm using it solely to build tradelines for a future mortgage. I'm not trying to have over $200K of (non-HELOC) combined credit limits as I did prior to 2008 when I filed for bankruptcy! How could I have ever thought that having $200K in unsecured credit was a good thing?

[Epic]

I applied for a Hooter's MC 3 months after discharge and received an unsecured card with a $1,000 limit. Of course, what your credit report looks like will have some bearing. I was in the low 600s immediately after discharge.

Your limit, or approval, may vary. Don't just chase cards just to have them. I'm using it solely to build tradelines for a future mortgage. I'm not trying to have over $200K of (non-HELOC) combined credit limits as I did prior to 2008 when I filed for bankruptcy! How could I have ever thought that having $200K in unsecured credit was a good thing?

Hooters? As in the restaurant - is BK friendly?
Yes, like you, I am trying to rebuild as quickly as possible to get back to where I was before the recession. Right now, my FICO is in the 620's. Is that high enough in your opinion? I have two dept store cards that survived. One has a credit limt of $2500, the other is only $500. I have been using the first for little things and paying it in full each month

[justbroke]

Don't count on those department cards to be around once a "periodic review" is performed! It could be a year or two before they "realize" you filed... and then close the account. I'd say it's a 50/50 chance that they will stay open for more than 2 years.

Hooters... yes, the restaurant. I like the card SOLELY because it's "black" and has HOOTERS and an owl on the front. (It's a Mastercard.) I equally like the strange looks I get when I present the card for payment. I remove all tension at the register when I simply say "they have great wings!" (Although I must say that their wings are not really "that" good, and I've only been to Hooters 3 times in the last 10 years. The most recent, only because I received a $50 gift card from my Hooter's Mastercard points. I don't find the food particularly delicious but trying to compare Hooter's to Benihanas is probably an exercise in futility at best.)

[iswmle]

I don't think Hooters is taking apps for their MC, anymore.