Recommended Credit Cards

[StaciMM]

For FHA, I understand there has to be nothing derogatory within 2 years of applying, and that credit score isn't necessarily an issue. The requirements (home inspections, etc.) may be more complicated.

For FHA, you may be able to get payment history on utilities, etc. to help w/ tradeline requirements.

I don't plan to wait that long. We're in our house now, leasing it, and I'd rather get the mortgage in my name sooner if possible. And, everything that I've found says sooner is not an unrealistic expectation. Besides, there is no guarantee that rates won't be higher on average in a year or 2...

[bkfiler]

staci, what do you know about FHA for 2 years stuff. i was aking you about that earlier. do you know know something new?

i heard that if you have no lates and can show payments for 2 years after bk then you can get a prime home loan regardless of scores. is this true? is it through FHA? is it guaranteed?

i havnt seen anything published on this yet.

[StaciMM]

Highhopes-
Orchard reports at the end of the month, after the card has been open for a full month. So if you open the account in the middle of December, it will report at the end of January. Depending on the bureau, it will take between a few days or a few weeks to show on all your reports. (My experience is that TU is the slowest.)

For a mortgage, 2 years is required for FHA. It can be done in less w/ sub prime lenders-if you are agressive at cleaning up your reports, and getting your score up. I am already working with someone, and expect to do financing in August. My goal is to be above 640 mid score at that time, though a 620 will suffice. (Obviously, better scores result in lower rates.) If rates were to stay the same, I'd be looking at a rate around 6.5%.

A credit score is a useful thing, but my efforts to rebuild credit are in no way an effort to rebuild debt.

[highhopes]

F.Y.I. HSBC cards(Orchard, etc..) They report every month, but it takes them a few months to report the current information. Mostly your reports will show a 3 month delay.

Also wanted to add that each person has to make a better financial effort after filing BK, now you dont have to, but you will only have yourself to blame if you find yourself in a financial jam. I said that to say this, these banks target and prowl and stalk post bk people for a reason. They intend on you screwing up and know that you will be left with one option, to pay them and their gut busting fee's. We are a jackpot waiting to happen in their eyes.

To each his/her own if you are not paying your balance in full or at least half of it well, you will always be a victim of the predetor bank that never gets your payment on time and any other odd thing that they can victimize you on. There is nothing wrong with making 2 payments in 1 month also to avoid the " your payment is not on time " drama.

There are a lot of "Cash only" people on here and if thats how you feel thats fine. But I hope that you have at least a Prepaid credit card because without any type credit card (even bank debit card) you will be treated worse than an a illegal alien.

If you plan on buying a house I hope you have at least 2yrs credit history.

[StaciMM]

You can end up on mailing lists pretty quickly. The first round will be VERY high in fees (most likely) and in time, they'll get better.

[cb2boys]

Why are we receiving credit card apps already???? We just had our 341 on 12/16, and last week both DH and I rec'd an individual CC app, with some letter stating "bankruptcy doesn't have to be the end of your financial situation" or something like that...so they knew we'd filed BK...I don't intend to apply for them yet...I'm going to be choosy! But, I thought I couldn't apply for ANYTHING until after discharge?

[sipps]

Credit Card during BK

I filed for BK 7 on 10/10/2005, had the 341 and waiting. Got an offer from Household Bank (HSB). Called to ask Q's. $500 limit, $59 yearly fee, no monthly maint. fee (seen a few cards that charge a monthly fee), 14.95% rate. They report to all 3 agencys. The app took a few minutes, however they tried to sell me "credit protection" and offered to refinance my auto. All in all it was very surprising. I had just filed on $100,000 credit cards, 4 houses (rentals) and my own home, and two cars for a total of $964,000! I stopped paying on everything in May. My FICO was 430, and I got the card! Now, I'll keep you posted when I get the card if anything "changed" from the time I accepted 'til it comes.

[bkfiler]

i got a non-secured orchard card pre-approved letter:
- $39 annual fee
- no maintanence fee
- no monthly fee
- a 'competitive customary variable' APR of 14.9%
- 25 grace period

im not even done with my discharge, far from it. they approved me as well. it was the only offer i have gotten so far, except for local 'car dealers' lol - trash!

note that there is a $3.50 maintanence fee on CLOSED accounts with a balance. some people may have mistaken that for a regualr monthly fee.

im so happy with this cuz its a great card characteristics and with the 25 grace period i dont even have to care what the apr is. i dont need credit cards anymore. i will just use them to play the game and get a higher credit score.

bkfiler raises fist and decrys: *power to the people, power to us bk filers*

[lostsoul23]

Hello. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Orchard Bank credit card. I just got an offer in the mail for one of these cards. $59 annual fee and looks like $3.50 monthly maint fee. I'm sure the limit is low like $300.00 but I guess I wont know until I am actually approved. It actually says "Pre-selected" and not "Pre-approved". Anyone know if these guys report every month? I'm looking to rebuild my credit and the fees here seem to be much cheaper than Aspire. I will go with Aspire if I must because of the great review by Robivi3. Your info is appreciated Robivi3. Thank you. -Joe

I have exp'd the joys that is Orchard. I won't do it again. To be honest, I'm at the point now where if I don't have cash, I don't get it, and I won't even keep a bank account. But I'm old & bitter. I had problems with alot of changing-rates-and-such when we feel the need with Orchard.

[J Armstr]

A great book that ditto's a lot information that StaciMM states is Stephen Snyder's "Credit after Bankruptcy." I have been following what he says since our discharge in October 2005 and our credit scores have jumped over a 100 points to the 650's.

[StaciMM]

Some things I've learned in my research...

Since your credit score is impacted by how old your accounts are, when you are ready to reestablish you'll want a card you can have open for a long time. If your oldest card has hefty annual and/or monthly fees, you'll later have a hard choice to make. (Keep paying or close it and hurt your credit score by giving up your oldest account.)

Something else on that note-if you are going to open a secured card, will it always be secured or at some point w/ good payment history can it be converted to a regular account and you get your deposit back?

National City does not allow your secured card to convert to an unsecured card. They will close out the secured and open a new, unsecured account. So you lose an old account and gain a new one.

Orchard does consider your account for conversion-with the same account # and history-though they won't even entertain the thought until 18 months of history have passed. The minimum deposit for Orchard, by the way, is only $200 but I think its $300 for Household. (HSBC backs both, so I don't know why it differs...)

Some of the 'prime' creditors that issue secured cards (Wells Fargo, Bank of America for example) may not issue a card to someone w/ a BK. If your BK is very fresh, odds are not in your favor. For BofA, I've read that they will not consider you unless your BK is at least 5 years old, and even then its perhaps only a 50/50 chance. Can't really tell you why, but its good to know that applying w/ a prime bank for a secured card is not an automatic approval.

One thing I like about HH/Orchard is they have a pre-screen link of sorts. You can put in your info and they'll let you know which card you are most likely to be approved for without pulling a hard inquiry. Their unsecured cards have annual fees ranging from $19-79, depending on credit, and some may have a processing fee as well. The secured card is a $35 annual fee, I believe. The pre-screen tells you the features of the card(s) you're most likely to be approved for and you can choose whether or not you want to apply. From what I've seen/heard, they offer better terms if you have some open/positive accounts reporting.

[HRx]

Providian and Capital One offer great post BK cards too. But keep in mind that not all thier pre-approved card offers are identical to each other. Both creditors offer great moderate interest rate, and $0 annual fee cards.

[tinroofrusted]

Since this thread helped me, I'll add my $.02:

My Chapter 7 was discharged in July. I pulled my credit in September. Sure enough, all 3 agencies were reporting things wrong - over 1/2 of my creditors were still listed as charged off accounts with large balances!

Even with all this derogatory misinformation, I still had a FICO of 570 (I had excellent credit all my life until the BK).

Based on recommendations here, I decided to apply for the Orchard Bank card anyways. I figured I might as well try now, rather than wait the 60 or so days it will take for me to wrestle with the credit agencies.

To my surprise, I was approved for an unsecured card (14.9% APR) for only a $59 annual fee. Nothing else comes close to this deal - all the other solicitations carried much higher fees and APR's.

I'd recommend Orchard to anyone looking to begininng rebuilding credit soon after filing!

Orchard Bank is great, but if you need to clean your credit, I suggest doing that first and foremost before applying to ANY credit card! Hope that helps.

[IBKevin]

Since this thread helped me, I'll add my $.02:

My Chapter 7 was discharged in July. I pulled my credit in September. Sure enough, all 3 agencies were reporting things wrong - over 1/2 of my creditors were still listed as charged off accounts with large balances!

Even with all this derogatory misinformation, I still had a FICO of 570 (I had excellent credit all my life until the BK).

Based on recommendations here, I decided to apply for the Orchard Bank card anyways. I figured I might as well try now, rather than wait the 60 or so days it will take for me to wrestle with the credit agencies.

To my surprise, I was approved for an unsecured card (14.9% APR) for only a $59 annual fee. Nothing else comes close to this deal - all the other solicitations carried much higher fees and APR's.

I'd recommend Orchard to anyone looking to begininng rebuilding credit soon after filing!

[HRx]

Providian offers a pretty good credit card too. But you'd be better off waiting for them to send you a pre-approved invitation offer.