My discharge was about a month ago and I hadn't yet applied for any new credit. I received my first pre-approval notice in the mail the other day. It was for the Household Platinum Mastercard--0% interest to December 2006, $12.9% thereafter. $39 annual fee. Because I was current on all my credit lines before filing, my scores are all in the mid to upper 600s a month out of BK7.
That said, I expected that my first post BK card would be something with really high fees and a high APR. I didn't think I would need to get a secured card, but I anticipated going through the whole rebuilding card exercise. I thought this would have to be a mistake. A Platinum card right out of BK? a reasonable APR? It had to be a joke.
Initially I was going to toss it in the trash because I had read about others getting pre-approval mailings and then rejected because of the BK. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was probably worth the few points on my credit reports for the inquiry on the off chance that they give me the card because I certainly wasn't going to get any better offers. If they rejected me, I'd know to not apply for these types of cards again.
So I go online, enter the code from their mailing and all of my other info. sixty seconds later....APPROVED! I was shocked, but very happy.
The credit limit is $500, but I plan to utilize the card to pay bills and then pay off the card every month, so I expect that limit will go up over time. Gotta start somewhere.
While I'm not going to be carrying any balances or getting into the mess I was in before, I'm greatly relieved that I have a good foot up on rebuilding my credit and getting a second chance.
That said, I expected that my first post BK card would be something with really high fees and a high APR. I didn't think I would need to get a secured card, but I anticipated going through the whole rebuilding card exercise. I thought this would have to be a mistake. A Platinum card right out of BK? a reasonable APR? It had to be a joke.
Initially I was going to toss it in the trash because I had read about others getting pre-approval mailings and then rejected because of the BK. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was probably worth the few points on my credit reports for the inquiry on the off chance that they give me the card because I certainly wasn't going to get any better offers. If they rejected me, I'd know to not apply for these types of cards again.
So I go online, enter the code from their mailing and all of my other info. sixty seconds later....APPROVED! I was shocked, but very happy.
The credit limit is $500, but I plan to utilize the card to pay bills and then pay off the card every month, so I expect that limit will go up over time. Gotta start somewhere.
While I'm not going to be carrying any balances or getting into the mess I was in before, I'm greatly relieved that I have a good foot up on rebuilding my credit and getting a second chance.
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