Do credit cards with zero balance survive the BK?

[Cali]

Ok, I checked one of my credit reports and all my zero balance accounts are still open and still have zero balance.

[Flamingo]

Do most regular stores even bother pulling credit reports? The only card I really want to keep is Nordstrom and I just can't imagine them pulling a report on people who don't charge very often and pay off their balances.

In my 20s when I defaulted on a bunch of cards, both Nordstrom and Macy's (was Bon Marche back then) didn't close my accounts.

On your credit report, you will notice "soft" pulls by creditors - these are pulls to determine whether or not to offer you a higher limit and to periodically check as to your credit. You allow them to do that when you sign for their card (go read that fine print). These "soft" pulls are not hard inquiries as to where you apply for credit and your account is pulled by a creditor to which you applied for credit; soft pulls can occur at any time. When a creditor that you have not included in your BK (zero balance card) does that soft pull, there is the red flag that you filed BK and it's up to them whether or not to close your account. If you file on a card with a large bank and have a surviving zero balance card associated with them with another store, as soon as they check their records as to your credit and what credit you have with them, your chances of that card suviving BK are very slim. It's really a very simple process and up to the creditor whether or not a card survives.

[liz417]

On your credit report, you will notice "soft" pulls by creditors - these are pulls to determine whether or not to offer you a higher limit and to periodically check as to your credit. You allow them to do that when you sign for their card (go read that fine print). These "soft" pulls are not hard inquiries as to where you apply for credit and your account is pulled by a creditor to which you applied for credit; soft pulls can occur at any time. When a creditor that you have not included in your BK (zero balance card) does that soft pull, there is the red flag that you filed BK and it's up to them whether or not to close your account. If you file on a card with a large bank and have a surviving zero balance card associated with them with another store, as soon as they check their records as to your credit and what credit you have with them, your chances of that card suviving BK are very slim. It's really a very simple process and up to the creditor whether or not a card survives.

So is it better to "close" those accounts with zero balances before you file BK?

[Flamingo]

So is it better to "close" those accounts with zero balances before you file BK?

I would say that is a personal choice. If you close them they have no chance of surviving the BK and if you leave them open you risk the chance of them being closed by the credit grantor. We had two cards which survived our BK - Dress Barn and Western Auto. I still have Dress Barn (only use now and then and pay off) and Western Auto is still open and only used once years ago. I believe Western Auto has gone out of business and/or purchased/merged by/with someplace else so I need to investigate closing out that account/card. Almost forgot about it except for this thread! :-)

[ameliabedilia]

We were discharged in January of this year. We opened a bank account with BofA during the bk and online it listed our credit cards with them on our accounts. I had forgotten we even had these as they had always had no balance. Well, about 6 weeks ago BofA sent us new cards since our old ones had expired. The balances are low, but they didn't close them.