Do credit cards with zero balance survive the BK?

[downwardspiral]

We are filing on Friday...finally. I was wondering about all those credit cards we paid off and had zero balances like Home Depot, Macys and other store cards. Do they survive the bankruptcy?

[keepmine]

Most major lenders wil cancel your cards once they do a periodic review and see the bk in the public records section of your credit report.

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

I have 3 or 4 with 0 balances - I guess we will see.

I doubt they will make it though. One is with our credit union. I was wondering if we were to reaffirm the other loans with them (2 cars and a 1st mortgage - good rates, low payments) if maybe they would let us keep the credit card. Anyone had a similar situation?

[momof5]

Cards with 0 balance that were not included in my creditor matrix are showing included in bankrupcty. I assume that means they said goodbye to me.

[Frogge]

There are other posts indicating that large creditors will cancel, some smaller department store CC's will survive.

[brown153]

I guess it depends on the creditor. We had a DELL card that was not included in the filing, we paid it off years ago and basically forgot about it. We were able to use it post-BK.

[Cali]

I haven't checked my credit report, so I don't know.

[Flamingo]

Cards with 0 balance that were not included in my creditor matrix are showing included in bankrupcty. I assume that means they said goodbye to me.

You need to dispute that...wait a bit after your discharge for all that to be reported and send in a copy of your creditor matrix and copy of discharge to prove those accounts were not included. They will probably end up being shown as "closed by credit grantor" but they should not be listed as being in your BK.

[Flamingo]

We are filing on Friday...finally. I was wondering about all those credit cards we paid off and had zero balances like Home Depot, Macys and other store cards. Do they survive the bankruptcy?

It all depends. I believe both Home DePot and Macy's, as you mentioni above, are tied with large end banks like WFNNB, etc. If you included any other credit card associated with one of those banks, the ones with zero balances are almost certain to get closed out. They can close them out immediately or later so if a few months goes by and nothing happends, that doesn't mean they are free and clear. Give them several months and if they survive, they survive.

[csrhjr31]

I have a Harlem Furniture card with a zero balance that hasn't been used for a few years.

I was hoping to use that post bk to help build my credit. What happens if after discharge, we charge something for a couple hundred dollars and then they close it due to bankruptcy? Will that hit our credit score?

[hnhlvr]

It all depends. I believe both Home DePot and Macy's, as you mentioni above, are tied with large end banks like WFNNB, etc. If you included any other credit card associated with one of those banks, the ones with zero balances are almost certain to get closed out. They can close them out immediately or later so if a few months goes by and nothing happends, that doesn't mean they are free and clear. Give them several months and if they survive, they survive.

Home Depot is through citibank

https://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/cardDetail.do?screenID=930

If you have a citibank card, the HD will be closed.

[woeisme]

I just pulled my credit report recently. All the big ones are listed as CH 13 wage-earner plan, but a few store cards (Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, a furniture store) are still listed as open since they had $0 balances when I filed so weren't notified and apparently don't pull credit reports. Whether they will be open 4 years from now when I get out of BK is another story. Also, had one that we'd paid off before filing that is showing included in BK, will have to dispute that one eventually I guess, although right now not too concerned with my credit scores!

[hnhlvr]

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.

[yoyoma51]

Our Kohl's charge and another specialty clothing store card that my wife has survived the BK with a zero balances, no problem.

[HopeFaith]

We had a Best Buy CC and Jared CC that survived for a while.

Well... a few months after discharge, the Best Buy was reduced to a -0- limit after they did a periodic account review. The Jared has been maintained... we charged like $100 on it just to keep it active after discharge, and it still holds it's same $7500 limit 7 months after discharge.