One year after discharge...

[wnguyen]

Hello everyone

How is everyone doing? Hope you all doing well.

I'm coming back to update on my situation. After 1 year of discharge, I've lived well within my financial limits, paying mostly everything without credits. Everything went well. I think life without credit can be most of the time OK. I just checked my credit score last month and it was 658, not good but not bad either. I'm still paying for my car without reaffirmation and Toyota is OK with that.

Surprisingly, one of the credit cards that survived the BK still remains active, even one year after discharge, though its credit limit is now down to the minimum, $250 but that's fine with me. I also have Bill Me Later with credit limit of $1,450. I'm starting from scratch again and yesterday, I received the first offer of unsecured credit card from Capital One, one of my creditors during BK. I applied for it online and they approved within 1 minute (yes, 1 minute) with a credit limit of $2000 with no annual fee and 0% APR for 9 months!

So now I've realized that Wells Fargo and GE Money are among the ones NOT bk friendly while Capital One and probably HSBC ARE bk friendly. Thank you Capital One.

[tobee43]

congrats on your one year milestone!!!

actually, it was just on the news the other day some of the banks are FINALLY loosening up, as who the heck are they going to do business with?? after all, it wasn't just us effected, even people with good credit lost their credit lines and the banks raised their interest rates!

so glad you are doing so well!!!!! goes to show it can be done!

[mountanddo]

Just be sure to hide that CO credit card from yourself!

[tobee43]

Just be sure to hide that CO credit card from yourself!

LOL!!! your right. but you know what we use are for, is, for example, an expensive car repair, or the dentist, or something like that, so if they mess up on something we have something to fall back on, or at least a leg to stand on about the payment.

however, we have never, ever NEVER carried over a balance, and only use them on "rare" occasion.

[buffetbuster]

Congrats! It looks like things are going well for you. We were just discharged last month and starting to rebuild. We'll see where we are at in a year.

[wnguyen]

congrats on your one year milestone!!!

actually, it was just on the news the other day some of the banks are FINALLY loosening up, as who the heck are they going to do business with?? after all, it wasn't just us effected, even people with good credit lost their credit lines and the banks raised their interest rates!

so glad you are doing so well!!!!! goes to show it can be done!

Thanks tobee. Long time no talk. How have you been doing?

Probably when banks are loosening up I would have a chance of getting some unsecured credit card. You're right, without loosening up, banks would probably work with themselves.

Take care then.

[wnguyen]

Just be sure to hide that CO credit card from yourself!

I didn't even touch it yet. I know this time what to do and I think this kind of credit line is also good to manage. Just follow tobee's ideas (don't carry a balance) and don't over spend. I know, easy said than done.

[wnguyen]

Congrats! It looks like things are going well for you. We were just discharged last month and starting to rebuild. We'll see where we are at in a year.

Thanks. I think the first few months just try to enjoy the moment while it lasts, then you can start thinking of rebuilding. From now on it's only getting better, hopefully

[feelingnutsy]

The way that the banksters operate these days---
they'll probably devise a plan to charge for not using the card---LOL.

[scooter6251]

We're almost a year after discharge. As with most everyone, things are so much better and we're doing pretty OK. The biggest problem we're seeing now is the chances of buying another house is not good. In our area, rentals are scarce so rents are pretty high. We could have a 100% mortgage on the house we are renting, based on it's current value, and the payment, including insurance & taxes would be at least 30% less. And it would be stable, not like rent which will probably go up next renewal.

Those of us that are older have a real problem since it's taking the banks so long to foreclose. The bank holding the mortgage on the house we lost in BK hasn't started any foreclosure action yet. So with a minimum wait of 2 -3 years after FC, which itself could well be another 2 years or more, it will be 4 - 5 years to be considered for a mortgage. Seller financing is a possibility, but finding the right house at the right price with that option is unlikely. Oh well, we'll keep trying to work out something.

Not complaining, but I wish banks were required to FC soon after BK's are discharged. It must be more simple for them than a foreclosure without a bankruptcy clearing the way for them.

[tobee43]

Thanks tobee. Long time no talk. How have you been doing?

Probably when banks are loosening up I would have a chance of getting some unsecured credit card. You're right, without loosening up, banks would probably work with themselves.

Take care then.

it was so nice to see you back on the board!!!!

we are doing great! thanks for asking. things are going well...we purchased a house, i'm picking up legal work for HOA's and some contract paralegal stuffs...it's helping us get back on our feet..finally

and we are finally SAVING MONEY!!!! whoppppeee lol!!

[tobee43]

We're almost a year after discharge. As with most everyone, things are so much better and we're doing pretty OK. The biggest problem we're seeing now is the chances of buying another house is not good. In our area, rentals are scarce so rents are pretty high. We could have a 100% mortgage on the house we are renting, based on it's current value, and the payment, including insurance & taxes would be at least 30% less. And it would be stable, not like rent which will probably go up next renewal.

Those of us that are older have a real problem since it's taking the banks so long to foreclose. The bank holding the mortgage on the house we lost in BK hasn't started any foreclosure action yet. So with a minimum wait of 2 -3 years after FC, which itself could well be another 2 years or more, it will be 4 - 5 years to be considered for a mortgage. Seller financing is a possibility, but finding the right house at the right price with that option is unlikely. Oh well, we'll keep trying to work out something.

Not complaining, but I wish banks were required to FC soon after BK's are discharged. It must be more simple for them than a foreclosure without a bankruptcy clearing the way for them.

boy do i hear you scooter...in nj the statue of limitations on a deed transfer is 20 years, so for us now hitting close to the 4 year mark of no foreclosure, there is not a thing we can do.

i mean think about that, if that's the case, which it is, and we didn't buy via owner financing, we most likely would never be able to purchase a house in our lifetime again. not that that is everyone's goal, many don't ever want to own again.

[scooter6251]

boy do i hear you scooter...in nj the statue of limitations on a deed transfer is 20 years, so for us now hitting close to the 4 year mark of no foreclosure, there is not a thing we can do.

i mean think about that, if that's the case, which it is, and we didn't buy via owner financing, we most likely would never be able to purchase a house in our lifetime again. not that that is everyone's goal, many don't ever want to own again.

Tobee, if they foreclosed in a timely manner, the houses would be worth much more to them. No vandalism, mold, thefts of appliances & A/C units. They could offer them for sale or rent. I just don't comprehend how they think. I guess they think about this year's balance sheet, not the big hit they will take next year, or 2 years from now. And by renting them they would create an income stream. I think there will be some big losses to banks in the next 5 years due to these abandoned houses.

[sassiebaz]

Hello everyone

How is everyone doing? Hope you all doing well.

I'm coming back to update on my situation. After 1 year of discharge, I've lived well within my financial limits, paying mostly everything without credits. Everything went well. I think life without credit can be most of the time OK. I just checked my credit score last month and it was 658, not good but not bad either. I'm still paying for my car without reaffirmation and Toyota is OK with that.

Surprisingly, one of the credit cards that survived the BK still remains active, even one year after discharge, though its credit limit is now down to the minimum, $250 but that's fine with me. I also have Bill Me Later with credit limit of $1,450. I'm starting from scratch again and yesterday, I received the first offer of unsecured credit card from Capital One, one of my creditors during BK. I applied for it online and they approved within 1 minute (yes, 1 minute) with a credit limit of $2000 with no annual fee and 0% APR for 9 months!

So now I've realized that Wells Fargo and GE Money are among the ones NOT bk friendly while Capital One and probably HSBC ARE bk friendly. Thank you Capital One.

Can you share with us what you did to rebuild your credit. I have a plan that I hear works, but would love to hear what you have been doing over the last year to re-establish. Thanks!

[srjth]

I, too, am 1 year after discharge. Everything has been going great. I'm doing better financially than I ever have. I save more money and have minimal credit. My car is paid off now (I reaffirmed it). My old house foreclosed a few months after discharge. My credit score is 645 and my BK lawyer (who only charged me $1500 for the BK) offered me free service of cleaning up my credit at the 1 year mark. He's in the process of doing that now and we'll see if that raises it even further.

I am renting a home right now and have been since I filed the BK. I actually am enjoying renting and not having the worries of ownership. I sign 1 year lease at a time and the owners fix everything and I don't even have to mow the lawn. I am saving a lot of money and my plan is to keep with the minimal credit and in a couple of years buy a small house or condo for investment purposes somewhere less expensive, but still rent a place for me to live here, seeing as I like renting much better.

I am enjoying not having much credit. Currently I have a secured CC for $1000 who reports to the credit bureaus every month like a normal credit card, and a couple other unsecured credit accounts that survived the BK - one store card for $500, and another for $1000 at an auto repair place. I keep 30% charged on these cards to rebuild credit and that is more than enough for me. Last week I was offered credit of $12,000 to buy a timeshare but I refused. I'm done with credit. I pay with cash mostly now. I got braces on my teeth a month ago and I was prepared to pay the $4000 in cash but the orthodonist office offered a no interest payment plan for 18 mths with no credit check. I couldn't pass that up. lol
I still have the money prepared to pay for it outright though and I plan to keep it saved. I do things like lock money up in CD's for 12 months. This so I can't touch it. I'm learning discipline and to say no to myself as I go. Cash or forget it.

I look at some of my friends and family who are drowning in debt but have lots of stuff and I don't envy them because I feel so free and light.

I'm also keeping retirement at the forefront of my mind and putting away $ for that.

Oh... one thing some of you may want to know is that post-BK, any negative accounts that were on your credit before the BK (this is aside from the actually BK judgement) will still be on there post BK for 7 years I think. My lawyer said that you can often get them off your credit report though by disputing them because a year or so after a BK, creditors sometimes purge their system of your account or they'll be too busy with current and delinquent accounts to deal with past BK's. By law they have 30 days to produce evidence of the existence of your old account or else the old account has to be removed from your credit. I plan to do this process every year.

I hope this helps someone.