Junk mail is irritating but once in a while I get an offer that I can use. This one was an ok offer, $200 in fees of course but what can you expect? I look at it as buying my credibility back. I pay them $200 and in turn I get a $400 credit card that I can use to build my credit. So this time I got me a MasterCard with $400 credit limit.
I also called my first card's bank and asked to raise the limit since it's been over 6 months from when I got it. They reised it another $100 but for a fee. It cost me $10.
Slowly it's growing.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
My credit must be getting better
In May I wanted to see if I could get another credit card to expand my credit growth. I applied for a Circuit City Credit card. At first, when I applied online, they told me that they can't approve it now but they will contact me for some confirmations, blah blah blah. I thought, "what ever, they're not going to give it to me". Two days later I get a call from Circuit City credit department, they confirmed my address and my business name and told me I now have been accepted and gave me $1000 credit with Circuit City.Awesome!! So now I have $1300 available credit that I can work with. The plan is just as it was before, have about 1/3 of the credit used and make payments on it. This should get my credit score up.
Change of Plans
I ended up moving to a different job before it hit May and moving back to Spokane. The new job didn't work out and I decided to try my hand at self employment again. This time I am going to try web design and internet marketing. I actually have a few clients and all the stuff I need to get this business off the ground. I built a website for the internet marketing business and did some marketing. So far it seems I have enough business to last for a few months. I also started a supplemental blog that logs my web design ideas.
Now if I want to buy a house I'll probably have to wait 2 years before they'll give me a mortgage loan, being self employed. We'll see how it all plays out.
Now if I want to buy a house I'll probably have to wait 2 years before they'll give me a mortgage loan, being self employed. We'll see how it all plays out.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Mortgage in my future
I desided to see what I can get for a mortgage loan. Going around begging for a loan is not something I wanted to do or had time for, so I thought, "How can I do this?". After searching around on Google for mortgages after bankruptcy I stubbled upon LandingTree. They let the mortgage companies compete, so I don't have to beg. I put my info on the table and let them beg me to choose them. Sound like something I was looking for.
I signed up and filled in all my info, stated my situation and submitted it. By the end of the day I had three mortgage companies contact me and one really took on my case. He ran my info through their programs and worked hard to get me an exception on my bankruptcy. A couple of days later he called me with good news and bad news.
The good news is that he was able to get me an exception because my previous credit status was good and this was just this one situation in which I was unable to avoid bankruptcy.
The bad news is that they decided to give me a full year after the bankruptcy discharge before giving me a mortgage loan.
So next May I'll be getting a mortgage loan! This is awesome!
I signed up and filled in all my info, stated my situation and submitted it. By the end of the day I had three mortgage companies contact me and one really took on my case. He ran my info through their programs and worked hard to get me an exception on my bankruptcy. A couple of days later he called me with good news and bad news.
The good news is that he was able to get me an exception because my previous credit status was good and this was just this one situation in which I was unable to avoid bankruptcy.
The bad news is that they decided to give me a full year after the bankruptcy discharge before giving me a mortgage loan.
So next May I'll be getting a mortgage loan! This is awesome!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Starting Fresh After Bankruptcy
I ordered a full credit report in September from all tree of the credit bureaus to see what my credit looked like and to my surprise, most of the accounts were already marked Bankruptcy Discharge. I was told it could take up to 6 months to a year. Only a couple still had overdue balances.
Tried to apply for a credit card to see if I could get one at that point but no, got refused. Well, was worth a try.
Three months went by, now we're in November. I've been receiving lots of those credit card offers in the mail that say, "You're pre-approved!" so I went ahead and let them try and approve me this time. Wow, they approved!
I got my first credit card with $300 credit. It has a $59 annual fee and is 9.9% interest. Awesome! I finally get to start building my credit back up.
From all the research I've been doing about building up credit I learned that to grow or improve credit, well one of the things is to keep the debt to available credit ratio low. So my plan is to first pay off the annual fee and any other fees they may charge to the $300 credit. Then I will make small purchases, probably around $30 to $50 per month and pay them off each month when I get the bill. This should push my credit history towards the top. It will probably take me a while at that rate to get my credit increased but I am excited about getting this chance. My second chance!
Tried to apply for a credit card to see if I could get one at that point but no, got refused. Well, was worth a try.
Three months went by, now we're in November. I've been receiving lots of those credit card offers in the mail that say, "You're pre-approved!" so I went ahead and let them try and approve me this time. Wow, they approved!
I got my first credit card with $300 credit. It has a $59 annual fee and is 9.9% interest. Awesome! I finally get to start building my credit back up.
From all the research I've been doing about building up credit I learned that to grow or improve credit, well one of the things is to keep the debt to available credit ratio low. So my plan is to first pay off the annual fee and any other fees they may charge to the $300 credit. Then I will make small purchases, probably around $30 to $50 per month and pay them off each month when I get the bill. This should push my credit history towards the top. It will probably take me a while at that rate to get my credit increased but I am excited about getting this chance. My second chance!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
It's Official, All Debt Has Been Discharged! - Part 6
Finally, yesterday, I got the letter from the bankruptcy Court confirming the discharge of all my debt. My lawyer attached a note to the letter where she tells me to keep this letter with the petition papers for the next 10 years.
I guess this is going to be my fresh start. Well, actually it's not that fresh, smells like crappy credit to me, but at least the debt is gone. Ok, it's not "at least" I am overwelmingly grateful for this country and the laws it has. For allowing me to reach for my dream and allowing me to make mistakes and learn through them. Thank you my USA!
So what's next?
In about a month or two I will get my credit report for all 3 credit agencies. I will need to check to make sure that all the credit companies have updated my credit report with the bankruptcy. Will need to make sure that all the acounts are closed.
The credit companies that have not updated my credit history will need to be contacted and begged, bribed and nagged until they do.
Once that is all done and my credit is squeeky clean (with one ginormous exception; bankruptcy) I can start rebuilding my credit. I can't wait untill then. For some reason I've been having this urge to become a homeowner. I can't wait till I can buy a home. I can almost taste it.
Anyway, I will update once I check my credit in a few months. Thanks for reading. Leave some feedback for me, I want to know if anyone's reading this.
I guess this is going to be my fresh start. Well, actually it's not that fresh, smells like crappy credit to me, but at least the debt is gone. Ok, it's not "at least" I am overwelmingly grateful for this country and the laws it has. For allowing me to reach for my dream and allowing me to make mistakes and learn through them. Thank you my USA!
So what's next?
In about a month or two I will get my credit report for all 3 credit agencies. I will need to check to make sure that all the credit companies have updated my credit report with the bankruptcy. Will need to make sure that all the acounts are closed.
The credit companies that have not updated my credit history will need to be contacted and begged, bribed and nagged until they do.
Once that is all done and my credit is squeeky clean (with one ginormous exception; bankruptcy) I can start rebuilding my credit. I can't wait untill then. For some reason I've been having this urge to become a homeowner. I can't wait till I can buy a home. I can almost taste it.
Anyway, I will update once I check my credit in a few months. Thanks for reading. Leave some feedback for me, I want to know if anyone's reading this.
Monday, May 28, 2007
The Creditors Meeting - Part 5
This day finally came. We're (my wife Jenni and me) at the Federal building early, about half an hour. We were told to be there early to have plenty of time to get through the security. The place we need to be is on the third floor. As we come up around the corner, there is two people sitting in this empty hall way. The door is locked. Its really quiet. So we sat down trying to not make too much noise as the old waiting room chairs squeaked. There was still about 28 minutes left till our "appointment". There was a clock on the wall so we just sat there quietly as the minutes passed.
A few more people started to come up. Then a heavy-set man with a black rolling suitcase came up. He stood there for a minute and then walked off, leaving the suit case there, right in the middle of all the people that were here. I didn't feel very comfortable with that. All the terrorism news make me a bit paranoid about these kind of things. Jenni suggested that we walk around the corner because she also wasn't very comfortable with that. Then as we walked, the man that left the suitcase was on his way back, he just went to the rest room. That made both of us feel a lot better.
About five minutes to 9, the presiding "Judge" opened the door and we all started pouring into the room. This wasn't the court room you always see on TV, this was a room that reminded me of a classroom. There was rows of foldable chairs and in the front of the room was the "bench". They took 2 "lunch room" tables and slid them together to make one square table.
It is time. The judge called another couple first then us. As we came up to the bench, our attorney met us there at the big table.
He asked to see our driver licenses and social security cards as proof of identity.
The judge asked us,
"Do you swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?", we said, "yes".
So he went on, "Do you own any real-estate?","No", I replied.
"Have you ever owned any real-estate?" he asked, "Yes" I said.
"What happened to it?", "We sold it in 2004" I answered.
"What happened to the proceeds?" he asked, "There was none", I replied. (We sold the house at a loss).
He flipped through our file, signed the last page and let us go. The entire thing lasted about 3 minutes. We still had about 45 minutes in the parking meter when we got to the car.
"So what now?" I thought. Later that day Jenni called our attorney and asked what happens now, she said "Hopefully nothing". The creditors/court has 60 days to file any appeals or bring up any issues. Within the next 60 days we should receive a letter from the court that will state that our bankruptcy is final.
I guess we have to wait some more. I can't wait till I can start rebuilding our credit.
A few more people started to come up. Then a heavy-set man with a black rolling suitcase came up. He stood there for a minute and then walked off, leaving the suit case there, right in the middle of all the people that were here. I didn't feel very comfortable with that. All the terrorism news make me a bit paranoid about these kind of things. Jenni suggested that we walk around the corner because she also wasn't very comfortable with that. Then as we walked, the man that left the suitcase was on his way back, he just went to the rest room. That made both of us feel a lot better.
About five minutes to 9, the presiding "Judge" opened the door and we all started pouring into the room. This wasn't the court room you always see on TV, this was a room that reminded me of a classroom. There was rows of foldable chairs and in the front of the room was the "bench". They took 2 "lunch room" tables and slid them together to make one square table.
It is time. The judge called another couple first then us. As we came up to the bench, our attorney met us there at the big table.
He asked to see our driver licenses and social security cards as proof of identity.
The judge asked us,
"Do you swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?", we said, "yes".
So he went on, "Do you own any real-estate?","No", I replied.
"Have you ever owned any real-estate?" he asked, "Yes" I said.
"What happened to it?", "We sold it in 2004" I answered.
"What happened to the proceeds?" he asked, "There was none", I replied. (We sold the house at a loss).
He flipped through our file, signed the last page and let us go. The entire thing lasted about 3 minutes. We still had about 45 minutes in the parking meter when we got to the car.
"So what now?" I thought. Later that day Jenni called our attorney and asked what happens now, she said "Hopefully nothing". The creditors/court has 60 days to file any appeals or bring up any issues. Within the next 60 days we should receive a letter from the court that will state that our bankruptcy is final.
I guess we have to wait some more. I can't wait till I can start rebuilding our credit.
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