Credit Cards for Business Travel after Bankruptcy

Credit Card for Business Travel

After Bankruptcy I needed a Credit card for Business travel. Yes, I have a debit card that I could use. However, right after my bankruptcy discharge I had to travel for work for a week I used my debit card. This “was” fine because the hotel costs were already covered by my work. However, when I arrived to the hotel they put $250.00 hold on my account until after I checked out. They of course would deduct any hotel charges I had and release the hold on 250.

They wanted to make sure I had enough to cover any costs for my hotel room. You know, just incase I wanted to order some burgers, wine, porn movies etc. I still don’t make that much money that I am free and clear to just have them put a hold on my account for “possible’ charges that ‘may occur. I filed in Nov had my 341 in January and had just had my discharge when I had to travel.

After my credit less experience I wanted to get another credit card for business travel. I would just use it to pay for all my travel expenses and be reimbursed to pay off my credit card. I just filed bankruptcy and really have no desire to own a credit card. However, reality is if you are in business and periodically travel you should have a credit card. I could ask my company for an Amex card but I am too paranoid I would be declined. I wonder what questions would arise if I was denied the amex card. It’s not like I told everyone I was claiming bankruptcy.

My first thought was I need to check my credit report or more specifically check my FICO score before applying for a credit card. If it was really low I would not apply and just wait. I was wondering what my score would be. I ended up reaffirming two vehicles, house and was still paying on school loans. I actually should have some positive credit history right out of Bankruptcy. Still, I really wondered what kind of havoc my credit scored suffered after bankruptcy. The sick thing is FICO score does not define who you are but if you want to save money and qualify for loans you better have a decent score.

I finally pulled my FICO score for one of the reporting agencies and my FICO was 633. I was actually surprised it was this high. I really had figured it would be low 500’s. So, this eased my thought on applying for a credit card. I would now start my search online for credit cards after bankruptcy and see if I could read any success stories of people qualifying for credit cards after BK. I found several people talking about Orchard bank and Capitol 1. People seemed to be have success on obtaining credit card through Capitol one after they had claimed bankruptcy. I even read someone BK’d Capitol One and applied for a credit card 6 months later and was approved. I figured I would apply for the Capitol One Credit and see if I qualified.

I did have some apprehensions about applying to Capitol One because my wife had them and they seem to charge several fees and try to work the charges so you have very little credit available when you start using them. I figured I would receive a low credit limit with an annual fee. I really despise annual fees. So I was prepared to have a card with an annual fee, low credit limit and a high annual percentage rate. I went online and did a quick credit application and what do you know I was instantly approved with a $500.00 credit line and 0% interest for 6months. I did have to pay a 29.00 annual fee. That seemed too simple right out of bankruptcy to get a credit card. This actually bothered me qualifying for a credit card 3 months after the discharge of my bankruptcy or nine months after filing. I suppose it was most likely my on time payments for 8 months after reaffirming my vehicles and home.

I received my card in about 7 days and went to activate the card. So, upon verification of all the information I submitted my card was activated at 24%. Yikes, 24% for a credit card. It’s robbery I guess I have to keep on paying for filing for awhile. I was happy to find out that when I activated my card Capitol One has what they call a “Credit Steps” program where if you do the following you can get a credit increase. You need to:

1) Use your card in the first 30-60 days.

2) Make 3 consecutive on time payments

3) Not go over your credit limit

I did read about the program on other sites and I guess I can expect an increase to 1,000.00 then to $1,500.00 I figured if I can increase my limit I will try to qualify for another credit card later at some other point. I would like to get one with a decent credit limit (4K-5K) and then cancel my other credit card. My next question is can I qualify for a car loan right now; my cars will be paid off early next year. I am sure if I can qualify for a credit card after my bankruptcy in Michigan even if it was only for business travel.

Why file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Why should you file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Michigan? It is a good idea if you have so much credit card debt and you don't qualify for chapter 7 bankruptcy.  One of the drawbacks is the cost of chapter 13 bankruptcies or the ability to refinance during a chapter 13 bankruptcies.

 Chapter 13 bankruptcy law is at times referred to as reorganization bankruptcy.  It’s uniquely different than Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy virtually all of your debts are extinguished. But, you must give up any belongings that aren’t exempt from seizure by your creditors. Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, you don’t have to forfeit any worldly property. But, you’re expected to utilize your income to pay off some or all of what you owe your creditors. Your payments to creditors are made over time, usually from three to five years. The time parameter hinges on the amount of your debts and income.

 People sometimes find it necessary to file bankruptcy again. The good news is you can file again; the bad news is you may want to wait a while. Under the new bankruptcy law, you can file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy eight years after you initially filed for Chapter 7.. You must wait four years to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy again.

You can actually file for Chapter 13 even before the 4 year limit, but in this case you’ll have to pay back 100% of your debt over time. While this might not sound like an appealing option, it may be a useful approach for people attempting to save their home from foreclosure.

When Should You File

Whether to file bankruptcy is a personal decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Should you decide to file bankruptcy you should be aware of the effects.  Here are some things to consider as you evaluate your financial situation.  You might file bankruptcy if:

 You wouldn’t be able to repay your debt within five years.

• You don’t have many assets or savings.
• Your wages are being garnished.
• You’ve had repossession.
• One or more of your debt payments are more than 30 days past due.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows you to keep your assets in exchange for setting up a repayment plan. An individual can file once every two years and the bankruptcy will appear on a credit report for 10 years.

Filing for bankruptcy will make loans more costly and may make unsecured loans impossible to obtain. Qualified retirement plan assets, such as 401(k)s, are protected under all bankruptcy filings, and assets of up to $1 million in IRAs are also protected.

In the end if you want to keep most all of your stuff you will file a chapter 13 Bankrutpcy. However, you work starts before you file by finding the right Michigan Bankruptcy Attorney. Fortunately for me when I filed Bankruptcy in Lansing I had done my research and met with several attorneys before I decided which one I would use. It was a pain but my attorney made me look at all aspects of bankruptcy before filing and this included an analysis of filing Chapter 13.

 

 

341 meeting

Having your 341 bankruptcy hearing also known as the meeting of the creditors is a clear sign you are well on your way to starting to resolve your debt issues. If you have an excellent bankruptcy attorney you should not have any issues or surprises when you attend your 341 hearing. Depending on your debt and your case you could have creditors show up at your meeting. If they show up it is because they have an objection to discharging the debt. This is the kind of thing where you just transferred a large amount of debt from one card to another. Or if you decided to purchase something large with the past 3-6 months. They could have a case, I highly doubt the would suceed. If so, you would have known about it before this meeting.

This meeting is where you most are meeting the trustee. Deciding to file bankruptcy was most likely tuff decision. However, you're starting to hit the home stretch when you are notified of your of the date you and your bankruptcy attorney need to appear in court. Yes, it is stressful, however if you were truthful in filling out all of your paperwork things should go smooth.
It is common for for these Bankruptcy hearings or 341 meetings to last only 5-10 minutes. If you get their a half hour early you should be able to sit through a couple bankruptcy hearings.

The meeting of the creditors will consist of questions such as, did you review the paperwork being submitted, what is your ssn, do you expect any money or inheritance in the next X amount of months. These are all general questions. You should keep your answers to YES or NO.. Don't offer additional information and always make sure the trustee completes his/her question before answering. You should also be prepared to give a brief statment of why you filed. Keep it short and to the point. It should be the elevator story. The more you talk the more you allow the trustee to come up with questions if they thing their is something "off' about your story

I had to file in Michigan's Eastern district and ended filing or having my meeting in Lansing. So, I guess I could say I filed my Bankruptcy in Lansing or more specifically had my 341 in Lansing. The hard work was completed on deciding to file bankruptcy and gathering all your required bankruptcy documents. The 341 is basically a general hearing that begins to finalize everything. Remember, the meeting is a formality and their shoud be no surprises. If their is going to be an issue, you would have been asked to provide much more documention after you filed and prior to your 341 meeting.