September 9, 2010

Rebuild Your Credit: Start with These Cards

When you are fresh from bankruptcy, you may decide you never want to touch a piece of plastic again.  But here are some questions to consider: - Do I want to buy a house? Do I need to buy a car? Do I have kids that need help for college? If you answered yes to any of these questions, can you pay cash?  If not, you will need to secure a mortgage, auto financing, or a student loan sometime in the future, and you will need to rebuild your credit history for that purpose. - What about buying a cell phone?  Renting an apartment?  Most apartment managers or landlords will ask to run your credit as a condition of renting.  Even cell phone companies will run your credit when you sign up for service.  So more than likely you will need a decent credit score for any number of things. - Credit cards, carefully selected and used, can be a good way to rebuild your credit.  Credit card offers may already be flooding your mailbox.  Most of them will not be worth pursuing.  But if … [Read more...]

Financing A Car Just Out of Bankruptcy

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a customer who just completed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. My client agreed to help with my research regarding automobile financing since he himself was in the process of shopping for an auto loan. The value here is that he is just out of bankruptcy, which allows me to present to you an actual scenario rather than a hypothetical situation. It is also relevant in light of all the new financing guidelines that are prevalent due to the current recession and its affect on financing. Over the next two issues my goal is to help you understand what you need to know and do to finance a car right after bankruptcy. Following is an outline of what we will cover over the next two issues: Financing: Who is actually doing the loan? What is the finance company looking for? How to be prepared before visiting the dealership. What local dealerships in the DFW area will help you. The very first step once your bankruptcy has been discharged, is to obtain … [Read more...]