New Credit Cards During Chapter 13
Quote:
Quoting
M'sta Mikey
First and foremost, you cannot obtain anything (new credit, loans, etc) without the approval of the trustee! If you do and the trustee finds out (and he/she will), they will move to immediately discharge your bankruptcy; leaving you at the mercy of your creditors with no other options available.
I'm new here....and the above statement has me horrified!!! We filed Chap 13 in Oct, 2005 and are nearing the end of our 36 month payments on this Arizona Chapt 13. We've made every single payment on time, and turned over our tax refunds. Trying to do everything right.
But, about 6 months after the plan approval, on advice from a "BK Guru" at a recovery seminar, we opened up a $750 secured VISA credit card account with some of our grocery money and that is all we ever use that card for.....to buy our groceries.
Then, about 6 months later, we received a pre-approved credit card invitation. In hopes of starting to repair our credit, we filled out the app and amazingly, we received a VISA credit card account with a $1500 credit line. We have used it very sparingly(never more than $600 and mainly for Internet purchases) and have paid it off every month. They have even recently increased our credit line to $2300. But now, after reading the above quote, I'm really freaked!! Are we now in a world of hurt?? We want this 13 to end with no problems. Please....some hopeful advice. Thanks
Re: New Credit Cards During Chapter 13
Are you saying you accepted these cards without notifying/getting approval from the trustee? Any add'l. debt. during the Chapter 13 bankruptcy (ie credit cards, loans) needs to be approved by the trustee.
Re: New Credit Cards During Chapter 13
Can't make any guarantees, but based on my years of experience and thousands of Chapter 13 clients..... I feel pretty safe in saying that it is very unlikely the Trustee will find out about your new credit cards unless you say something. So the best idea at this point is keep your mouth shut and stop using the cards until you are out of the Ch 13. Again I can't say this with certainty but I have had hundreds of clients who obtained credit cards while in Ch 13 even after being advised not to, and the Trustee never found out about it. Just do NOT open any new credit accounts until you get out of the Ch 13. Chances are, if you speak with your BK attorney about this he/she will most likely tell you the same thing.
Re: New Credit Cards During Chapter 13
The trustee *may* not find out but this is still something you should not have done w/o the trustee's approval.