Are Credit Cards After Bankruptcy A Risky Option?

By Henry Ling

In spite of the stigma and possible embarrassment of filing for bankruptcy, many folks have mitigating circumstances that make it often their only option to bypass repeated court proceedings against them. One thing that often worries these people is the obtaining of a Credit Card after Bankruptcy.

Credit card after bankruptcy however are indeed available but the catch is that normally you can expect to end up paying fairly high rates for the privilege and even additional annual fees.

One the reasons companies will offer a credit card after bankruptcy is the fact that a person cannot file for bankruptcy for at least seven years after the initial action has been discharged.

Thanks to this credit card companies have a legal recourse to use to collect any debts the credit card holder may end up with. Credit card debts are normally unsecured, however when someone cannot file bankruptcy, wage attachment can be used by the company to get back their money.

There are numerous dangers is obtaining a credit card after bankruptcy, beyond the usually higher interest rate, as charges for being late with a payment as well as annual fees can quickly put the person into a bad credit risk again.

Credit cards after bankruptcy are very often offered by companies supposedly as an option to help rebuild ones credit rating. People will very often pick these cards up in the hope of getting back on their feet. This is despite the fact that total annual fees can sometimes even equal that of their initial credit limit.

For some things quickly get worse and worse

Unfortunately, if you have a credit card after bankruptcy, and the initial fees, for example, are $290, and their initial credit limit is $300, being even a day late with the payment will result in a late fee of, on average, $30.

In turn this would push-up the liability to $320 which would cause another $30 fee for being over the limit, this means that the credit card holder would now have a debt of $350!

On top of all this since you have failed at this point in your obligations, your interest rate on your card can very quickly go to the maximum allowed by law.

There really is no way out either, with the exception of paying the balance on the credit card. Quite a lot of companies demand that the payment be made within 30 days and if that does not happen you would face collection action.

Daily phone calls, court proceedings, you name it, from here on in things can really get ugly and fixing the mess often takes several years.

So there you have it, is it possible? Yes. But is it advisable? That is obviously going to depend on your ability to keep in check with payments and just how much you really need a credit card after bankruptcy. - 23226

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Also see Mortgage Loans After Bankruptcy and or read this site to read more about the Types Of Bankruptcy