Best Credit Cards After Bankruptcy
You will find 10's of thousands of sources offering personal credit cards. In reality, there are only about 200 companies in the U.S. that actually issue credit cards. All other offers are merely resellers that direct your application to one of these established companies. Be careful. All credit card companies are not created equally, and some actively engage in predatory lending practices. Major qualifying factors for the best credit cards after discharge include:
- Application fee
- Annual fee
- Interest rate
- Late Fees
Is there any one left who hasn't received a promise of 0% interest for balances transfers? Be aware, credit card companies issue these offers with surgical precision, targeting customers with a high probability of violating any one of hundreds of ways used to retract the offer, and then begin charging 21%, and even up to 34% annual interest on the worst credit card offers today. These absurd interest rates are considered legal (in only a few states) for companies incorporating under creditor-haven laws (i.e. South Dakota, in case you are wondering why so many statements are issued from Sioux Falls). See also:
Qualifying the best credit cards after bankruptcy
You are not alone. Everyone is frustrated when attempting to read tiny gray print used in credit card agreements. Even less, does anyone understand the terms included? PBS recently assembled a blue-chip panel of 20 of the most highly qualified finance professionals nationwide (10 contract attorneys and 10 accounts) to decipher the term "Universal Default." This term appears in most credit card agreements as a condition of approval. The paneled concluded they could not understand the obligations contained in these agreements and could not find a meaningful limitation on events consider as an event of default. Is this practice legal? No, absolutely not according to traditional jurisprudence. But, since 2000, the federal government prosecuted only one credit card company for overcharging (Providian which earned 60% of it's gross income from holding payments to produce late fees) even though the Better Business Bureau reports the most common complaint received nationwide pertains to unauthorized penalties assessed under these agreements. Buyer beware - you will not receive consumer protection from the federal government. In fact, a law suit is now pending, filed by Attorney Generals of all 50 states, contesting federal preemption of state rights to protect residents from predatory lending practices.
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