Are Credit Cards After Bankruptcy A Dangerous Option?

By Jamey Smith

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.

As you may or may not know once someone has filed for bankruptcy they cannot do so again until seven years have passed. This is in fact one of the reasons why companies are even willing to provide credit cards in this situation.

You see normally credit card debt is considered un-secure, but when the person in debt cannot file bankruptcy the credit card company has the option to use wage attachment to get back the 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.

Many companies offering a credit card after bankruptcy offer it as a help in rebuilding a credit rating and even with annual fees as well as processing fees, sometimes equaling the initial credit limit, people take them out hoping to get back on their financial feet.

For some things quickly get worse and worse

Here is a little example for you: Say a person has a credit card after bankruptcy with initial fees of $290 with an initial credit limit of $300. If this person is even one day late with a payment he or she could be looking at a late fee of around $30!

This pushes your liability to $320, causing another $30 to be added as an over the limit fee. The person holding this credit card after bankruptcy now has a debt of $350 and they have not used the card at all.

To make matters even worse the interest rate on this card could quickly add up on the maximum that is allowed by law since the obligations on the credit card after bankruptcy were not met.

With the exception of actually paying up there really isn't an easy way out at this stage, especially as many companies will make the demand that they are paid in full within 30 days.

This can include anything from daily phone calls to court proceedings and wage garnishment. Once this happens, getting out of debt from that one credit card after bankruptcy can take years to clear up.

So as you can see although it is possible, it comes with some possible hefty consequences! The bottom line is, it will depend on your situation and your ability to keep in check on your payments as to whether it would be for you or not. - 23199

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Now go see Can I Get A Mortgage After Bankruptcy and or read this site to read more about the Types Of Bankruptcy