Availability of Credit Cards After Bankruptcy

A common concern of people considering Chapter 7 bankruptcy is whether they should keep and reaffirm one or more credit cards during bankruptcy. Many Chapter 7 bankruptcy clients believe they need at least one credit card after filing bankruptcy to pay normal  daily expenses, and in some cases, business and travel expenses. I tell most of my clients that they will be able to get  new credit cards immediately after bankruptcy so that they should not reaffirm existing debt just to preserve credit cards for their convenience. Today's New York Times published an article about an individual bankruptcy debtor which confirms credit card availability to bankruptcy debtors. Link: The Debt Trap - Banks Mine Data and Pitch to Troubled Borrowers - NYTimes.com.

The New York Times article states that Chapter 7 debtors receive each week  several unsolicited credit card offers after they file bankruptcy. The article criticizes the credit card industry for making credit too easily available to people who have demonstrated financial difficulty by their bankruptcy filing. It suggest that bankruptcy debtors are targeted by credit card companies. Anyone who files bankruptcy must be conservative in their use of credit after bankruptcy because they are unable to repeat bankruptcy for eight years. However, those bankruptcy debtors who feel they can borrow responsibly and conservatively the credit card industry quickly will make available to you new credit cards which you can use for convenience of payment. If you must file bankruptcy you should be very careful about reaffirming existing credit card debt because you believe you cannot live without a credit card. You will, as the Times report, have numerous offers of new credit cards with zero balances after you file bankruptcy.

posted by Jonathan Alper, bankruptcy and asset protection attorney, Orlando, Florida