CREDIT CARD OFFERS – NO FICO SCORE PROBLEMS FOR FIDO
by Marvin Wolf, Esq.

My bankruptcy clients sometimes ask me if they can get a credit card after filing bankruptcy. I tell them the problem is not that they won’t get a credit card, it’s that they will.

To explain how easy it is to get on the credit card bandwagon again (and back into the old traps), I tell them about the following cases:

A colleague’s daughter recently received her first Platinum credit card application. The daughter is 2 ? years old.

Another colleague got a card offer addressed to Mr. Gro Ceries.

A Maryland attorney’s dog proved that Capital One never says no.

Another attorney’s dog got a credit card offer a couple of years ago and the attorney put a paw print on the signature line and sent it in. They sent the card.

A credit card offer recently went to a man addressed as “Palestinian Bomber.” I understand he is now suing the company.

Remember, if you have a $1,000 balance on a credit card at 12% interest and only make minimum payments, it will take 8 years and 3 months to pay it off; at 21% interest it will take 19 years, 7 months and you will ultimately pay $3,797.52 on that balance – not including any late charges or overlimit fees.

So, if you can’t get a credit card because your credit score isn’t high enough, don’t worry. Maybe you can get your dog to co-sign for you.

Marvin Wolf is a Newark attorney who specializes in consumer and bankruptcy law, real estate transactions and immigration. He practices in New Jersey and New York, and is admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Union, Essex and Middlesex County bar associations and has served as a volunteer consumer case arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York. This article is intended to convey general legal information and should not be considered legal advice.