The only bank that would give me a private student loan post-bankruptcy was ASTRIVE. (Filed 4/2004, discharged 7/2004, applied 7/2006 for private loan for last year of grad school.) I applied to Citibank and Key Bank and was TOTALLY turned down. Even though I had student loans with them in the past.
ASTRIVE pulled my CR from TU which I wish I had known at the time. (TU reports the lowest FICO for me among the three because there are mistakes on my TU report that I am trying to correct.)
ASTRIVE required a co-signer and the rate was higher than other private loans I received. (Maybe I wouldn't have needed a co-signer if FICO was higher? Not sure how that works.)
I was worried they weren't legit, but searching CB for ASTRIVE I came up this from a recent (1/2006) thread which said that TERI was a legit lender. I'm guessing ASTRIVE is for student loans to those with lower FICOs.
QUOTE
About Astrive
Astrive student loans are funded by Charter One Bank, N.A., and guaranteed by The Education Resources Institute, Inc. (TERI), the nation's largest non-profit guarantor of private student loans.
TERI helps families plan and pay for college and fill financial aid gaps. Since its founding in 1985, TERI has assisted over one million students. For more information, visit teri.org.
Charter One Financial, Inc. was acquired by Citizens Financial Group, Inc. on August 31, 2004. Charter One Financial, Inc. was the publicly traded parent company of Charter One Bank, N.A. At the time of the acquisition, Charter One Bank became part of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., and Charter One Financial, Inc. ceased to exist. Charter One Bank, N.A. will remain an operating entity of Citizens Financial Group, Inc.