My wife and I filed for Bankruptcy Chapter 7 which was discharged last month, July. I just have a few questions.... Our goal is to purchase a house at least 2 years from now. We currently have no credit cards at all, just checking, savings, debit cards (from checking) and a Honda finance auto loan that was included in bankruptcy but kept paying Honda (Honda auto loan is never late) Does Honda Loan actually help with post-bankruptcy credit/and credit score *AS LONG AS WE KEEP PAYING ON TIME*? My FICO score 2 weeks after discharge was 513, don't know about my wife yet. Since we really don't want to get new credit cards now, maybe later only 1 credit card (Joint) for emergencies, etc... Must we have 1 or how many credit card in addition to exisiting auto loan to improve odds of getting mortgage in about 2 years? Thanks in Advance! Thomas Gagliano
You have two years to rebuild your credit....do it NOW. One of the worse things you could do is open up "new accounts" before applying for a mortgage. Not only could the inquiry hurt your score, but the NEW ACCOUNT will hurt your score more. If you start now, you have at least two years to let your NEW ACCOUNTS AGE, this could really help your FICO's in the future, but it takes time. I don't know what the perfect mix of credit is, but I know one car loan account will not help you much. I would recommend a few cc's (even if you have to get a secured), and doing a "savings secured loan." Just make sure the savings secured loan reports to the CRA's. I did a savings secured loan and when it reported, it really boosted my scores. Don't wait to start rebuilding, it takes time for new accounts to positively affect your score.
Hi, What about exisiting Honda auto loan? Does this help? and what CC (or secured CC) do you recommend? Thanks! Thomas Gagliano
