Hello! Got my discharged paper in the mail today! It's a big relieve! My goals are as follows: -1 credit card ONLY, never try to get more! with reasonable credit line (NOT GOLD card!) -Buy a house in about 2 years -replace my truck for a smaller new car (e.g. gas saving, no bells and whistles stuff in the car!) need it anytime this summer! Since I got my discharge (Ch. 7), do you have any recommendation how to improve credit? do you know what is the FICO score right after discharge? I know I will pay everything ON TIME! the only debts I can handle is auto and home loans (along with 1 low credit line credit card) Basically any recommendations are welcomed! (Please, I'm not going to do "credit fix quick kind of stuff" I filed for bankruptcy, that's it...it'll be on my credit file for up to 7 to 10 years!) Thanks in advance! Thomas G.
You might want to start off with a secured credit card. Try: www.bankofamerica.com www.capitalone.com Then after good payment histories they may move you to an unsecured card. Getting an unsecured card with such a new bankruptcy might be hard. As for buying a home, I know FHA wants 4 yrs at least of perfect paying history after a discharge. I'm not sure if that is set in stone but you may have to pay a much higher interest rate if you try in 2 years. Also, save up a good downpayment. That will help. And your bankruptcy will stay on your report from 10 yrs of the discharge date.
But if you secure the card then why wouldn't they give it to you? Oh and BTW you didn't mention you included BofA and Capital One in your chp 7 so I didn't know. You can look on www.bankrate.com under secured cards and search for one
Sorry for not stating that in the first place... I'm looking at Bankrate.com right now and see what is best for us. Cheers! Tom
Bank of America will turn down a secured credit card application with a BK on the report. If you don't care about your BK being on all 3 reports go this route to get a house 2 years after your discharge. Get a American Pacific Bank secured credit card NOW that you have your discharge papers. Do this as soon as you can to establish new credit. Deposit $300-$15000 and they will match the deposit. After 9 months of good account history the will give you a 25% unsecured credit raise. $300 deposit= $375 limit. Max deposit for 25% raise is $2000 which would give a $2500 credit line. At the 18 month point it is 50% $300 deposit = $450 or $2000 deposit = $3000 limit. It is also possible to get the card unsecured at the 18 month point but you may not qualify for it. American Pacific Bank will not take unsecured credit applications outside a few states but if you start with the secured card and work your way up with time you can some day get it unsecured. Pull all 3 reports and circle all of your accounts that were included in your bankruptcy. If you are not looking to clean up your credit report 100% then do this. Make sure all of your old accounts end up saying "discharged or included in bankruptcy". You are not late on these accounts and you do not owe a balance so make sure they are not reported that way. Then you should get 2 or 3 more unsecured or secured credit cards right away after your credit report is accurate, "the way you want it". You need a few positive accounts after a bankruptcy to get a mortgage 2 years after your discharge from Bankruptcy. Your FICO score will be in the high 600's or low 700's at the 2 year point. Those scores should be good enough to get a mortgage but wait until the 2 year discharge point. Many others here will disagree with this advise and tell you to put alot of time and effort to get everything deleted including your credit history which does help your FICO score. The BK and older negatives do hurt a little more in the long run, but it seems like you are a busy person and just want to move on and have learned from it. Just remember though you will not be able to get a great credit card offer for about 7 to 10 years if you go this route but will get average offers over time. Make sure you are not going to decide to delete everything if you take this advise. Once you say included in BK you are pretty much stuck with it but it is WAY better than being late or owing a balance. You need to establish new credit right away, and fix your reports the easy way in other words. One credit card is not enough you need around 3 or 4 to acheive those goals. GOOD LUCK!!!
