I just received my discharge from chapter 7 and wonder whether I must wait until the case is actually 'closed' before attempting to re-establish credit? How long does the discharge status take to reach the CRAs? Must I provide creditors with discharge paperwork upon request, is this wise? Thank you for your time.
Start credit repair immediately. You need not send the discharge to your creditors, the Court will do that.
To Marydjw What does "wait to case is actually closed mean? I thought once you get your discharge papers its final. please brief me on this because I am awaiting my discharge order and I guess after that the discharge papers. Thanks
Well, the discharge means that the debts are no longer yours, but the court case itself remains open until closed. That's my understanding. According to the PACER website, the status is still "pending" awaiting closing.
I say start immediately but be prepared to get low limts and higer interest rates. One year after my discharge I got a $300 Cap1 card and one month later they increased my limit to $2250. I don't know why or how but they did. Then about two months after that I got a $300 Orchard card. One and a half year after discharge I received a $300 Exxon Mobile card (last week) and a $1000 Dillards card (yesterday in the mail). I did get declined for the Target Guest Card. Check the posts about Credit Cards after BK for a great list of creditors that will/will not grant credit to avoid unnecessary inq.
For me it was a Cap 1 secured (started at $200) and now is unsecured with a 3.2k cl (receoved the card about 6 months after filing) Providian started at 2k and now is 6.8k (rec. the card 4 years after filing) Providian MC started at 1k and now is 1.7k (rec the card 5 years after filing) Target Visa started at 6k and now is 6.9k (rec the card 6 years after filing) Target Guest Card started at $200 and remains at $200.00 (rec the card 6 years after filing) Marshall Field's Card start at $300 and now is $500 (rec the card 6 years after filing) Rec. mortgage and refine with decent rates on the 5th year of my filing. DFS (Dell Computer) 2.2k limit on a purchase rec the line 6 years after filing. I started to dispute and clear most of the junk stuff about the time I found this board. The bk-13 was the only thing I could not get off. Best regards, Mirage
You can apply for credit, even a mortgage, one day after your discharge. Of course, whether or not you'll be approved is a different matter! As far as closed--180 days is the time period when, for instance, if you suddenly receive a huge inheritance, it can still be taken by the courts to pay your debts. Ditto if you hit the lottery or the slots. However, on day 181 you can win 5 Million and the courts can't do a thing about it. I have a sneaky suspicion that this was instituted to be sure people weren't hiding assets or monies from the court that would have an effect on their BK. Just my opinion. But the above does apply, which is why you can see the # of days reported in PACER. My hubby tried American Pacific Bank for a credit card and he is waiting for their decision. Secured card w/minimum $300 deposit, rate 17.9%, reports as unsecured. We got an offer from Providian but the terms were ludicrous. Good luck in your future endeavors to get back on your credit feet.
Thanks for your response! I just got an offer for a visa with a required $200 deposit and $99 annual fee (19.80%APR). They say 'guaranteed'? Should I apply for this one or wait a while for additional offers? Some require that you be discharged at least 6 months. I'm in no rush for a credit card, per se, but would like to re-establish.
Wait about 2-3 months and see how it goes with the card you have been approved for. Get the "feel" for it so to speak. Charge something small and either pay the full balance or most of it, just to be sure they credit your payment on time and all seems normal. I'll post on the board when hubby hears from American Pacific. The $300 he sent opened a saving account with them, which of course is a good thing anyway. Having been burned ourselves and reading of others awful experiences with certain lenders, I think we all tend to be very cautious and even paranoid. We may have to apply for a used car loan--no more then $5000 max as it's a car for me. Being disabled my driving is limited and just a good old dependable car will do. The important thing is to show that one has different kinds of credit re-established, not just credit cards. One or two credit cards and maybe a car loan that's not too high seems a good way to start. Again, I wish you luck. It will take a lot to regain our trust again, won't it?
Re: Re: Received Chapter 7 discharg just wait..thats not a good offer and you will surely get more. I think it will depend on how your reports are tho....the bk won't hurt as much as accounts listed wrong,like a charge off or past due instead of being listed as included in bk with 0 balances etc. You can apply for credit the day your case is filed..but not a great idea. It will take about 2 mos after you receive discharge to get case closed confirmation but they still want to know of any big windfalls for 6 mos after filing. I received offer from HH before case was closed and just received cap1 a couple of months ago...let them come to you as they are usually better terms.and do watch the terms. neither of mine are secured. good luck!
Re: Re: Received Chapter 7 discharg Should I pull all three credit reports now, or wait? Would the discharge be listed this soon? I know it can take years to correct any problems, so I think now might be a good time to begin. Also, I had charge offs outside the BK, which I doubt the CRAs will agree to change to reflect 'included in BK', and I am losing my house in foreclosure, which is listed separate from the BK. I guess I'm just flat out of luck for about 10 years, what do you think? I appreciate your responses.
Re: Re: Received Chapter 7 discharg You sound exactly like my hubby and I went we received our discharge, so it's like deja vu for me! We ordered our reports very soon after discharge, but in reality it would take 2-3 months before the creditors start to report it correctly. After that, you have to keep after those that don't. An important thing to look for: some will try to show your account as a charge off, collection, written off as bad debt etc., without even mentioning a bankruptcy. Don't let them get away with it--when you dispute, tell them it should be" Discharged Chapter 7 Bankruptcy--$0 Balance". We were just anxious to see how the BK affected our scores. They ranged from 550-627. So really it's up to you whether you want to pull your reports now or wait. Just be aware that a lot of creditors may not have things listed properly this soon. Still you have the right to dispute, and can do so and then they will send you an updated report. In reading other boards and posts, most recommend not pulling the 3 in 1 reports, but to order directly from the bureaus themselves. Each will give you a different credit score. The only true way to get your real FICO score is to order from www.myfico.com There is no need to order from a third party--you know, those ads which pop up all over the place. If you do, it will appear as an inquiry on your report. If you order by yourself, it appears but does not qualify as a "hard pull" and will not effect your score. These are tips we've learned from reading message boards, including this one. You can, of course, decide which way to go. I do recommend that you sign up for a service offered by the bureaus, which informs you of any changes and also allows you to see your report more often. Read the products the bureaus offer on their websites and decide which one fills your needs. They sound expensive but in reality when broken down it doesn't come to all that much money considering the knowledge they give you. Again, good luck. It's a long, hard climb back up but not impossible to make.
Re: Re: Received Chapter 7 discharg Mary A few things... Don't order your credit reports right away - wait at least 45 days, otherwise you'll just be throwing your money away. It takes at least 30 days for your creditors to have "included in bk" or not "included in bk". For the tradelines "not included in bk" but actually were, you could have more choices. Also about www.myfico.com site - there's no way to dispute "on-line". You have to dispute by mail - not a bad thing when you have complex disputes that the "canned responses" from the actual websites don't offer (Experian.com, Transunion.com, and Equifax.com, TU and EQ have FICO scores for $12.95, the EXP "FACO" is $14.95). I've been somewhat successful with online disputes for simple matters. The only reason I can think that you'd want to order your myfico.com Experian report is for the FICO score. I'd wait at least six months to bother getting the FICO score. For me the ease of disputing on-line was why I chose to order my credit reports initially staight from the websites rather from myfico.com. Seven months after my discharge, I ordered my EXP FICO from myfico.com just to see what it is and it's actually 30 points higher than the EXP "FACO".
