The truth is that Bankruptcy is a negative credit event. However, it’s not life threatening and there are ways to immediately start rebuilding your credit after you file with your Roseville Bankruptcy Attorneys. Especially after filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, also known as the “Fresh Start Bankruptcy”, allows you to press the re-set button and get all of your unsecured credit card, medical, department store card and some personal loan debt discharged in only four months! Now a lot of people assume that their life is over at this point, at least financially, but that’s not the case. There are a lot things that you can do to start rebuilding your credit to start getting those larger loans and mortgages again.
1. Pull Your Credit Report
Two months after you get your bankruptcy discharge, in a bankruptcy filed by the Roseville Bankruptcy Attorneys, you will want to pull your free annual credit report. Go to annualcreditreport.com to check your credit and make sure that all of your discharged debts are completely off your credit report. If they’re not all gone you will need to get them removed. Make sure you dispute any mistakes on the report. Once your credit report is completely clean many credit card companies are going to want to give you an opportunity to get a credit card from them. Now this seems odd doesn’t it? But really think about it, you have to wait another 8 years before you can file bankruptcy again. This makes you a very low risk to them. They know that they have 8 years to capitalize off of you, risk free. Your mailbox will be flooded with credit card opportunities, no questions asked!
2. Immediately Apply For a Secured Credit Card
The very first day after you get discharged you can go ahead and start re-establishing your credit. You do not have to wait 10 years for the bankruptcy to come off of your report to start receiving credit again. Go to creditcards.com and get a secured card or talk to Prudent Financial, Capitol One or Home Trust Visa. The secured credit card is a pre-paid credit card that gets reported to the credit bureaus just like an unsecured credit card and will give you a debt that looks like a loan. Anytime you have a credit card and use it, by using 50% of the limit and paying it off every month, you will get bigger bumps in your credit score versus a home or car loan. That is because your house and car are considered necessities. The credit bureaus don’t give you a lot of praise for that. If you do this within 3 years or less you will have gone a long way towards reestablishing your credit again.
3. Pull Your Credit Report Again After 6 Months
If you use your credit card by using 50% of the limit and paying it off every month in as little as 6 months you will see a huge boost in your credit score, up to 100 points, bringing you close to where you were at right before you filed bankruptcy. Now you will be able to find specialized lenders that focus exclusively in helping people get mortgages who have been through a bankruptcy. There are a lot of them out there.
4. Make Payments on a Small Purchase
Another easy way to begin re-building your credit is to make a smaller purchase and put it on a payment plan. Go down to the local Best Buy, Home Furniture Outlet or local car lot in Roseville and buy a new TV, living room or bedroom set or get an auto loan. Buy something under $5000 put it on the payment plan and start making payments. This shows that you are handling monthly bills and paying them on time. Better yet make your payments early! This is going look really good by showing an excellent payment history which will give you big bumps on your credit score.
5. Get a Mortgage
After you’ve completed your bankruptcy case with the Kain & Scott Bankruptcy Attorneys in Roseville and have begun to re-build your credit find a lender that you like who specializes in getting people mortgages after bankruptcy. You should be able to find someone to get you a mortgage in as little as two years, especially if you are able to prove that you have made timely payments and by using your new credit cards and keeping your credit to debt ratio low. After you have one year of clean, re-established credit most of these lenders will give you a mortgage with 5% down, two years after your debt has been discharged. So don’t make any late payments and every time your bill comes in make sure you pay it immediately. Use online bill pay to make your payments quick and easy.
6. Talk To The Roseville Bankruptcy Attorneys
If you’ve decided to pursue a Bankruptcy and get your life back don’t let a possible temporary reduction of your credit score hold you back. The reality is most people’s credit score actually increases after the bankruptcy discharge. Why? Because they have no debt! After all you and your family are the most important, not the creditors, right? There’s no need to be worried because we know that there are many different ways to re-establish your credit and plenty of creditors and lenders who will want to help you after you file. At Kain & Scott our Bankruptcy Attorneys in Roseville, MN have over 47+ years of experience. We’ve seen thousands of different cases and know about these credit building opportunities for you immediately after you file. Let us help you escape from the misery of overwhelming debt and lead you to these opportunities after you file. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation bankruptcy consultation and find out how.
