Bouncing back from a Chap 7 BK

[tbenz6876]

On Dec 09 I filed a Chap 7 BK. I have been trying to get my score back into the mid to upper 600's since then but for some reason I am not having any luck. I have since start recreating good accounts:

Car Payment - Credit Union - No Lates - 22600.00 Balance

Car Payment - Bank - Reaffermed - No Lates 13500.00 Balance

Cap 1 CC - No Lates - 750.00 CL

HSBC CC - No Lates - 300.00 CL

MMCU CC - No Lates - 3000.00 CL Secured

CD Loan - No Lates - 1200.00

AFCU Loan - No Lates 5000.00

I pay the credit cards off every month leaving a $2 balance on each. All the other things are auto drafted from my bank account so I do not have to worry that they are even 1 day late. I do not understand why my scores are as followed:

574 TU

621 EQ

Is there anything else that I can do to boost the scores up there.

[tntexans72]

I don't know how Chap 7 BK works on a CR/fico scoring, but I had a medical collection back in 2005. My score was in the 500s...it didn't start to climb to mid 650 til 4-5yrs later when the CO aged.

[tntexans72]

For the last 5.5 yrs, I made all my payments, have no lates, negatives, etc.....and try to obtained new credit 2-3 (inquiries) every 6 months and build on those. My 1st CC was HSBC for $300, than Capital one for $500. It's a process and it will take time.

[MarineVietVet]

---

@tbenz6876 wrote:

On Dec 09 I filed a Chap 7 BK. I have been trying to get my score back into the mid to upper 600's since then but for some reason I am not having any luck. I have since start recreating good accounts:

Car Payment - Credit Union - No Lates - 22600.00 Balance

Car Payment - Bank - Reaffermed - No Lates 13500.00 Balance

Cap 1 CC - No Lates - 750.00 CL

HSBC CC - No Lates - 300.00 CL

MMCU CC - No Lates - 3000.00 CL Secured

CD Loan - No Lates - 1200.00

AFCU Loan - No Lates 5000.00

I pay the credit cards off every month leaving a $2 balance on each. All the other things are auto drafted from my bank account so I do not have to worry that they are even 1 day late. I do not understand why my scores are as followed:

574 TU

621 EQ

Is there anything else that I can do to boost the scores up there.

---

Hi there.

If you filed in 12/99 then your BK should have been deleted from your reports in 12/09 correct? No lates or other negatives since then that are still reporting?

Looking at your credit cards a technique you might try that seems to work well for most folks it to only let one of your cards report a small (<9% of it's credit limit) balance each month on it's statement and then pay in full before the due date to avoid interest. On the other 2 cards always have them report a zero balance each month. That doesn't mean you can't use them but just make sure you time the payments during the month so that the desired zero balance on these other cards is achieved several days before their statements post.

Scoring looks at several different things:

* Overall revolving utilization

* Individual card utilization

* Number of accounts reporting a balance every month. You can't do anything about the installment loans on this one but you can manage how many revolving accounts show a balance each month.

May I ask where you got your scores?

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[tbenz6876]

I got my scores from here at myfico.com. I know all the other sites are FACO scores and are not the real deal. I was thinking about getting the monthly monitoring to watch the scores but dont want to spend $40 a month just to monitor my scores.

[payingoffdebt001]

I read the post to say BK was in 2009, so is that still showing on report?  Maybe that is the problem? 

[tbenz6876]

Yes it is still showing as discharged in 12/2009.

[MarineVietVet]

---

@tbenz6876 wrote:

Yes it is still showing as discharged in 12/2009.

---

Goodness!! I need to wear my glasses more often. I have NO idea why I read your post as saying you filed in 12/99 when you actually filed in 12/09. I am so sorry.

But my advice about tweaking your score by optimal utilization of your credit card balances is still valid. 

Would you like me to move this entire thread over to the Bankruptcy board? You might get more responses there. Let me know.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[tbenz6876]

Sure you can move it there. I would think that 1% utilization would be the best for maximizing the score.

[MarineVietVet]

---

@tbenz6876 wrote:

Sure you can move it there. I would think that 1% utilization would be the best for maximizing the score.

---

You can play around with the percentages over several months to see what seems to work best for you. 1% helps some folks. 3-5% is best for others, etc.

As always YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".