Building credit after Bankruptcy

[Anonymous]

Our bankruptcy was discharged Jan 2008.  We did everything right to bounce back as quickly as possible.  A small credit card from Orchard, an auto loan with a large down payment, even purchased a house 3 yr after the discharge.  Have had pretty good luck, purchased new vehicles, paid one off.  Credit score became stagnant.  I was told to use my 1 credit card, but only use 1/3rd of the amount available.  It was working.  Recently I have gone on a bit of a spending spree, my bad.  Small cards, PayPal, Amazon, etc... Decided time to stop, so I applied for a card to consolidate my debt.  Chase would not approve (even though our mortgage is with them) me for their Slate Card, intended for this purpose.  Said because they were involved in the bankruptcy, they would not approve.  Some things are just not fair.  Why do creditors not look before the bankruptcy?  Had Excellent credit, high 700's, also, creditors don't consider utilities paid on time, early, never late.  Now I feel forever marked.  I was even able to remove my bankruptcy from TransUnion as they have an area for explination (our bankruptcy was due to losing a business after a family tragidy).  After attempting to re-finance our home, looking into buying a trailer, had to buy a new car after my 1 yr old one was totaled.  All this has added up and everyone is telling me I have too many hits and the bankruptcy.  They don't consider all the good, only look at bad.  Any suggestions to build (again) at a faster pace?

[Pway]

Rebuilding takes time and a lot of hard work.  However, to maximize your scores you need at least 3 credit cards.  Chase, citi, and Amex does not like bankruptcy especially if you have burned them in bk.  My other suggestion for you would be to join a credit union.

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

We can probably help but we need more details.

Can you list your credit cards, credit limits and current balances?

Also, buy your three real FICO scores on this webiste (it's about $60 for all three and post them here.

List whatever other debts you have, any collections, late payments, etc.

With this information we can come up with some help.

The good news is that your included in bankruptcy accounts will drop off in another year and with early exclusion you can get them deleted 6 months early (Transunion) and around three months early from Equifax and Experian.

I'm going to say this because I have done what you have done and there is just no way to get around this.  You need to not use credt cards to pay for expenses  There isn't a lot that you buy on Amazon or Paypal that likely qualifies as a bonafide emergency, which should be the only time you carry any debt.  Otherwise pay in full except for about $2 on one credit card (so it will report).

Seriously we can probalbly help you get your scores up, suggest some credit cards that would approve you which will lower your utiliaiton and raise your scores further.

We need data!

[Anonymous]

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@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:

We can probably help but we need more details.

Can you list your credit cards, credit limits and current balances?

Also, buy your three real FICO scores on this webiste (it's about $60 for all three and post them here.

List whatever other debts you have, any collections, late payments, etc.

With this information we can come up with some help.

The good news is that your included in bankruptcy accounts will drop off in another year and with early exclusion you can get them deleted 6 months early (Transunion) and around three months early from Equifax and Experian.

I'm going to say this because I have done what you have done and there is just no way to get around this.  You need to not use credt cards to pay for expenses  There isn't a lot that you buy on Amazon or Paypal that likely qualifies as a bonafide emergency, which should be the only time you carry any debt.  Otherwise pay in full except for about $2 on one credit card (so it will report).

Seriously we can probalbly help you get your scores up, suggest some credit cards that would approve you which will lower your utiliaiton and raise your scores further.

We need data!

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+1...  That often yields better results.

[TRC_WA]

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@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:

The good news is that your included in bankruptcy accounts will drop off in another year and with early exclusion you can get them deleted 6 months early (Transunion) and around three months early from Equifax and Experian.

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Oct 1st 2015 and Jan 1st 2016 are my target dates!

Gonna be sweet!