HOW TO: From BK7 discharge to 700 in 24 months or less!

[Chilli]

@DaveinAZ

Wow, you've accomplished a lot! Congrats on your new car and approval...that's an awesome rate!

you can have a couple more on Saturday...you deserve it😄

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

I've been a lurker on this forum for some time and I appreciate all of the helpful advice!  I'd like to get your input on the next steps that I need to take to get my scores up.

I was discharged from Chp 7 in 6/2011.  I had a 589 FICO from EX 7/2014 and today I'm at 647.  8/2014 I got a $3000 Capiltal One Quicksilver card that I PIF every month but I don't have any credit accounts other than that.  My credit report looks clean other than the accounts that were discharged in BK.

From what I've read here I think that I need to get an additional credit card or two and keep a <10% balance on one and PIF the others, correct?  If so, what cards would you recommend given that I already have the Capital One card?  Should I go Barclays Apple and Maybe the US Airways card (I travel with them).

I came into this late so I've done things a bit out of order.  What other steps would you all recommend?

Thanks!

[DaveInAZ]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone,

I've been a lurker on this forum for some time and I appreciate all of the helpful advice!  I'd like to get your input on the next steps that I need to take to get my scores up.

I was discharged from Chp 7 in 6/2011.  I had a 589 FICO from EX 7/2014 and today I'm at 647.  8/2014 I got a $3000 Capiltal One Quicksilver card that I PIF every month but I don't have any credit accounts other than that.  My credit report looks clean other than the accounts that were discharged in BK.

From what I've read here I think that I need to get an additional credit card or two and keep a <10% balance on one and PIF the others, correct?  If so, what cards would you recommend given that I already have the Capital One card?  Should I go Barclays Apple and Maybe the US Airways card (I travel with them).

I came into this late so I've done things a bit out of order.  What other steps would you all recommend?

Thanks!

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You're in great shape coming up towards 4 years post discharge, but yeah, a couple more credit accounts would help round your score & credit profile. Since you travel US Airways that card makes sense, and I've had a Barclays Rewards MC for a couple years and they're great to work with, I get regular auto CL increases. Could you make use of a store card? Avoid Citi bank, they're not BK friendly; they do Home Depot & Best Buy, among others. You'll have no problem at all with Synchrony (used to be GE credit), they do Lowe's & Walmart among others. Or Kohls, which is Cap One. I'm putting my house on the market & need to spruce it up a bit, I just apped Lowes and got a $5k Cl  - instant approval was w/$700 toy store limit, I called and explained I was putting my home ont the market and planned on spending a couple thousand in floor covering, paint, etc. sprucing it up, and rep quickly agreed to the $5k CL.

And yes, keep a <10% balance on one and PIF the others.

[Chilli]

@JazAZ,

To add to DaveinAZ,  you may also want to include a credit builder installment loan in your profile from a credit union.

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

My Bk7 was discharged on 1/8/15.  My CK fako scores are 572 and 655.  I took the plunge today an applied for Cap1 QS and was approved for $1K.  Feeling momentarily bold, I applied for Cap1 Classic and was also approved for $1K.  I am nervous about rebuilding because I want to do it right this time!  I still have a few things to clean up on CR and am rehabbing my student loans.  Any and all suggestions/comments will be welcomed.  Also open to mentoring.  Thanks for all of the information, feedback, and encouragement provided on these forums.

[grassfeeder]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi Everyone,

My Bk7 was discharged on 1/8/15.  My CK fako scores are 572 and 655.  I took the plunge today an applied for Cap1 QS and was approved for $1K.  Feeling momentarily bold, I applied for Cap1 Classic and was also approved for $1K.  I am nervous about rebuilding because I want to do it right this time!  I still have a few things to clean up on CR and am rehabbing my student loans.  Any and all suggestions/comments will be welcomed.  Also open to mentoring.  Thanks for all of the information, feedback, and encouragement provided on these forums.

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Congrats!  Take the road slowly and be patient!  Great job on the two Capital One Products - keep those and treat them well.  First and foremost you want to make sure those reports are clean and reporting correctly - that's important.  I would also recommend signing up for the FICO 3-score watch which runs $19/month I think.  Have that charged to one of your Cap 1 cards and pay that off in full each month.  Use the other card for all of your other purchases.  The Fico program will give you REAL data to work with via the FAKO scores you already seem familiar with.

Rinse and repeat....

[Scupra]

Yesterday was 4 months with my Amazon card. Called up credit solutions and was increased from $2,500 to $5,000 Happy Friday everyone

[AcidKoolz]

Anyone have any suggestions for starter cards other than CreditOne? I'm trying to follow the plan and going to apply for a card soon, but creditone prequal didn't recommend any cards. Think I should try for them anyway? Didn't want to waste a pull...

[Scupra]

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@AcidKoolz wrote:

Anyone have any suggestions for starter cards other than CreditOne? I'm trying to follow the plan and going to apply for a card soon, but creditone prequal didn't recommend any cards. Think I should try for them anyway? Didn't want to waste a pull...

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Is cap1 an option for you?

[AcidKoolz]

Maybe, I burned them in my bk on a secured card, not sure if that matters much since they didn't really lose any money. My wife has been getting preapproved offers for them. I tried the prequal for them as well and it didn't recommend any cards. I joined with a local CU for a CB loan, but I have to wait until I've been a member for 30 days. Just wondering what options I'll have as far as CCs go.