Hello....I filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in October 2006. At the 341 Meeting of Creditors, you will meet with the Trustee. He/She will verify that you are you. Your creditors have the option of attending this meeting. Per my lawyer, most of the time they do not show up. The meeting will last all of about 5 minutes.
In my experience, I was able to start rebuilding my credit relatively soon. I received an offer for a car from a dealership. I wanted a new car (well one that was not the one I was currently driving) so I returned the car to BofA. Went to the dealership and got another car. Even before my bankruptcy was even discharged. It was discharged in January 2007.
I have been receiving too many offers for car loans and credit cards. Recently opened 2 with a $300 limit. As well as a Target card. My credit was already bad before the bankruptcy with scores right below the 600 mark. They only dropped about 10 points w/each bureau. So with the score thing, I believe it depends on your current credit rating. Not sure. I recently enrolled in Identity Guard through Costco. All 3 reports and scores updated every 30 days. Comes with alerts as soon as something changes on your report as well as a credit analyzer. I love the Credit analyzer. I can play with different scenarios to see what king of impact it would have on my credit score.
I'm making sure to pay on time and keep CC balances low. Seems to be helping. Score is back to what it was before the Chapter 7. I think time will be the best healer of credit though.
Sorry for the novel.