Understanding FICO® Scoring

[Andy77]

My best friend filed for BK about 9.5 years ago.  He has paid on time over that time and his credit scores are just over 700.

When we talk about my fico score and the fact that my BK was dischared in Sept 2009 he laughs and says you won't be over 700 for a long long time

Do you think that the scoring models have changed over the years and due to this someone can be well over 700 and have a bk that is dischared only a few years ago vs. how it used to be 9.5 years ago when my friend filed for bk?

[atarvuzdar]

I have no personal experience w/ BK, but from seeing some posts on this forum I know it's possible to have a respectable score relatively quickly after BK--maybe not 700, but who knows? Difficult to say what precisely is in your friend's credit file and there were no details about precisely when he hit the 700 mark. No information as to whether he started working on his credit as soon as possible or whether he felt he had to wait because he had filed BK and didn't think he'd get approved, etc. Mistakes on the credit file, thin file outside of the BK, etc. could make it a long stretch, as well.

I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that your score will be in the gutter for approx. 10 years just because of a BK, keep your chin up and stay on the straight and narrow credit-wise. Good luck!

[RobertEG]

What type of BK?

[Andy77]

We both had filed Ch 7

[chasmith]

See my signature for an idea.  I've heard others have reached 700 faster, I anticipate seeing it next year.  Right now it's my utilization (which was above 30% for the scores in my signature) that's holding me back.

But remember that some lenders won't take you with a score >700 and a BK on your record, that takes 10 years to fall off.

I suggest you follow what others are doing in the Rebuilding your Credit section.