topic Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure in Bankruptcy

My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

OneBrokeMan — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 18:07:39 GMT

For those who are unsure of what steps to take following a foreclosure or discharge of a bankruptcy. Here are the steps I took.

2008 - Fell behind on mortgage. All attempts to restructure the loan were thwarted by BofA. Incidentally, the banks were bailed out by my tax dollars. Richard Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, was paid $600,000,000 after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and laid off off thousands of employees.

2010 - Filed bankruptcy.

2015 - Bankruptcy discharged.

2015 - Signed up to most expensive Credit Repair company for $99 a month. Best decision I made regarding financial issues. You may not need to.

2015 - Home foreclosed. Must wait minimum of three years to again be eligible for a FHA loan.

2015 - Hired attorney to fight second-mortgage company after I had already paid off the principle plus some interest, but the rate was too high to ever catch up. Was like dealing with a loan shark. Second mortgage charged-off the rest making the account static on my credit reports. Now it can be removed.

2016 - Requested relative to add me to their oldest credit card, which aged my credit history and increased my score.

2016 - Opened a couple of Credit Card accounts for moderate credit. Also took out personal loan for $8000 and left in savings account. Paid off loan in 7 months versus the three year term.

2017 - 35 negative items removed from three credit bureaus (divide negative items by three as most of the items were simply repeated on each report).

2017 - Bankruptcy removed from credit reports.

2017 - Home foreclosure removed from credit reports.

2017 - FICO Score peaks at 803. Requested limit increases on cards that use soft pull.

2017 - Purchased used Porsche Cayman at 2.64% interest. Part of long-term plan to secure another mortgage.

2017 - Cancelled credit-repair subscription. Great investment as I saved tens of thousands of dollars in interest due to great FICO scores. I am also in a much better position to pass employment background checks for better jobs.

2019 - Obtained $40,000 credit limit on AMX, $30,000 limit on VISA, $13,000 limit on Master Card. Percent credit usage dropped. Score increased.

2020 - Obtained $300,000 FHA loan on house at 2.85% interest (30 years). A FICO score above 729 will get best FHA rate.

2020 - My FICO scores hover around 770. No negative items. No Public Record items.

There is life after bankruptcy. Be proactive. Don't despair. This is your opportunity for a fresh start.

NOTE: As of October 2020, I learned when you pay off your car loan, your credit score goes down (which is ridiculous). Be strategic in where you focus your efforts and resources. I came into a little money and was debating paying off my car to free up the car payment ot pay down a credit card or a loan. I am going to go with paying down a credit card. During my research I was stunned to learn paying off the car loan will decrease my score. Also, my car loan is my lowest interest item. I was tempted to payoff the car just to free up the $510 car payment. The plan was to apply that payment to another creditor. Now I know paying off a car loan is not the best strategy (of course there are exceptions).

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 04:12:54 GMT

Congrats. If I got this right, you actually didn't have to wait 7-10 years to remove your BK?

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

FireMedic1 — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 14:51:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Congrats. If I got this right, you actually didn't have to wait 7-10 years to remove your BK?

Yeah good question on the disappearance on the BK removal early. Hope it wasnt the shady way. Which we cant talk about.

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

OneBrokeMan — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 05:24:39 GMT

Great question. If you read the timeline, my BK was removed seven years after filing (2010 - 2017), which follows the guidelines. However, you have to be proactive to remove it. What really impressed me is the foreclosure was removed in two years.

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

OneBrokeMan — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 05:26:19 GMT

7 - 10 years after filing. Not after completed. Mine was Chapter 13 (if I recall). It was the version where you pay the creditors back over a five year period.

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

ToofDoc — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 03:02:45 GMT

What's the name of the credit repair company?

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

OneBrokeMan — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 18:18:21 GMT

I think it is safe to say a few things such as the friendly service reminded me of the city of Lexington.

It offers three levels of service. I paid for the highest level called Premiere Plus. The mid-range service is called Concord Premier. The basic service was called Concord Standard. The price per month goes up with each level of service. Most people may be able to get away with one of the Concord services. At the time that I used it, the Premiere Plus cost me $99 per month. I do not know what the prices are now.

I went with the Premier Plus plan because of the foreclosure and BK along with there being so many other negative items. Home Depot was another one that put up a fight, but was eventually removed. I think the repair company's attorney had to get involved to get that one removed.

Depending on the number and types of items one has, I would say you would begin to see easy stuff starting to be removed in about 90 days. Moderate stuff where the creditor tries to remain on the reports or is a collection agency may take four to eight months. Big ticket items where the creditor has deep pockets and the amount is $20k or higher may take up to a year. These are just very general observations on my part as each person's report is unique.

The beauty is to watch your credit score go from 500 to 585 to 635 to 670. Here is where secured or low limit credit card companies are in reach and you see a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. As time passes you then go to 690 and finally break over 700. The light is a bit brighter. At this point you may no longer need credit repair services. Then you go to 719 to 726 to 735. You have now just stepped out of the tunnel, but the road isn't quite at its end. You are now able to secure credit with moderate limits and interest rates that are much much better, but not exceptional. Then go to 745 to 765. Now lenders are chasing you with all types of offers. Here is about where many excellent credit people live. You can keep going if you choose. Then you go to 775 to 787. Now you are in the low-exceptional credit world. Creditors are begging you to accept their 0% financing offers for 24 months. Your credit limits are increased to $15,000, $25,000 etc. My highest limit so far is $40,000 . I also have a furniture store card with 0% financing for 5 years. I also took out a personal loan of $36,000, which I am still paying (I do not recommend it unless there is a major need). I still owe $22,000.

I peaked just over 800, but I am back down to the mid 700s, due to my new mortgage. This is why I feel I received a great return on my investment in a reputable credit repair service. My car loan and mortgage rates are both less than 3% interest. I have two 0% "special offer" retail cards, one of them is with Lowes. I used it to put in hardwood floors, which has greatly increased my home's value. My car is worth $12,000 more than the current loan balance, which is often unheard of. I only put $2000 (or so) down on the car. I used an online lender for my car and another online lender for my mortgage. Having low interest rates and making strategic purchases help a lot.

I share my personal story to encourage everyone not to give up and to be patient. Trust me. I am just like you. For me, my finances seemed absolutely hopeless. I saw zero light at the end of the tunnel. I did not see how in the world I would ever get from under. It is just my nature not give up, but I completely understand why some feel like giving up. Fortunately, we have the Internet as a tool to explore options and learn from the experience of others. I view this FICO website as an excellent tool! Start with the tiniest of steps. Time will pass regardless. Make that time count. Remember, I am just like you.

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:53:36 GMT

I had a very similar situation happen to me with 2 mortgages from 2004 to 2017 & just found out while buying a house they closed the 2nd mortgage as short sale 6 months after bankruptcy when I found a buyer for the house in cash that made deal with bank but rest was discharged in BK-long bs story- sorry for what you went through!
question @OneBrokeMan any recommendations on where I can best have a chance for personal loan with the following? It's urgent! (Before the issue above my loan rate was 2.71% not bad imo but I have to wait until March now) but I'm nervous about this Personal loan, we need it

thanks in advance! Copied from another place I posted:

Would you happen to know anything about sdfcu personal loans and or required credit rating for approval? Or any place I can go to for personal loans? My bk discharged June 2017, I need a $10k to $14k personal loan, I was approved for a mortgage & we found out during loan commitment they coded my house short sale March 2018 & not June 2018 by mistake & it'll take months to correct & my bf is getting mortgage himself but we have to pay off his student loans 1st 🤦🏼‍♀️ (Asap) & I'm trying not to apply several places. One car loan 2/19 $20k owed never late- Cap one quicksilver $300 limit $0 balance 2 missed payments 14 months ago none since, auth user on bf cap one $500 limit ($499 owed bc our scheduled payment processed after weekend after statement printed this month🤦🏼‍♀️Already paid month-never late) students loans $25k on time no payments due 12 years, 1 charge off kohls reported as bankrupcy & charge off (trying to fix) thanks in advance!
My scores are:

experian

FICO 8: 606

FICO 2: 🏠654 🚘647 💳621

FICO 8 🚘 573 💳 571

FICO 3 💳 651

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

OneBrokeMan — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 17:52:05 GMT

I am not sure of the guidelines here (forum), but I am going to tell you anyway. If I get in trouble here for trying to help someone, so be it. For my personal loan I applied through an online broker called Lendingclub (Lendingtree is another option). Through Lending Club, Lightstream (under Suntrust Bank) made me the best offer/interest rate. I used Lightstream for the first personal loan and used them again for my car loan. I found my current personal loan through Lending Tree (if I recall correctly). It is with a lender called Sofi Lending Corp.

With my mortage I went with Rocket Mortgage (Quicken Loans). They offered the lowest interest rate. I shopoped around.

Everything is paid via auto-pay. This includes cable TV, cell phone service, utilities, loans, etc.

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 20:38:31 GMT

@OneBrokeMan Hi! Thank you so much for your responce! I appreciate it so much! May I ask if you had any issues on your credit at the time you applied with lending lib/sofi? & your score? It's crazy because i was pre-approved with my credit for mortgage loan at 2.71% BUT when it went to underwriter we found out the short sale was recorded in March 2018 and not in June 2017 with my bankruptcy as was what was supposed to be the case & it'll take months to address in court my attorney says which won't help me now. In order to buy this house we need to pay my bf students loans to get out of default, & as my luck would have it lately, an old charge off kohl's screwed up that I disputed came back coded wrong, so I called them last week when I posted this & it's being removed but so far it's only come off trans union so it looks like I have a recent missed payment I guess idk but I tried getting the loan with avant (had a loan with them never late & paid in full 1.5 years early) but they do soft pull & didn't approve & told me to reapply in 30 days (I think bc of kohls)

im wondering where I might have the best chance to apply, I wonder if the places you mentioned or penfed perhaps? Time is my enemy right now bc I'm running out per our contract 😢 thanks in advance

Re: My Timeline And Tips For Success After Bankruptcy And Foreclosure

OneBrokeMan — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 23:54:40 GMT

Hi. I am sorry to hear this. Last month (October) a collection appeared on all three reports. I received an alert from myFICO that my scores decreased. They dropped around 30 points. Fortunately for me I got the collections removed within two days. Here are the details, which may (or may not) help.

I was rear ended on my way to work about a year ago. I was waiting at a red light for sveeral seconds and a lady ran into the back of my car. I was taken by ambulance to a hospital and released the same day with meds. I took uber to get home. The next day I contacted a personal injury law firm. I was off work for a few weeks and then worked from a home (COVID had not started yet). Anyway, my attorney is only now reaching a settlement with the lady's insurance company. Meanwhile some collection agency called Wakefield placed a $100 collection for some medical expense on my reports. I called them and they refused to speak to me when I told them my medical bills were be settled by my attorney.

I filled out the online "dispute" form on Trans Union's website. I stated "I was in a car accident and not at fault. All medical bills are in litigation until a settlement is reached. My attorney's number is XXX. This collection is causing finacial and emotional damage." I expected the typical 30 - 45 day wait for a resolution. TU removed the collection the very next day. Experian removed it the next day. Equifax took two days. It is possible that a similar statement in a dispute form coupled with your attorney's phone number will have similar results. I think the key words were "in litigation" and "the collection is causing financial and emotional damage." Adding my attorney's phone number may have helped as well.

Regarding lenders, Lending Tree and Best Egg (I think Best egg is correct) may be of some help as they shop around for you to match you to multiple lenders based on a soft pull. The results are several offers coupled with the loan limit, payoff time, and interest rates.

Places such as Bankrate, Nerdwallet, Karma, ect., may also offer soft pulls to match you with a lender. I have not visted their sites in a while. I hope something here helps.