topic Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve! in Bankruptcy

How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

sml1997 — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 16:05:31 GMT

Hello everyone!

I filled for chapter 13 bankruptcy with 100% payback in February 2021. I was able to pay it off early and it successfully discharged as of June 2024.

all three of my credit scores are hovering around the 670 to 680 range. I do have multiple trade lines open and have been successfully paying everything on time.

since my discharge, my credit score really haven't budged that much. I'm just wondering, how long did it take for you all to start seeing some movement in your credit score. Thanks for any advice or information you can share.

hope everyone is having a great week!

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

Horseshoez — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 16:28:34 GMT

@sml1997 wrote:
Hello everyone!

I filled for chapter 13 bankruptcy with 100% payback in February 2021. I was able to pay it off early and it successfully discharged as of June 2024.

all three of my credit scores are hovering around the 670 to 680 range. I do have multiple trade lines open and have been successfully paying everything on time.
since my discharge, my credit score really haven't budged that much. I'm just wondering, how long did it take for you all to start seeing some movement in your credit score. Thanks for any advice or information you can share.

hope everyone is having a great week!

Congratulations on the successful completion of your Chapter 13.

Unfortunately I have some disappointing news for you regarding when your scores will fully recover, that will take some time yet; regardless of whether you finish your plan in sixty days or sixty months, the various derogatory remarks and the bankruptcy notation will stick around for a full seven years. After I completed my plan my FICO scores ranged from (going from memory here) about 670 to 720, however, when that magic 8th year dawned, literally 100% of my FICO scores jumped from wherever they were to up over 800.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

sml1997 — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 14:30:50 GMT

Thank you @Horseshoez !

i will just have to tuff it out and keep my hope. What a journey it's been. Whew!!! But thank you for the encouragement and shedding some light at the end of the tunnel.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

Horseshoez — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 18:26:14 GMT

@sml1997 wrote:
Thank you @Horseshoez !

i will just have to tuff it out and keep my hope. What a journey it's been. Whew!!! But thank you for the encouragement and shedding some light at the end of the tunnel.

Any time!

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

hoosier64 — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 23:50:28 GMT

If your experience is anything like mine, you probably won't see your scores go up much more before the BK drops off. If you applied for your cards shortly after discharge, you may get a couple points when you hit the one year mark for the hard pulls. I got most of my score increases the first year after discharge doing AZEO and having an open installment loan with a low balance. After a year out from discharge, my scores only increased a couple points.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

sml1997 — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 16:19:00 GMT

Thank you so much @hoosier64

I guess I'll just need the patience of Job. Lol. I worked so hard to pay off my five-year 100% payback bankruptcy in three years, and was just hoping that life would move on and improve. I filed in February 2021, and I'm so looking forward to February 2028. I read that bankruptcies drop off seven years after filing. at least for chapter 13 . Three more years to go. Bankruptcy is such a drag on life. I went through a divorce and it just financially obliterated me. But I'm thankful that I'm not completely destroyed. Thanks for sharing some encouragement with me. I truly appreciate it. Have a great day!

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

Horseshoez — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 19:08:34 GMT

@sml1997 wrote:
Thank you so much @hoosier64

I guess I'll just need the patience of Job. Lol. I worked so hard to pay off my five-year 100% payback bankruptcy in three years, and was just hoping that life would move on and improve. I filed in February 2021, and I'm so looking forward to February 2028. I read that bankruptcies drop off seven years after filing. at least for chapter 13 . Three more years to go. Bankruptcy is such a drag on life. I went through a divorce and it just financially obliterated me. But I'm thankful that I'm not completely destroyed. Thanks for sharing some encouragement with me. I truly appreciate it. Have a great day!

My wife and I separated in 2013 prior to her planning on filing for divorce in 2014. In early 2014 she filed for a Chapter 7 (her small business failed) and just prior to Memorial Day that year she called me and told me she and her attorney had all of the paper work done; we'd be divorced by the end of June. I told her I was tired of trying to save the marriage and I would go with whatever she had in mind, within reason of course. The next week I drove our son's car from New Hampshire down to his "A" School in Pensacola and told him we'd be divorced in a few weeks. He was upset, but he was mature enough to deal with it. The next night we were out at a restaurant for dinner when my phone rang, it was my wife, she was in tears and said she couldn't go through with it and asked if we could try again.

We started dating that summer and got back together that fall, I was finally forced to file a Chapter 13 early in 2015 (my former business partner ran up over a quarter of a million in debt in my name), and as of January of 2024 we both have clean credit reports and bought a new condo last May. Life can be really nice post bankruptcy.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

sml1997 — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:47:46 GMT

@Horseshoez

What an incredible story and journey! Gives me hope for a better tomorrow! Thanks for sharing!

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

TRC_WA — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 21:29:24 GMT

I was in the 640-680 range and didn't hit 700 till mine fell off back in Feb 2024.

The PR still tanks your score to the very end.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

sml1997 — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 01:56:56 GMT

Thanks @TRC_WA

I appreciate you sharing that information. I can't wait for the date to come when it drops off. Until then, I'll just keep the faith and be patient. Thanks so much!

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

jetsfan2013 — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 16:46:55 GMT

These stories are inspiring. Thank you all for sharing.

For those who saw their scores hover around 670-700 after discharge, did you experience any credit declines? I envision potentially having to secure an auto by the time my 13 is complete, however may look to put 50% down if possible.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

Horseshoez — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 17:15:24 GMT

@jetsfan2013 wrote:
These stories are inspiring. Thank you all for sharing.

For those who saw their scores hover around 670-700 after discharge, did you experience any credit declines? I envision potentially having to secure an auto by the time my 13 is complete, however may look to put 50% down if possible.

The Trustee for my Chapter 13 prohibited even so much as a secured credit card without prior approval, so I ended up going nearly 7 years with zero credit (I had to stop using my credit cards almost two years before I filed). When I got my discharge I was stupid and started applying all over the place, racking up a total of 18 hard pulls in the first nine months, and all I had to show for my efforts was a single secured credit card with a $5,000 limit and scores which plummeted down as low as 605 due to all of the credit inquiries.

Had I been smart, I would have gotten that single secured card, sat on it for say, six months, and then applied for another card or two after that and then go directly into the proverbial garden. The good news is I found this site, consumed the collective wisdom from the credit sages who frequent these pages, and once I managed to get my third card just over a year after my discharge, I didn't apply for a thing until after my Chapter 13 fell off my reports. Even though I had something like 23 hard pulls in the previous 24 months when my bankruptcy fell off, I only had a single hard pull in the previous 12 months; every single one of my FICO scores shot up to over 800.

Regarding a new car post Chapter 13, I had the misfortune to need a car in my 4th year, which literally drained my paltry savings account (and then some), however, that car lasted long enough for my reports to lose the bankruptcy notation, and I was able to get the best possible rate loan when I did finally pull the trigger on a new ride in the fall of 2022.

Edit: I forgot to add, if you put 50% down, you should have little trouble being approved for a loan; you may not get the greatest interest rate, but you will be able to get approved.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

sml1997 — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:29:44 GMT

@Horseshoez

Wow. This is truly amazing! Your scores shot up to over 800 each after falling off the credit report? That must be liberating. When your credit is challenged, you literally feel like your begging for an opportunity. Can't wait until one day I can walk in somewhere and confidently know I'll be approved. Bad credit is such a burden. Thank you for the encouraging story @Horseshoez

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

Horseshoez — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 02:35:59 GMT

@sml1997 wrote:
@Horseshoez

Wow. This is truly amazing! Your scores shot up to over 800 each after falling off the credit report? That must be liberating. When your credit is challenged, you literally feel like your begging for an opportunity. Can't wait until one day I can walk in somewhere and confidently know I'll be approved. Bad credit is such a burden. Thank you for the encouraging story @Horseshoez

Any time; hang in there, it will happen.

Re: How long after CH13 discharge for your Credit score to improve!

indiolatino61 — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 06:50:46 GMT

Time is a killer and a healer, it all depends on how you use and view it. I've read all the posts and concur with their advice. Be patient and you will definitely recover in time. Best of luck to you.