topic Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan. in Bankruptcy

The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:19:11 GMT

Hello,

Been a couple years since I last posted. I came here for information about BK and credit about 10 years ago. I cannot thank everyone here enough for the information and insight that I have gained here.

In May 2016 I filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy which was discharged in September. My initial FICO 8 score drop was into the low 600s and I was floating around 700 after three years. By 7 years post BK (when my derog acounts had all fallen off) I had pushed above 740 at all three bureaus and have been floating around 765 for the last couple years. I accomplished this using the information I learned here, being smart about what credit I applied for (and from whom) and, obviously, paying everything on time.

It is now time to watch the BK fall off my credit reports.

The first to fall off was Experian half way through March 2026: F8 770 to 850.

The second was Equifax on April 1: F8 772 to ? (I don't have any real scores to go with this yet, but V3 went from 745 to 833.)

Still waiting on Transunion... F8 769 to ?

The journey is long, but it is very worth keeping to the plan and not allowing yourself to get discouraged along the way.

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:06:47 GMT

"The second was Equifax on April 1: F8 772 to ? (I don't have any real scores to go with this yet, but V3 went from 745 to 833.)"

This just in: F8 772 to 850.

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:13:04 GMT

Come on, Transunion, you tease, you. It is April!

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:25:39 GMT

This is a nice thing:

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

pizzadude — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:31:51 GMT

Wow, that's a great FICO score boost, congrats on your BK finally rolling off

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

kirby181 — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:29:45 GMT

Wow this is honestly super inspiring to read. The way you stayed consistent and rebuilt all the way from the low 600s to the mid 700s and now watching the BK finally fall off is seriously impressive

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

beargrease — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:49:52 GMT

BK to 850 in under 10 years!! I'm tremendously impressed, way to go!

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:57:07 GMT

Just checked my Transunion F8 on Capital One's Credit Wise. Transunion has dropped the BK as of 4/11: F8 765 to 850.

MyFICO hasn't updated my score yet...

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:55:01 GMT

MyFICO has updated. Huzzah!

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

pizzadude — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:23:57 GMT

Congrats on your rebuilding success and winning the myFICO lottery !!

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

jetsfan2013 — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:07:03 GMT

Congrats on the 850 scores, very inspiring.

What was your path to 850? What card(s) did you apply to first?

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

AndrewF — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 01:43:11 GMT

@Have1 wrote:
Hello,

Been a couple years since I last posted. I came here for information about BK and credit about 10 years ago. I cannot thank everyone here enough for the information and insight that I have gained here.

In May 2016 I filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy which was discharged in September. My initial FICO 8 score drop was into the low 600s and I was floating around 700 after three years. By 7 years post BK (when my derog acounts had all fallen off) I had pushed above 740 at all three bureaus and have been floating around 765 for the last couple years. I accomplished this using the information I learned here, being smart about what credit I applied for (and from whom) and, obviously, paying everything on time.

It is now time to watch the BK fall off my credit reports.

The first to fall off was Experian half way through March 2026: F8 770 to 850.
The second was Equifax on April 1: F8 772 to ? (I don't have any real scores to go with this yet, but V3 went from 745 to 833.)
Still waiting on Transunion... F8 769 to ?

The journey is long, but it is very worth keeping to the plan and not allowing yourself to get discouraged along the way.

It'll pass like a kidney stone, but it'll pass.

I'm now in that last stretch where the accounts that got IIB are coming off but that leaves the last three years with the bk7 notation.

All three of my FICO score 8s will be over 700 again soon.

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:15:09 GMT

Each case is unique. I was current/never late on all accounts when I filed. That is unusual, I realize. I had a personal guarantee on a business loan for a business that failed. I had the money to negotiate a settlement or pay a settlement, but not enough for both. BK was the only path forward.

I was fortunate enough to carry my Military Star card through the BK. I owed them nothing when I filed and when they sent me a cancellation notice after I filed I called and explained that they had suffered no loss, could they please not close the account. They were nice enough to leave the account open. I wish I had thought to ask my bank to keep my overdraft line of credit open as well. They suffered no loss and I reaffirmed my mortgage with them. I think I might have had a chance if I had thought to ask.

As it was, I had to burn Amex (2) and USAA (1) credit cards and those derogs should have been on my reports for seven years from filing (since they were current at filing). For reasons unknown, one of the Amex cards dropped off my report after two and a half years, the USAA card dropped after four and a half years and the final Amex dropped four months before the seven year mark.

About five months after filing BK I applied for a Capital One Quicksilver because Capital One is known to be friendly to rebuilders. They gave me a $3000 limit.

About two and a half years post BK I got an auto loan from Wells Fargo through a used car dealer. If I were to do it again, I would have joined NFCU and tried to get the loan through them, but I hadn't heard of NFCU yet.

Around three and a half years in I got a Home Depot card because I wanted to finance blown in insulation for my house. Citi was stingy about a limit ($1000 iirc) and I had to call and ask for a higher starting limit because the insulation was going to cost more than that. They gave me $1500. If I was going to do it again... I'm not sure. A card from Discover might have been a better option. They are known to be rebuilder friendly and it would have been a real credit card.

Around four years in I got a Kwik Fill charge card to get the price discount (5 cents a gallon). Again, if I was doing it again, I would have tried applying for the NFCU More Rewards card.

About four and a half years in I applied for the Wells Fargo Active Cash card (Pre-approved offer) figuring that my auto loan history with them should help things. $7000 initial limit.

A little more than five years in I applied for the Amazon Visa because 5% cash back at Amazon is hard to ignore. $6000 initial limit.

At five and a half years I joined NFCU and got an auto loan for $17,000.

Four months later I applied for the NFCU More Rewards card and got a shock: $25k initial limit.

At almost eight years I got a second auto loan from NFCU for $15,000 and paid off the first loan a month later.

You will notice that my applications for credit were spaced out and they were chosen to address a need. I suspect many people try too hard and too fast. But I have a very old tradeline anchoring my credit age, so maybe I am looking at it from a privileged position. In any case, apply for credit products that you have an actual need or use for (and have a decent chance of being approved for). Pace yourself, pay in full and on time.

I have been AZEO this entire time. Capital One gets to show a balance (Which gets paid in full within a couple days of the statement). Everyone else gets paid in full before the statement gets issued most of the time (Treat your credit cards like debit cards: If you don't have the money to pay the charges now, reconsider the expenditure). I'm comfortable with that level of babysitting my accounts, but it might be too much for some people and should just be something you do for a couple months before applying for credit.

My credit card utilization is around 1% as far as scores are concerned. My actual utilization is much higher, but the scores only consider the reported statement balances. Especially if you have modest limits on your cards, pay most of them before the statement posts to keep your utilization low.

I think I would have been better off joining NFCU (other credit unions are available) much sooner and getting credit cards instead of the store cards. But it really doesn't matter in the end: Pay attention to the basics and be patient.

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

Have1 — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:42:58 GMT

@AndrewF wrote:

I'm now in that last stretch where the accounts that got IIB are coming off but that leaves the last three years with the bk7 notation.

Congratulations of making it this far. I have good news for you:

When the last of the derog tradelines fall off you will see a good boost. My score changes when my last one fell off were:

Experian F8 +57, F9 +42.

Equifax F8 +25, F9 +77.

Transunion F8 +54, F9 +65.

Those last three years you can be in the mid 700s as long as you haven't had any difficulties since filing. AZEO for a couple months and see what your optimized scores look like. Utilization numbers are easily manageable if you aren't carrying any balances.

My experience is that F8 772 is the max you can get with the BK still on your reports.

Any F8 above 740 is "top tier" for most creditors. F9 is even more forgiving, I was mostly over 800 for the last three years. Just avoid applying for credit from any company known to be unfriendly to BK (and, obviously, anyone you burned who isn't 100% known to be forgiving about BK) and you should be able to get credit that you need at reasonable rates.

Re: The Journey has an End. Keep Working Your Plan.

CookieMonster1 — Thu, 07 May 2026 14:33:19 GMT

Thank you for sharing! What an inspiring rebuild.