My Chapter 7 Discharge was five months ago. I had an aggressive plan made up to rebuild with a goal of getting back to 700 in two years. I woke up this morning and did the monthly report update my subscription gives me. I found this.
Rebuild Started March 2024
"Are you comfortable with saying about how many credit cards with about how much of a balance owed and if there was a car loan and about how much it was."
When I filed I had 24 years of perfect credit. My scores were in the 720 range because I had high utilization. I had around 16-18 cards plus a loan. My total BK was around $142k. Seven of the cards had $0 balances. Every card was closed when I filed. I also included a car $18k.
I reaffirmed my mortgage ($500k+) and one car ($18k) and the solar panel loan ($35k).
"Very nice. Do you know what your scores have been each month since March?"
Yes. My signature below shows where I started in March. 610s range. It's been going up consistently. As the new cards were added it started climbing fast.
@IsambardPrinceMy FICO 8 on Experian before anything went wrong was 806.
By the time I filed bankruptcy it was down to 492.
After discharge was about 540. Three months later, 580.
Didn't get over 600 again for about 5-6 months iirc.
Now sitting at 672 TU, 686 EQ, 679 EX.
5 credit cards went in, maxed out, but only 4 showed up in the end...
I think one thing that really helped is that I was ccurrenton everything right up until I filed. It sounds like you had a big ddeclinewith lates when things got bad so your starting point was significantly lower.
Overall I dropped around 110 points when the BK7 showed up on the reports. Even today, the report shows 19 late pays or derogatory indicators (which is the BK). But the monthly history is perfect. I had two banks try to report 30 day lates after I filed and I disputed them. They removed them and that gave me a small bump in score.
@WorkingManQ wrote:Please, Ive searched your post and comments and for the love of god I cant find your aggressive method you talk about. I want to follow said method!!
It started by doing a lot of research. When I realized I'd be filing I spent hours on this forum and Reddit doing research on credit cards that you can get for rebuilding and who is the most friendly. I must've visited 30 bank websites and spent hours on Google searching. I was burning almost all the big banks, so my options were limited. I reaffirmed my home mortgage, one of my cars, and the loan on the solar panels.
1. When I realized I was filing I moved all banking to my credit union. I'd been there about five years and had a Visa there I'd never used (they closed it in the BK like every other card closed). I have my Direct Deposits go there monthly.
2. I opened an account with PACER (the bankruptcy court website) so I could monitor my BK7 case progress. For example the day after the 341 hearing I already had the Notice of No Assets (great news!).
3. The discharge came thru in 62 days and I had it on day 63 (printed out from PACER). I messaged a copy to my credit union and they removed the BK flag from my account (it was this banner when you logged in). I also applied for a $2000 secured Visa which was instantly approved.
4. That same day I sent the discharge to Capital One and applied for a Quicksilver card. I've seen a lot of people mention that as a great card and that they give nice credit lines right after BK. I had a twenty year history with Cap1 including two cards and two car loans and was perfect with them. The cards I had there were $0 when I filed so I didn't take them down. They approved me for $3000. No fee card.
5. I applied at Credit One for a Visa. They have a fee, but I knew I needed a mix and the $49 I could stomach. They gave me $400. I'll be closing that card at eleven months. I also applied with Avant at the same time and they gave me a $300 card, also with a fee, so I'll be dropping that one at eleven months as well.
6. I applied with Ally. I'd never heard of them before, but I'd read here they were the old Ollo card and were also post-BK friendly. They approved me for $1000. No fee card. That was going to be it for me. I had four cards and I was happy.
7. On a lark, I applied for a Target Red Card. I'd been a Target card holder for over 30 years and had a Target Visa when I filed (closed). They approved me for $200. I shop there a lot and like the 5% off you get with the card. I always pay it off like three days after I shop there so it's like a permanent discount. No fee card. Target will hopefully upgrade it to a regular Target Visa in a year or so. In the past they were always good about CLI too if you used the card (so I am). I like shopping there anyway.
8. At this point I refinanced my car loan to my credit union. It seems the old bank doesn't report anything if you file (even though I reaffirmed the loan). The entire car loan disappeared from my credit report (even the pre-BK history). So I'd have another three years of good payment history NOT reporting. I called them and they said they're not required to report. I wanted that car loan on the reports so I did the refinance. The credit union actually gave me a decent rate (a couple points higher but I'll pay extra each month so it's break even). The important thing is I have the good installment loan reporting.
9. I cruised a long for a bit then started getting invites to apply in the paper mail and email. The first up was One Main Financial. Another bank I'd never heard of. I did a lot of research and applied for their Brightway Mastercard (the better one). It has no fee and the interest rate isn't too bad. I took the jump and they approved me for $2000. This is about three months post discharge. No fee card.
10. Then my credit union raised the limit on my secured card (without me asking). I believe they usually graduate the card in 6-8 months so I'm hopeful in a couple months I'll get $2000 back in my savings account. I'd carried a balance a few months on it because I had a dog vet bill to cover.
11. I opened a CD at my credit union and took out a pledge loan to give me an installment loan. It's really small ($1000) but it's reporting. I set up autopay for it so I don't worry about it.
12. Then Merrick Bank sent me a preapproval letter for a card. I'd never heard of them either. More research online and I decided to apply. Approved for $1500. No fee card.
13. At this point I'd had my Quicksilver card three months. I'd been reading Cap1 will give you another card after 60 days if they like you. I used the preapproval tool (no risk) on the website and was offered a Cap1 Platinum Mastercard with a $2000 limit. Accepted it. No fee card.
14. Meanwhile, my husband applied for a Cap1 Savor card and was approved. He had a Mission Lane card already (he filed with me). That card has a $2000 limit and we added myself as an authorized user so it's reporting.
15. About a week ago Capital One sent me a letter they were raising my Quicksilver card limit to $3300 (so a $300 increase).
16. So last week on Friday I get a letter from AAA (been a member 26 years). It's an preapproval letter for a AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature card through Commenity. Commenity manages Dell Financial accounts (I have an account with them). I read over everything carefully as I already have something like 15 inquiries now but it said it was guaranteed not "pending credit check". I really wanted that card because of the benefits. 5% cash back on grocery store purchase, 3% cash back on gas, streaming, pharmacy and AAA purchases, 1% on everything else, up to a $500 max per year with no fees. It's an incredible card (it'll be my daily driver card). I applied and they gave me a $2000 limit.
Several of the cards have a CLI built in and a couple are "double your limit" after a period of time. For example merrick Bank will double your credit limit if you make your payment on time the first seven months. One Main Financial has a similiar CLI increase (not sure the amount). I know once my credit union card graduates they'll look at increases after 182 days and will often triple the limit (per Reddit posts I read).
So at this point I have a mortgage, a car loan, a solar panel installment loan, a CD pledge installment loan, and eleven credit cards (will be nine after I drop the fee ones) reporting. It ended up being much more aggressive than even I'd planned. I was going to shoot for Cap1, Ally, Credit One and a credit union secured originally. The rest of this just kind of happened. I also have 17 inquiries showing so I'm just gardening now until August 2026.
When I get the secured card money back in savings it's going to pay down most of my current utilization. I'm keeping small balances on a few cards and I rotate the cards weekly so every card has monthly use. In the past I've had cards lower limits or even close from lack of use. I don't want that to happen.
I will say I'm obsessive about credit and finances now. I have an elaborate spreadsheet and check the bank balances daily and the credit card balances every three days. I have all cards set up with text alerts for purchases and payment updates. I have autopays set up for every card (for the minimum) and I make extra larger payments to pay off balances. I just don't want to accidently miss something. The spreadsheet has a credit card page where I added formulas that calculate utilization, if I have autopay it'll show the utilization after the payment, the statement cut off dates and the due dates (I like to make my big payment before the statements hit so the utilization stays lower).