Fresh Starts AFTER BK

[Anonymous]

First post!

I had a pretty good situation going on until my income took a big hit in a year I owed a lot to the IRS (self-employed). I got sidetracked from my WF CC (which admittedly I never really paid much attention due to lack of education and the ignorance of being young, 21, and wealthy...so I thought and by my standards at the time anyway) and let it default. That, plus a medical bill that should've been covered but in the end wasn't (you know how that goes..."oh joy")... I ended up with over $35k in debt - old, in collections, just rotting. Filed a Ch7 in June, DC in October, and jumped right back into the game. Secured CC - check. Self (Lender) Installment Loan - check. Anything else anyone recommends?

Btw, worth mentioning that not all of the accounts are updated on my credit reports, fitting as it hasn't even been 30 days since the DC. Also waiting to hear back from the IRS. My tax debt qualified for DC under their criteria, so we'll see if that holds. Many attorneys say yes, but with the IRS...

Glad to see from being a long-time reader that fresh starts and come-ups are still a thing in this credit world. Best to everyone on their journey!

Joel

[Jnbmom]

You really should wait until your reports are reporting correctly before jumping back in.

[FireMedic1]

@Jnbmomis correct. Up to 30 days after DC. I had my back taxes DC'ed that were 14 yrs old. Kept dodging the bullet. Except when lien and the wage garnishment letter came which led to BK. Then it all went off my reports.

[Anonymous]

@Jnbmom @FireMedic1 Thanks for the responses! Oddly enough, the prequalifications all denied me and on the day of discharge, I got approvals. Specifically for the Discover it Secured and Capital One Platinum. Just goes to show how automated this all is. Also, I was fortunate enough to have a collections account (marked as discharged under Ch7 BK) removed by disputing the incorrect balance the day after discharge (I'm guessing the creditors hadn't had time to update, but they decided to remove the reporting anyway, lucky me). And just yesterday, I sent a GW letter to the 2nd/final collection account I had on my reports, and I got 2 personal calls from employee/GM at the collection agency extending their compassion and mercy; even though they weren't obligated to remove it (my understanding), just update it as 0 balance and dishcarged, they removed the account on all reports via e-OSCAR! BOTH collections accounts were removed! I'll report back after my Self and D-It payments post with an update to my scores.

[FireMedic1]

Congrats! You may not have known it. You get a score rise after DC when all account reflect IIB and 0 balance. Your then legally out of debt. So that bump may have been the difference before and after DC. I always advised people to wait up to 30 days after DC and check your reports and make sure all the creditors followed the law and did their part of updating accounts correctly. Let the rebuild begin.

I'll ping @Jnbmom  so she can see the great results!