How long after BK before you can get prime rate

[oldschool]

Does anyone know how long after your bankruptcy is discharged you can get a prime rate for a mortgage. I am looking to refinance my home and it has been about 3 1/2 years, one of the banks said I need to be at least 4 years removed before I can get a decent rate.

[oldschool]

anybody??

[CreditBob]

I have a medical bankruptcy that is almost 5 years old. I have asked different mortgage lenders when I would get a great rate. They told me that a bankruptcy would not give you the best rate. They also stated it also depends on what you do since the filing of your bankruptcy. You need to have three open tradelines which can eb all revolving acocunts or two revolving accounts and a installment (personal) loan. The loan can actually be paid off. In other words as long as you have had one. Never be late on any accounts since the filing of the bankruptcy. On a vehicle loan they want to see stability. In other words do not get a loan for a car or truck, then pay it off in 6 months to 2 yeras. They want to see a minimum of 4 years of payments. Then here comes the FICO SCORE. You need to be in the 700's. About a year ago my fico score was 726. On my 2 credit card accounts I kept a small running baalnce of 5% of my line of credit. So on each credit card, having a $ 1000 line of credit, I kept a $ 50 balance on each one. So pull your credit reports & check everything over. See what your baalnces are on your credit cards. Then go from there. This will help you. Go to this site & click on get started.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/fico/calc.asp?lpid=BKRATE29  Let me know how the fico score estimator works for you

[oldschool]

Thanks Bob, here is what I was trying to decide...and I posted a question this touches on in another section. My BK was 3 1/2 years ago, I refinanced my home about a year later to a 30 year ARM, the adjustment kicked in last July to 8.9% and is scheduled to go up to 9.9% in January. I checked with one lender and found out I can get about a 7% fixed, however the closing costs would be about $7,000 on a $90,000 loan, the home is worth about $180,000. Another choice is locking it in with my current institution at the 8.9% I have now for only $350.00. If I did this I can refinance later next summer 4 year post BK. My scores are: TU 631, EQ 667 and EX 647.

What I didn't know is would the rate/closing costs be that much better in August of next year? By the way, why are the closing costs so high? Is that normal or are they trying to balance out that rate?

I went to the estimator, it was actually pretty close, it pegged me between 625 - 650, not to far off.

[Anonymous]

To get the best rates, yes, you need to be in the 700's.   But you don't need a score that high to get a car loan period.   I have heard that rates of 7-8% can be had for scores in the 650-680 range.   Just keep asking until you find one you can live with, and hold off as long as possible so your score goes up.

My credit union does what alot of them do, which is to pretty much peg your rate to your score.   So it certainly is important............

[jackg]

My CH 7 BK was discharged in Aug. 2006 and 12 months later I was able to get a 7.5% auto loan from NFCU.

[oldschool]

Thanks for all the input, however it is not a car loan I was looking to refinance, but my mortgage.

Thanks,

Rick