We filed BK in 2002, and I have learned a lot through this experience. First to answer your question all of your credit accounts posted with each credit bureau will remain listed. The accounts that are included in the BK filing should update to show that they are discharged under ch. 7. I say should because you will need to get copies of your credit reports at least 30 days after the discharge to make sure they were all updated. If they were not, you will need to send a dispute to the credit reporting agency. My advice to rebuild your credit is this. If you have a car financed weigh your options carefully. If you have a lot of negative equity and a higher interest rate you may want to surrender your car through the BK. They won't come and pick it up until after your BK is discharged. The day after your discharge you can take your court papers and get financed at just about anywhere. Just keep your payments low and find something that you will have equity. If you already have a good interest rate and equity in your car, then I would definately keep it. Just make your payments on time and that will help your score a lot. As far as the secured cards be very careful. Check to see how they report their status. A lot of them report as secured so you really are not helping your score. Be very careful of the predatory cards you will be "pre-approved" for. Read the fine print on all your offers. They will give you credit, but it comes with a large annual fee, start-up fee and other fees, so your $300 credit card comes with an immediate $250 balance. Plus a high interest rate which jacks it up even more. Just be careful and aware of the credit choices you make. I hope this helped.
