Rebuilding after BK. Time until noticeable score increase?

[masscredit]

Time heals all wounds. That includes credit scores that took a significant hit from a bankruptcy. I know there are other parts of a person's profile that can affect scores. In general, besides when the BK falls off, is there a point in time when people start to see noticeable increases because it's getting older?

[md_rebuild]

A lof of it is profile dependent.   Yes, it's still a drag on the score, but it dissipates over time, but never really goes away.   You see posts on the board of people with 720 scores, and their BK drops off, and they get a +50 pt increase.  Others get +20.   

For me, it's not so much the score, as it is getting my scores to a respectable level where I am no longer having to settle for sub-prime cards, and if I decide to app for a new card, I can be confident that I'll get a healthy starting limit.

I'm almost 5+ years since my BK7 and as you can see in my signature, I'm not doing too bad.  My scores have been +-10 pts from where they are now for the past year.  Sure, I can't get Chase or Citi, but in a few months I hope to get in with AMEX and after that, I'll probably garden for 2-3 years, focusing on CLIs, rather than new cards.

Just remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

[masscredit]

@md_rebuild  I've been aggressive with my rebuild. Started with that shortly after the creditors meeting and 7 weeks before discharge. Went with high limit secured cards. One graduated, one might (hopefully soon) and the others served their purpose for a year before I closed them. I burned some of the big dogs that will never look at me again (NFCU and PenFed). Chase, Citi and Discover might welcome me back at some point. I'm looking for what you mentioned, being confident knowing that I can apply for cards, be approved and have a healthy SL.

I've been in the garden since the end of last June. I may stay there after my current inquiries are a year old but I've been researching better cards to see what I may qualify for. My scores hover in the mid-upper 600 range. My EQ 08 was a few points away from 700. Sometime must have aged off so that took a 10 point hit. So close but so far away... My current score goal is to get one score to crest 700. After that it will be all of them. Then it will be to get them to 720+. 

[Thomas_Thumb]

Often there is a decent score boost at 5 years. It does really depend on whether or not there are other significant negatives on your file.

Side note: More than a few myFICO members have listed scores above 720 less than 5 years post bankruptcy. Also, there is poster data showing otherwise "optimized" files going from 750-770 straight to 850 after a major derog (BK or tax lien) fell off.

[Horseshoez]

Two data points:

• My wife filed a Chapter 7 in 2014; between then and when it fell off her reports last December she purchased a new car and opened a handful of credit cards; prior to December her scores maxed out in the mid-700s and then they all popped up into 800s.
• I filed a Chapter 13 in 2015; during the 5 years of the bankruptcy I was not allowed to have any credit for the duration, in the first year after my discharge I opened up three credit cards and an SSL and then sat on them with no further applications of any kind.  From there my scores gradually rose from the low- to mid-600s to the mid-600s to low-700s prior to the bankruptcy falling off my reports.  In January 2022, my first month on a "Clean Score Card", my scores all rose up into the 800s, some of them skipping the 700 range entirely. 

[FireMedic1]

Spread out the apps. After 2 yrs I hit the low 700's. 4 yrs came the 720's. 5-7 is when the 740 starting to pop in. I did hit 750 for a week. Then apped. Been stuck for just under 3 yrs below.  Barely over 750. Probably stay there till it falls off. TU I did get EE few months back. Couple yrs early. Just takes time. I did the once I hit 700. Apped. Approved. Waited to pass 700 again. Apped again. Approved. Soon the base ws 710's.

Get pass 700. Opens many more doors.

[Zoostation1]

Credit age and not having opened a SSL are holding my scores back somewhat.  Because of the time I waited to file and then not opening any accounts for 4yrs post filing I have a younger AoOA, and  younger AAoA than most people who are 6+ yrs post filing. I lost a few points this month on most models from utilization but even if I were AZEO with very low utilization I can't get to 700s  in FICO 8 yet (FICO 9  I can and probably 10T, maybe 10). 

@masscreditHow long ago did you file?

[Horseshoez]

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@Zoostation1 wrote:

Credit age and not having opened a SSL are holding my scores back somewhat.  Because of the time I waited to file and then not opening any accounts for 4yrs post filing I have a younger AoOA, and  younger AAoA than most people who are 6+ yrs post filing. I lost a few points this month on most models from utilization but even if I were AZEO with very low utilization I can't get to 700s  in FICO 8 yet (FICO 9  I can and probably 10T, maybe 10). 

@masscreditHow long ago did you file?

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Until my Chapter 13 fell off my records, only my TU FICO 8 had eeked above 700, EQ and EX were between 675 and 690.

[CreditCurious]

Not a BK, but I have a 180 late on my report from 2018.  I have heard that a 180 late has a large impact for the full duration of the time it is on your record, so potentially similar to a BK.

I was able to slowly but steadily build up to 740-750 FICO-8 by 2022, and since then I have completely stalled.  I have seen my FICO sit at 749 and 753 with EQ and TU for 6 months straight without moving by one point. Experian is a bit of an outlier for me, they do not have my mortgage on file, so my credit file is thin with them and sits lower at about 720.

Credit report is otherwise clean. 3 cards, 1 mortgage all open. 1 card (the 180 day late) closed, 2 car loans closed.  Other than the 180 day, everything paid on time. Utilization typically 1-4%, with minor bumps to credit when it goes higher for a month.  AAoA is ok. Was 9+ years until I opened two cards 1 and 2 years ago, but the hard pulls are gone for both, and AAoA is still over 6 years, so not terrible.  No other hard pulls.

From reading this forum and others, it appears that the late can reduce my score by up to 90 points.  I will be watching early next year to see if I get a significant boost once my date of first derogatory passes.