How Do I Improve My Credit Score After Bankruptcy?
There are, In essence, two ways a person can file for bankruptcy and those two ways consist of getting rid of all the debt completely or paying some of it back. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is where nothing is repaid and Chapter 13 is where some is repaid. Either way a person looks at it, bankruptcy will impact a credit score quite negatively. These impacts will in most cases last on a credit report for 10 years. But how does a person who has a bankruptcy on their credit report help improve it? This is what we will discuss here.
First, no matter how you look at it; it will be extremely difficult to obtain any financing following a bankruptcy right after it occurs. But that does not mean a person cannot begin building their credit back up while the effects of a bankruptcy are in full effect on a credit report. One major way a credit score can be improved is through secured lines of credit.
Secured lines of credit are simply where the creditor will allow a credit account to be active, even after bankruptcy, provided that the maximum credit amount is backed up 100% by your own funds. So if you want a $5,000 credit line, you will have to deposit $5,000. This is simply to eliminate the risk to the lender that any more default of delinquent payments will occur. This is a great opportunity for those who need to build their credit back up while providing that creditor a lower amount of risk. Over time this will help improve a credit score substantially after many payments on the accounts have been made.
After a couple years, many of those who had filed for bankruptcy will be eligible to apply for another loan such as a mortgage. If that person has been working on improving their credit score over the years, then that improvement will surely show on their report which will help their chances substantially. There are no guarantees, however, especially after a situation such as bankruptcy, but it does show that the person is making a good, honest effort to improve.
Granted, in this type of situation such as bankruptcy, there will always be repercussions to that negative impact on your credit score as it will usually result in higher down payments and such. The ramifications of a bankruptcy are really never actually eliminated completely from a person