When you have filed for bankruptcy with the help of a bankruptcy lawyer and have completed the process and had your debts discharged, it is time to begin the process of bouncing back and rebuilding your credit.
CBS News, in an article, provided general tips to debtors which include monitoring your credit, submitting letters of explanation to the credit reporting agencies about your financial difficulties, getting approved for a credit card, using your credit card in a smart way, and paying it off each month.
These tips are great—but your bankruptcy lawyer can provide you with even more detailed advice on how to go about rebuilding your credit.
Tips from a bankruptcy lawyer: How to bounce back after bankruptcy
When you want to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy, as CBS News pointed out, you will need to get your source of credit. Although this proves to be a challenge, secured credit cards should be available to individuals almost as soon as their bankruptcy filing is complete. A secured credit card is a type of credit card that is backed by a cash deposit from the cardholder which acts as its collateral. In other words, you might get a $500 line of credit, but you will have to make a $500-deposit in an account held by the creditor that may be used to pay your bill if in case you can’t pay it back yourself.
Once you have the secured card, you will need to use it to make small purchases. Keep your use of the card below 30% of the credit amount available for you as your scoring will be penalized by credit bureaus if you maxed out your card. Always pay your bill in full since secured cards have high interest rates and since you don’t need to carry a balance to improve your credit.
After some time making on-time payments with your secured card, your credit score should improve enough that you may be able to get an unsecured card. You may also be able to qualify for a home mortgage in just 1 year after a Chapter 13 filing or 2 years after filing a Chapter 7.
Getting help from a bankruptcy lawyer
When you go through the bankruptcy process, your bankruptcy lawyer will provide you with comprehensive support and advice from getting rid of your debts to what you need to do to improve your credit and finances after bankruptcy. Take advantage of the advice made available to you and get an expert opinion from a bankruptcy lawyer today.