Business Marketing & Finance Resources

Ideas on how you can Rebuild your Credit after Bankruptcy:

Get a Secured Credit Card
For consumers who have recently gone through bankruptcy, a good choice would be to obtain a secured credit card. Secured cards required the applicant to open a bank account with a balance that matches the credit limit of the secured credit card. Typically, the limit will amount to $500 maximum, but be prudent about the usage and limit your charges to no more than approximately 30% of your credit limit. Focus on light, regular use of the card to help rebuild your credit. It is important that your credit card gets reported to the credit bureaus, but try to prevent having it reported as a secured card. Also, don’t just grab any secured card that is available. Take a close look at possible huge upfront charges and annual fees. In addition, ensure that your payment history is being reported to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian.

Open a CD
Using a certificate of deposit (CD) as a method to rebuild credit is another option. A small personal loan is used to open a CD for a minimum of one year, and the loan payments that are made on-time will show good credit history during the length of the certificate. This strategy is helpful to re-establish credit without having the temptation of a credit card.

Installment Loans
Student loans (not typically dischargeable in bankruptcy), can be used to rebuild your score with timely payments and possibly paying more than you owe if possible will help even more. Other types of installment loans include auto loans (expect a very high interest rate initially), and a high-rate mortgage, sometimes available in a little as six months after your bankruptcy case is closed. Just make sure you can really afford a home before buying it.

Additional Ideas
• Pay every bill on time
• Check your credit reports regularly
• Save as much money as possible
• Minimize the number of inquiries on your credit report

With the huge building competition, many credit card companies began to offer introductory 0% APR credit cards. Aiming to attract new credit card applicants, without interest is applied to balances during the period April to 0%.

This constitutes a gap that can be exploited by surfer’s credit card. Purchases are made with their 0% APR credit cards until the credit ceiling. Only the minimum required by the credit card company will be paid each month without incurring the cost of interest rates. Once the card is maxed out, surfer’s credit card will make a request to another 0% APR credit cards and repeat the same cycle.

Sounds like a great way to get free money, right? Well, when you may be able to browse through some cards, sooner or later you’re bound to reach a road block. With the massive debt piled with interest charges imposed after 0% introductory period the rate in April, surfers credit card will face snowballing debt, since interest charges come into the picture. The exception to this is when surfer’s credit card pay off all outstanding debts before that happens.

Otherwise, with multiple credit cards in their hands, each of which are charged to a maximum credit limit, any default or late payments will result in a bad credit score. Now what are the consequences of a bad credit score?

Well, now you’re labeled a high risk lender, you probably will not be entitled to more credit cards regularly. The ones you can purchase cards are high interest credit catered specifically for consumers with bad credit reports. That puts him at a disadvantage as it is now paying higher interest.

Besides that, getting your loan approved for a car or a house will also be a challenge. You’ll probably have to pay much more in the interests of others. In the end, it may be better that you do not purchase until your credit report is set straight. This will only happen if you pay your debt to credit card debt and maintain a good payment history for the next six months to a year. This is the hardest part because you need to work harder or take another job to get your debt cleared.