Timeline for purchasing a new car

[1trendsetta]

Hello all, I've read a few responses regarding purchases after discharge but I have a few questions.

I recently paid my last payment into my plan in August. My mortgage company has until October 9 to say they have a problem with payments then I'm told my trustee will begin to close my case. I own three vehicles (I have a car & truck my husband has a car). The two cars need major work. One is in the repair shop now because we can't work out of one vehicle. The other car I took for a diagnostic exam yesterday and it will need almost $1000 in repairs. The car is a 03 with over 200k miles. The mechanic has advised us not to drive it because we are looking at more damage. My husbands car is also an 03 but only has 120k miles. I would like to replace it too because it is a luxury vehicle & very expensive to repair.

I would like to replace my car. My question is at what point can I begin to apply for a car? Does my case have to be closed or discharged?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My husband works three jobs so we have to have two working vehicles at all times.

Thank you

[justbroke]

I would wait for the discharge to hit my credit reports. That should bring your score up a few points (maybe 20 or more). That will qualify you for better rates and/or to even be approved. Shop the loan to find the best rate.

[kmjatl]

I would wait for the discharge to hit my credit reports. That should bring your score up a few points (maybe 20 or more). That will qualify you for better rates and/or to even be approved. Shop the loan to find the best rate.

Not only should you wait for the discharge to hit, you should also check your report for inaccuracies, such as accounts not included in BK that were, charge offs for your BK accounts, etc. Dispute these (see the Rebuilding Credit forum).

From my experience, I would also wait another 30-60 days. A month after discharge I applied with a bank and was denied due to an open BK. Although the discharge was reported on my credit reports at all 3 bureaus, it seems this major lender was looking at an old report. I'm not sure why this is, but will venture a guess that they are pulling from all 3 bureaus through one service, which may or may not have the most up to date data available to them.

[1trendsetta]

Thank you. I had not planned on applying before my discharge. My question essentially was the difference between a closed case vs discharge. I see on NDC13 my case is closed and the courts will grant my discharge by Nov 15th. I'm very proactive so reviewing my credit reports months in advance have been done.

My husband did not tell the mechanic to give us an estimate first before repairs so $1285 later his car is back up to par. I have my truck to drive & I will save to repair my other car before selling it private owned.

Thanks for the advice.

[justbroke]

The "close" on NDC is not the same as the case, itself, being closed. There are really 4 case statuses; pending, dismissed, discharged, and closed. (There are other technical statuses but they are not related to the overall status of the case.) A pending case is one that had been filed and is awaiting discharge. A dismissed case is one that was dismissed by the court for some reason. A discharged case is one in which a discharge of the debtor's debt has been entered, but the case is not closed. A closed case is one that has been completely administered and is no longer an active case.

The best things for debtors is to wait until 6 months after the case is closed. Of course, life happens and you may need to use credit to purchase a vehicle. I would wait no less than the discharge hitting the credit reports (and that the credit report is as clean as possible).

Again, you can apply after the discharge hits your credit reports, but the prudent thing is to wait for the closing to post to your credit reports. In the credit industry, time heals almost all wounds (except blacklisting which is another story).