How fast?

[francoboy]

I was discharged the beginning of Sept. Ch 7. I have been getting offers and today finally applied. I got a Capitalone master card w $3000.00 limit. My plan is to use it to pay a bill and then immediatley pay it off.
How long will it take to boost my score? My rating now is 585 and I want to bet to 600 so I can be a guarantor on my daughter's college housing.
Thanks!

[justbroke]

I think as soon as that credit card reports (30-45 days), it should help your score. There is absolutely no way anyone can guess as to what the credit card would do because no one really can predict a credit score. However, having a new tradeline could lower your credit (because it's so new), but it could also increase your credit if you were credit challenged. You won't know until it reports.

I also assume that once your case reports as closed, then that may help as well.

[francoboy]

Thanks for hour reply. How long does it take for a bk to be closed?

[justbroke]

For a Chapter 7, it could be immediately upon discharge (known as an "auto-close"), several days, or could be measured in weeks. It really depends on whether there are assets for the Trustee to administer. In a typical "no asset" case, it takes just days (usually just a few) for a case to close.

In an asset case, it could be weeks and may even be months. This is especially the case if the Trustee is waiting on a tax refund.

[francoboy]

Ok. Then mine probably closed. There was only cc debt and no assets. I guess I will have to wait and see. Thanks!

[LadyInTheRed]

francoboy, if you want the use of your credit card to show on your credit report, my understandings is that you should wait until you receive a bill to pay it off because that is when the creditor reports to the agency. If there is a zero balance on your statement, then your credit report will not show utilization.

[francoboy]

Thank you Lady in the Red. That is good to know Would not have thought that!

[hadeeh]

I personally leave a small balance on purpose at the end of the month just so the credit bureaus see that I am using my card. It definitely helped my credit score go up after my BK.

[kberly69]

My Chapter 7 is not yet closed but when it was discharged, my scores jumped anywhere between 41-86 points depending on bureau and FICO v. Vantage. This happened within days of the discharge.

[francoboy]

I used my card and paid it off.mmmy credit score went up 106 points. Have decided to let my sister be the guarantor on my daughters college lease. Does it matter what my credit score is when there is a recent bankruptcy?

[francoboy]

I used my card and paid it off. my credit score went up 106 points. Have decided to let my sister be the guarantor on my daughters college lease. Does it matter what my credit score is when there is a recent bankruptcy?