Am I screwing up credit scores.....

[6thsense]

by applying for credit cards and getting denied. I was ch7 discharged in April 2010. I did get approved for a Capital One MC with a $750 limit. I got denied by Orchard though who is HSBC. I did BK Best Buy who is HSBC as well.....

[StartingOver08]

3 inquiry's in 3 months is quite a few inquiry's. They stay on your report for 2 yrs. According to myFICO they really only impact your score for 12 months.

You might want to wait a little bit (6 months maybe) and clear up any inaccurate reporting on your reports before you apply again.

You could get a secured card in the meantime and that will help you too.

[HHM]

Your not helping your score, but your not killing it either.

Here is the thing, you started applying a little too soon out of box. The FIRST step to rebuilding credit after BK is to pull your credit report 3 months after discharge. Make sure everything is reporting accurately (zero balances owed, IIB, etc). If not, get that stuff fixed by disputing the inaccurate entries.

When that is worked out, you will have started getting credit card offers in the mail. If not, then you can start applying at the BK friendly CC, or get a secured card.

[Logan]

My rule of thumb is to wait at least 3 months between applying for credit. When a creditor pulls your credit report and sees inquiries they know you applied for credit. If there are any recent inquiries the new creditor will assume that you have obtained new credit that has yet to show on up your credit report and that will affect their decision and of course you take a FICO hit.

In my experience with credit reports each inquiry is a small hit and will begin to rebound after 3 months.

Logan

[mom2three09]

You have 2 CC's post-BK -- stop applying now and let those age. Orchard/HSBC will likely not approve you since you just got the BB/HSBC CC, so don't even waste your time with them right now. We are 7 mos. post-BK and have the two CC's you have plus an auto loan reporting on our reports --- our scores are slowly but surely creeping up. But we've completely stopped applying for new credit. You probably should do the same

[Exployer1234]

I would wait to apply for any new credit. Once I am discharged I am not applying for any new credit until I hit my 6th month. I am doing that to give me a chance to fix any issues, plus give me some time after BK. I really don't want to have to charge anything and honestly if it was not for the fact I am going to have to rebuild my credit I would not apply for any new credit.

[Amy26]

I'm probably the craziest person when it comes to inqueries... I think I have like 65 inqueries on my equifax report in the last 2 years. I haven't really had them "hurt" my score per se... sure it may bring it down a few points but the only thing I've had it impact me on is like for example I went to refinance my car loan with my credit union last month... the underwriter was like wow why do you have so many inqueries? I explained it by saying I've been trying to refinance my loan and shopping around. It was then not mentioned again...but it can be viewed as negative by some creditors.

I have had quite a few inqueries on my reports since my discharge but my scores just keep going up. But, as others have said make sure your reports are as clean as possible before you start applying.

[justbroke]

Too many inquiries only affects your score by about 20 points. If you're applying for better terms on a Mortgage or you're at a 600 credit score... that 20 points can make all the difference.