Credit score after BK and how often does the score change?

[PHXDWTN]

My BK was discharged January 08, 2010 and on August 31, 2010 my score with Equifax was already 680 which really surprised me (checked through MyFico.com website).

Immediately after the discharge I got an offer from Capital One (no annual fee!) and was accepted and have used and paid the card off every month. The card started with $250 and went up to $500 after 3 months and $750 after 6 months. I just applied for Orchard Bank ($39 annual fee but 12 months no interest) and got approved for $500.

I'm curious to check my score again but I'm not sure how long to wait. Does it update monthly? Every few months? I don't want to do it too often because 1) it's not cheap and 2) I think it hurts you're credit score, right?

[IBroke]

My BK was discharged January 08, 2010 and on August 31, 2010 my score with Equifax was already 680 which really surprised me (checked through MyFico.com website).

Immediately after the discharge I got an offer from Capital One (no annual fee!) and was accepted and have used and paid the card off every month. The card started with $250 and went up to $500 after 3 months and $750 after 6 months. I just applied for Orchard Bank ($39 annual fee but 12 months no interest) and got approved for $500.

I'm curious to check my score again but I'm not sure how long to wait. Does it update monthly? Every few months? I don't want to do it too often because 1) it's not cheap and 2) I think it hurts you're credit score, right?

After a BK, your score is constantly changing. BTW, checking your own credit doesn't hurt your score.

[PHXDWTN]

Well I ended up pulling both Equifax and Transunion and Equifax is 687 (up 7 points from 5 months ago) and Transunion is 654 (first time I'm pulling it).

I'm surprised by two things...first, that Equifax only went up 7 points in five months. I thought it would go up more but I've only opened one credit card account which has been paid off every month (current balance on credit report shows $14 out of $750 limit). Maybe I should have applied for more?

Second, I'm surprised Transunion is so low in comparison. There is still an account that shows in Collections with an original balance of $5500 but the Account descriptions says "Chapter 7 bankruptcy".

[IBroke]

TransUnion tends to report collections as what they really are - collections. Equifax, however, often reports them as regular accounts, thus showing no collections at all. That might cause a difference. as you can see, my TU-score is lower than Equifax, too.

You might want to try playing around with the myfico score-simulators to see if there is any potential to increase your score right now.

Opening additional accounts might help IF you don't have that type of account right now (installment-loan, credit-card). Since you already have a CC, opening another account might not help since it is going to lower your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts).

[PHXDWTN]

What confuses me about Transunion is that NONE of the accounts say "Included in bankruptcy" like they do on Equifax. I have...

4 "Charged off as bad debt"
2 "Payment after charge off/collection"
10 "Paid or paying as agreed" of which two are considered a negative indicator...what's that about?
3 "Not rated"

None mention the Ch. 7 BK though it is mentioned in the Public Records section. Is this how it should show or should I dispute anything on there?

[NoMoreRed]

What confuses me about Transunion is that NONE of the accounts say "Included in bankruptcy" like they do on Equifax. I have...

4 "Charged off as bad debt"
2 "Payment after charge off/collection"
10 "Paid or paying as agreed" of which two are considered a negative indicator...what's that about?
3 "Not rated"

None mention the Ch. 7 BK though it is mentioned in the Public Records section. Is this how it should show or should I dispute anything on there?

All of the accounts that were included in the bankruptcy should show $0 balance and Included In Bankruptcy on your credit report. Dispute all of the accounts that were IIB and don't show the balance as $0 and IIB on your credit report.

[IBroke]

Something I was asking myself: If an account was transferred or sold after charge-off but prior to BK-filing to another lender, does it still have to say "IIB"?

I'd say yes because otherwise, a creditor could still be under the impression that the amount is still due and was NOT discharged through BK. In addition, it is the debt/account and not the creditor that is discharged...

[PHXDWTN]

Something I was asking myself: If an account was transferred or sold after charge-off but prior to BK-filing to another lender, does it still have to say "IIB"?

I'd say yes because otherwise, a creditor could still be under the impression that the amount is still due and was NOT discharged through BK. In addition, it is the debt/account and not the creditor that is discharged...

But if it says "Balance: $0" then a creditor wouldn't be under that impression, no? And the more I'm reading, the more I'm realizing that BK discharges your debt...but not really your accounts. Like if you have a Judgment and you file BK, the BK discharges the debt associated with that Judgment, but it does not get rid of the Judgment itself, it's still out there with a "$0" balance. I think the same may be true on charged off accounts.

[IBroke]

But if it says "Balance: $0" then a creditor wouldn't be under that impression, no?

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Many accounts that are charged-off or transferred/sold to another lender are reported as $0 balance. Already before you filed for BK. Why? Because when it comes to "charge-offs", the notation only reflects an account-status. You might still be liable for it - either still to the original creditor or the lender/collection-agency they sold it to. So let's say a CC-company sells your account to a collection-agency. The CC-company is going to report "charge-off" and "account sold" and a $0 balance. You don't owe the CC-comany any more BUT the debt still exists.

And the more I'm reading, the more I'm realizing that BK discharges your debt...but not really your accounts. Like if you have a Judgment and you file BK, the BK discharges the debt associated with that Judgment, but it does not get rid of the Judgment itself, it's still out there with a "$0" balance. I think the same may be true on charged off accounts.

I'm not disputing the fact that they are allowed to report those accounts as "charge-offs". Since they were charged-off prior to my filing, they have the right to report them as such. Said debt was charge-off by the original creditor. But on the other hand, said debt was also IIB - so why should that information be excluded?

I don't think there is a difference between considering a BK a discharge of a debt or a discharge of an account. It actually discharges your personal liability for both - the debt AND the account. I'm sharing the opinion that this discharge is not bound to the creditor or collection agency that is currently holding the account or debt. If that would be the case, a simple transfer between 2 collection-agencies or debt-buyers would make you liable again - and we all know that this is not the case.

This is why I think even OCs that discharged an account or debt prior to BK should report as IIB as well. Since they often don't report who they sold the debt to, it is impossible to verify if this debt is still owed or discharged through BK.

[researchnerd]

What confuses me about Transunion is that NONE of the accounts say "Included in bankruptcy" like they do on Equifax. I have...

4 "Charged off as bad debt"
2 "Payment after charge off/collection"
10 "Paid or paying as agreed" of which two are considered a negative indicator...what's that about?
3 "Not rated"

None mention the Ch. 7 BK though it is mentioned in the Public Records section. Is this how it should show or should I dispute anything on there?

I believe the first two should be reporting as IIB and $0, whether the debts were sold or not. I had one creditor reporting as "Payment after charge off/collection" -- which I disputed, and they changed it to IIB right away. Not sure what's up with the other two statuses.

Also -- OP, if you're wondering how often your score changes, you might want to check out credit monitoring services like TU's TrueCredit. It won't show you true FICO scores but it does give you an approximation of scores for each of the 3 CRAs, and you can update it every 30 days. You can watch over time to see if it goes up or down, and they email you an alert every time a new inquiry or change pops up too. Look around for discount codes; I think you can get it for something like $7/month.

[Floridagail]

I cleaned up my report recently, making them show IIB instead of charge off, and my score jumped 30 points, waiting to see if it comes down at all after they finish the dispute.

[bluemartini]

My credit score went up right after my BK, then I checked it again today and it has gone down again. I honestly don't care whether it goes up or down because I have NO interest in obtaining credit again. I have two little low-balance credit cards that I got post-BK and I'm sure they will help me to rebuild my credit eventually. I am in no rush.