Credit Score

[IBroke]

The best I can figure, is that declaring bankruptcy put me in a different fico "bucket" which raised my score. Fico has buckets and the bucket for people who have negatives but no bankruptcy is different than the bankruptcy bucket. Of course I am just guessing.....

That's correct. People with a BK on file are considered to be in a different "league" than those without BK.

And one side note: Unless you build up new credit after your discharge, your credit score might even go DOWN when your BK dropps OFF your credit report after 10 years because you will be back in the "tougher" league and don't have much to "compete" with..

I'm currently at 496 with TU and 536 with EQ and have many collections and charge-offs on file. My score is going up again. Slowly, but constantly.

Since I don't have a garnishable income or assets, I decided to sit it out and not to file BK. All delinquent accounts should be gone in 5 years and even if the latest judgment would be filed against me one day prior to the SOL, it wouldn't stay on file as long as a Chapter 7.

[backtoschool]

That's correct. People with a BK on file are considered to be in a different "league" than those without BK.

And one side note: Unless you build up new credit after your discharge, your credit score might even go DOWN when your BK dropps OFF your credit report after 10 years because you will be back in the "tougher" league and don't have much to "compete" with..

I'm currently at 496 with TU and 536 with EQ and have many collections and charge-offs on file. My score is going up again. Slowly, but constantly.

Since I don't have a garnishable income or assets, I decided to sit it out and not to file BK. All delinquent accounts should be gone in 5 years and even if the latest judgment would be filed against me one day prior to the SOL, it wouldn't stay on file as long as a Chapter 7.

If I hadn't been going back to school I probably would not have filed chap 7 and would have done what you did. I was worried about having my checking account seized every five minutes. Two of my credit cards had gone to judgement in the last couple of months and that would have left my bank account at risk, which would have affected my financial aid, etc.....

I wanted to go back to school with a clean slate, so I filed, but I totally thought about doing what you did.

[Chuck]

If your score is already that low, then of course it will not drop 100-200 pts.

350 is the lowest a score can be other than 0. if you have a legit credit file you cannot have a 0.

When you scores are that bad it is probably because you have multiple accounts showing that they are presently past due. Once these account fall into the discharged under bankruptcy category they no long hit your score as past due. This is a good reason the one posters score may have actually went up after filing.

[RainMoM]

All this talk of credit score's makes me want to go out and buy myself an ice cream.. Can't get a beer, I gotta drive home

[IBroke]

All this talk of credit score's makes me want to go out and buy myself an ice cream.. Can't get a beer, I gotta drive home

But pay cash for it...

[IBroke]

If your score is already that low, then of course it will not drop 100-200 pts.

350 is the lowest a score can be other than 0. if you have a legit credit file you cannot have a 0.

When you scores are that bad it is probably because you have multiple accounts showing that they are presently past due. Once these account fall into the discharged under bankruptcy category they no long hit your score as past due. This is a good reason the one posters score may have actually went up after filing.

My scores are currently that low because I recently discovered that a few collection-agencies "decided" to list their claim against me as open installment accounts (Factoring Account). One of them is LVNV Funding. As a remark, they report "collection account" but still report as a regular creditor.

The bad thing about this reporting is that the FICO-systems reads those accounts as CURRENTLY past due (since they are reported "open") and not as closed 2 1/2 years ago - which they actually were. The negative impact is renewed every month and does NOT age off - which stinks and is a clear FCRA-violation. I have to get that fixed. I can only urge you to check your credit-reports for these accounts. If you see a collection-company reporting like that, your losing points.

[RainMoM]

But pay cash for it...

That's the only way i can.. No more credit cards for me..

[Amy26]

Credit is so stupid... you have to have credit to get credit... inquiring on your credit is bad...having too little credit is bad and having too much credit is bad...

The only thing I liked about living in Denmark was their method. There was NO credit. You went to your bank for everything... they looked at your budget...if you can afford it, they give you a loan... they work closely with you. If one month things are tight and you need to go negative...they let you go negative...no fees... they handle all your bills. You have a budget account and the bank actually pays all your bills for you when they are due. It was so nice... only thing I liked there.

[Exinobel102]

Just filed on 07/22/09

I just filed on 07/22/09 and my score actually bumped up 47 point. It was a 553 prior to filing now a 600 even. Don't know how but I guess I'll leave it up to the brilliant minds at Fair Isaac's. Im a little curious as to what my score will do at discharge.