Foreclosure - Discharged vs. Closed & Credit

[florida]

This forum has been a huge help to me. I have just a couple more questions I hope you guys can answer.

My bk was discharged last month - but has not been closed. Has my credit already taken the "hit"? Or does that happen when it is officially closed?

Obviously, living in the state of Florida, the foreclosure process can take quite some time. Will my credit take another "hit" once the process of foreclosure is complete??

My bk was a 7 and I included both mortgages. I want to start rebuilding our credit, but I'm unsure if we've hit bottom yet.

Thanks for any input!

[HHM]

The BK is already on your report. As for which date it goes by depends...I have seen credit reports use the filing date, and I have seen some use the discharge date. From a legal perspective, discharge is the operative date.

As for foreclosure, the unfortunate answer is that you will have the foreclosure on your report and it will relate back to the actual foreclosure auction/sale date. So, unfortunately, if it takes them another 12 months to foreclose, you will take another hit at that time.

No harm is starting to rebuild. Long term, one of the important factors on your credit is credit history (the age of accounts). BK essentially restarts your history (all the old accounts are discharged and closed), so the sooner you can get a new account, the sooner you start establishing credit history.

[albacore44]

2 days after my discharge, all remaining accounts were closed by my creditors, and reflected on my credit report. my score went up to 625. i received a pre-approved offer for an Orchard Platnum CC, applied on line, and was accepted. i will promptly shred it as soon as received, and just keep the account open to re-establish credit. One reason i believe my score came out that high, is that i had quite a few closed accounts in prior history to my BK that were in good standing.

[2manybills]

2 days after my discharge, all remaining accounts were closed by my creditors, and reflected on my credit report. my score went up to 625. i received a pre-approved offer for an Orchard Platnum CC, applied on line, and was accepted. i will promptly shred it as soon as received, and just keep the account open to re-establish credit. One reason i believe my score came out that high, is that i had quite a few closed accounts in prior history to my BK that were in good standing.

I agree Albacore. My husband's is at 695 now. Partly I think because we had many years of good standing.

We received a Capitol One Card each with zero percent interest for a year with a $1k line. We use it for gas and I pay it off every month. It's mostly because I don't want to use an ATM for gas.

[chad9162]

As for foreclosure, the unfortunate answer is that you will have the foreclosure on your report and it will relate back to the actual foreclosure auction/sale date. So, unfortunately, if it takes them another 12 months to foreclose, you will take another hit at that time.

I thought since the mortgage was "Included in Bankruptcy" it wouldn't show up on your credit report since that would be a double negative (Bankruptcy and Foreclosure). Isn't BK supposed to be a "fresh start" from the discharge date?? If a bank takes 12 months to foreclose and then puts it on my credit report which causes a negative impact isn't that a violation of the discharge order!? Its not my fault the bank took so long right?

[florida]

Chad - that it exactly what I was wondering.
If in fact I'm going to take another "hit" - I guess I shouldn't start "rebuilding" until then...

[penniless]

From what I understand, the mortgages are listed as included in the bankruptcy. I don't think it will hurt any of your new credit initiatives except for buying a house. The banks will see it and use the sale date from what I have learned and you have to wait 3 years from that date for an FHA loan. I think the banks have to do a search to come up with the house foreclosure information. I'm not sure if they do that for credit cards, car loans etc.

[sofarsogood2]

Penniless is correct.