Dont know what to do next

[Dazed&confused]

I recently filed Ch. 7 on Oct 15 and have not gone in front of a judge yet. My utilities have all started new accounts for me. I am trying to rebuild my credit as fast as possible. I am 34 and getting nervous about restoring credit before I am not able to get a house and new car. I just get nervous that I am getting too old that a house will be unattainable if I dont hurry. What will be the best ways to attain a high credit score in the shortest amount of time? What should I do to make things right?

[robivi3]

It depends on your situation before you filed. Your Credit Score could be higher or lower than you think. Likely you will have to get several low limit cards such as Capital One, Aspire or Providian Visa's or MC's. When you get them they will have a balance (the annual fee) already shown. This will be from $75.00 to $150.00. The limits will be $300.00 and up.

Pay the fee and maintain a balance less than 50% of the credit Line. This will help your score. I know that Aspire reports to all three bureaus.

Check all three Credit Reporting agencies to make sure that the discharged debts show the last report as of the month you notified the Creditors. You can also dispute innacurate reports.

In your case the Credit Score would probably be fairly low since you have no reaffirmed debts such as a House or car loan. Make sure to make ALL utility payments on time for the next two years, not a day late. That will count. Since you do nat have a Car or Mortgage loan the two year wait rule most likely applies.

Here in South Florida the City of Hollywood gives out money for families to purchase local homes. I believe they give around $8000.00 for existing homes and $25000.00 for new construction. I was going to use their program several years ago and went through the required meetings. The income allowances were quite liberal (on the high side) as they are trying to enhance the community and bring in families who can upgrade the homes. I had perfect Credit at the time and was approved in a couple of days. Several people had BK's and as long as they had ontime payments for twenty-four months prior they were told that the lenders would work with them. Some cities all across the Country have similar programs and believe me Hollywood Florida is no ghetto, you may be surprised to find some nice towns with such programs.

Some time has to pass between the BK and a better credit score. The BK is on your record, you can't change that, a high credit score will not change that. You will pay significantly higher interest for a Mortgage, no way around it. Likely 2 points higher at least.

34 ain't old! Situations change as years go by. Patience, prudence and time are the only cure alls for bad credit and BK's. Initially a BK is severely damaging even if your FICO score somehow stays at 830. Lenders look at numbers, yes. However, when the red flag comes up a human being steps in and has to take responsibility for your loan approval or disapproval.