Bankruptcy Got You Down? How to Repair Your Credit After the Fact

Are you discouraged about your financial situation because you had to declare bankruptcy? Sometimes bankruptcy is likened to financial suicide, which can throw a lot of people into a mindset that is anything but healthy. Rest assured that while bankruptcy will affect your credit rating for a number of years, it will not destroy it forever. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for you.

From a legal standpoint, it takes seven to 10 years for a bankruptcy to disappear from your credit report. In actual fact however, your credit score can begin to show improvement from the day that your bankruptcy is discharged. To begin to repair the damage to your credit, contact one of the three credit bureaus and have them send you a copy of your credit report. The three credit bureaus are Equifax, Experion and Trans Union. All three agencies may have separate reports on you but they communicate with each other and therefore it is not necessary for you to contact all of them.

Peruse every line of the report when you receive it, to make sure all of the information is current. If you find a mistake then contact the relevant agency and have the correction made. This is very important!

The Rebuilding Process

In order to begin to rebuild your credit, you have to have a form of credit. An unsecured credit card is not likely if you were bankrupt which leaves you with two options:

*Go to the bank or local credit union and apply for a small personal loan that you are confident you can pay off within the allotted timeframe or even sooner. An example is a loan for $500 to $1000. Be aware that people with past credit problems are likely to be charged a higher interest rate but the sooner you pay it off, the less this will be of concern to you.

*Apply for a secured credit card to help get you back on the credit track. Secured credit cards are similar in nature to a checking account. You put up the amount of money that you then make purchases against (a security deposit in other words). If you can demonstrate to the credit card company that you can use credit responsibly and you pay your bills on time every month, then the opportunity for an unsecured card is within your reach.

What Went Wrong?

In order to pave your path to a brighter future with credit, you need to understand how you got yourself to the point where bankruptcy became your only option. For some people it was through no fault of their own, such as in the case of sudden illness, medical bills that keep coming in and/or loss of a job. The important thing is that you take inventory of your financial picture and learn from your past problems in order to ensure a brighter financial future that has you in control.

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Find more article on debt solutions by clicking here: Debt Solution Articles. Endthisdebt.com is a website that specializes in providing debt help advice as well connecting individuals with debt specialists based on their individual debt situation.