After bankruptcy can you get credit?
Many people mistakenly believe that they will be unable to obtain any sort of credit following bankruptcy. However this is not the case. With careful and thorough management of your credit records you should be able to obtain credit within a matter of months following your bankruptcy.
One of the most important things to do when you are coming out of bankruptcy is to check your credit report. A problem that many people find they are facing is that their credit reports often show accounts that were closed during the bankruptcy proceedings as open and overdue. This is very damaging for your credit score and you should contact the credit agencies immediately to insist that the accounts in question are properly reported as “included in bankruptcy”. While you have your credit report it is a good idea to check it thoroughly to make sure there are no other mistakes or mis-reported accounts on there as your credit report is used to formulate your credit score so it is vital it is correct. This is the first step to repairing your credit rating.
Once you have your credit report in order, the next thing to do is try and get some form of secured credit, such as a credit card. This may seem a little crazy, but by having some form of credit you will be able to build a good credit history on that account to prove that you are not a high risk borrower. It may well be the case that any kind of credit card you will be able to get will have high interest rates and low credit limits. This doesn’t matter as the last thing you actually want to do is get in debt again. You need to use this card very wisely and pay the balance off every month, just use it once or twice a month on small purchases, but most importantly of all, make sure you have the money to pay it at the end of the month. There is no point in using this kind of credit repairing tactic if you are just going to run up more debt. You absolutely must pay it off every month, this way you show you are a good debtor.
You will find that around 2 years after bankruptcy discharge you will qualify for loans on the same terms as those who have not been bankrupt, and you may well be able to cut that time down by a few months by sensible use of a credit card in order to improve your credit rating.