Post-Bankruptcy: Rebuilding Your Credit - Westgate Law

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Post-Bankruptcy: Rebuilding Your Credit

Credit rebuilding is of no small importance in the life of a post-bankruptcy individual. Many of these individuals, however, have trouble finding a substantial source of income and, therefore, they may believe they will have some difficulty rebuilding their credit scores. I could understand why one would believe this, but there’s hope. If you are in this situation, I’d like to point out that the belief that difficulty finding substantial sources of income will prevent you from rebuilding your credit holds no water for a number of reasons.

Firstly, even in today’s credit-tight environment, there are still plenty of high-risk creditors that are quite willing to extend credit to you, despite your debt. However, you should most definitely treat this situation delicately. Don’t do anything impulsive, like buying a new car. You could. I mean, certain dealers will finance you, definitely, but be aware that there is a very, very high chance of default on the loan. I’d say start with one or two small, secured credit cards. The disadvantage of this, however, is that these cards require a $500 to $1,000 down payment. The up front deposit serves as “security” for the credit they then offer you in the equivalent amount.

If you can’t save that much that quickly, then you could go with an unsecured credit card, as you could find plenty of them online, even with your bad credit. The rub here, however, is that the credit card fees may be up to 20% of the initial outstanding balance. You could get a $500 credit card with $200 in initial fees. If you do this, make sure the lender notifies all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Seriously, make sure they’re contacting all three; you cannot neglect any of them. You want to maximize the positive effect if you’re going to go to the effort and the expense of utilizing this type of card to rebuild your credit post-bankruptcy.

I hope this article helped you out. While dealing with bad credit and limited income can be overwhelming, it is not in any way insurmountable. If you’re clever about it, and more importantly, careful and consistent, you’ll have rebuilt your credit in no time and be on your way to better employment and a better financial situation.

If you need assistance making a plan to rebuild your credit post-bankruptcy, get in touch with the experienced southern California bankruptcy attorneys at Westgate Law.

About the Author

Justin Harelik

Justin has a singular goal: to get people out of financial distress and move them to financial stability and prosperity. He does this by combining 15 years of in-depth experience in bankruptcy, credit management, debt negotiation and student loan modifications, and he does it with both English and Spanish-speaking clients.

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