What Are Usda Loans
USDA loans are backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for low-and-middle-income borrowers who may not qualify for a conventional loan. The mortgages have low down payments and no closing costs for those who buy a home in a qualifying rural area, which includes about 97% of the U.S. A borrowers income cant exceed 115% of the median income for the area. Mortgages are 30-year, fixed-rate.
While the USDA doesnt set a minimum credit score, most lenders who process USDA loans require a minimum of 640.
Waiting period for applicants who have filed for bankruptcy:
- Chapter 7 Eligible three years after discharge.
- Chapter 13 Eligible after 12 months if theyve stuck to their plan payments.
How Soon Can I Buy A Car After Chapter 7
Ideally, you should at least wait about six months before you apply for an auto loan. That gives you time to repair your credit and rebuild credit, too. You make payments on any loans you have left to build a positive credit history. If possible, you can get a secured credit card to build more credit history faster.
Respond To Lender Inquiries
Once you submit your preapproval application, the rest is in your lenders hands. Your lender will review your income, assets, debt and credit to see if you qualify for a mortgage. If you seem like a good candidate, your lender will send you a preapproval letter. You can use your letter to start shopping for a home.
Your lender might need to contact you to ask questions about items on your credit report. This is especially common after an adverse financial event like bankruptcy. Be honest and respond to your lenders inquiries quickly to improve your chances of approval.
Also Check: Can You Rent An Apartment After Bankruptcy
Best For Avoiding A Credit Check: Opensky Secured Credit Visa Card
Heres why: Theres no credit check necessary for the OpenSky® Secured Credit Visa® Card application process. Instead, your credit limit is determined based on your refundable security deposit, starting at $200. For those focused on credit building after bankruptcy, this benefit is especially enticing, because a hard credit check can ding your credit a bit.
Read our review of the OpenSky® Secured Credit Visa® Card for more thoughts on this option.
See If You’re Prequalified For Any Credit Cards
Many credit card issuers have an online prequalification tool. After you fill out a form with some basic information, this tool lets you know if you’re prequalified for any of that issuer’s credit cards. That’s not a sure thing, but it means you have solid odds of getting approved for a credit card.
Also Check: Dave Ramsey Engagement Ring
Why You Can Trust Bankrate
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired.
Check Your Credit Reports
Next, you should pull your from the three major credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Youll need to verify that the accounts included in your bankruptcy are all reporting accurate information on your credit reports.
Accounts included in your bankruptcy dont have to be deleted from your credit reports. However, they should indicate they were included in bankruptcy and should show no balances, past due amounts, or late payments after the bankruptcy filing or discharge date.
Since youll need to wait for your credit reports to update, heres when to check:
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 90 days after your bankruptcy filing date
- Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 90 days after your bankruptcy discharge
If you come across errors on your credit reports, youll need to dispute them directly with the credit reporting agencies. You should wait to apply for new credit until theyre cleared up, as credit errors could make it difficult to qualify for new loans or credit cards .
Insider tip
You can also check your credit reports and/or scores using free services offered by some credit card issuers and websites. See our page on Monitoring Your Credit Reports to learn more about these services.
Read Also: How Many Bankruptcies Has Donald Trump Filed
How Foreclosure Prolongs A Mortgage Waiting Period
Sometimes a bankruptcy isnt the only financial setback a potential mortgage borrower is dealing with. The bankruptcy may have been preceded by foreclosure on a mortgage.
Having both a foreclosure and bankruptcy may prolong the mortgage process more than just a bankruptcy, and may add other requirements.
The following chart shows the length of time after a foreclosure a potential borrower may apply for a loan:
| FHA |
|
You’ll Likely Have To Give Up All Of Your Credit Cards If You File For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy But You Can Start Rebuilding Your Credit Once Your Case Is Closed
Updated By Cara O’Neill, Attorney
If you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and are hoping to hang onto one of your credit cards, you will likely be out of luck. Once your credit card company learns of your bankruptcy, it will almost certainly cancel your card. But all is not lost. Read on to find out more about why you cannot keep credit cards when you file for bankruptcy and what you can do to get another one later on.
Don’t Miss: Do It Yourself Bankruptcy Chapter 7 Software
How To Apply For Credit Cards After Bankruptcy
You can follow these steps to apply for after bankruptcy credit cards in Canada:
Getting a credit card during bankruptcy
You should avoid applying for credit cards or using your existing credit cards shortly before filing for bankruptcy. Your credit card provider can say that this credit use had dishonent intent, and may result in your credit card debt not being discharged. Your existing credit cards may be closed during the bankruptcy process even if theyre fully paid off.
Why Its Smart To Get A Credit Card After Bankruptcy
When you file for bankruptcy, being proactive about rebuilding your credit is a vital step in regaining financial stability. A credit card can be a useful tool during this process.
Theres nothing easy about declaring bankruptcy.
From the stress that precedes the decision to the restrictions that come after, its a long road for both your financial and emotional health.
Then theres the damage done to your credit. Itll likely take years to recover.
But a bankruptcy doesnt have to be a life sentence: Heres how to start improving your credit scores today.
Already know how to restore your creditworthiness? Check out our favorite credit cards for bankruptcy recovery.
Read Also: How To Claim Bankruptcy In Massachusetts
After Filing Bankruptcy In Canada How Long Will It Be On My Credit Report
How long will bankruptcy show on credit reports in Canada for the first time bankrupt after receiving a ?
There are two large credit reporting agencies in Canada: Equifax and Trans Union. Unfortunately neither of them is very forthcoming with regards to their credit reporting practices.
A few years ago you could go to their websites and read a complete description of their reporting procedures. Today, unfortunately, their websites are mostly sales vehicles, so that they can sell you their credit reporting services, and thats a key point to remember: Credit bureaus are profit making businesses: they exist to sell credit information to the lenders and to consumers . They are not impartial arbitrators they are there to earn a profit. Theres nothing wrong with earning a profit, but its important that you understand their perspective.
With that background, based on the most recently available information , Equifaxs policy is to retain the note about your first bankruptcy on their system for six years after the date of discharge.
So, for example, if you in January of year 1, and you were not discharged until October, year 2, the note about your bankruptcy would remain on your credit report for six more years, until the end of October, year 8. Its not the date that your bankruptcy started that matters its the date you were discharged.
In the past Trans Union maintained this information for seven years.
Best Credit Cards After Bankruptcy
Many or all of the products here are from our partners that pay us a commission. Its how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures our experts opinions arent influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.
When you’re recovering after filing bankruptcy, opening a credit card is an important part of rebuilding your credit. The best credit cards after bankruptcy are easy to get, keep fees to a minimum, and report monthly activity to the major credit bureaus.
Although there are many credit cards available to consumers who have filed bankruptcy, good options that don’t bury you in fees are hard to find. We’ve compared bankruptcy credit card options to find the best ones.
Read Also: How To File Bankruptcy In Texas Without An Attorney
Will Applying For A Credit Card Hurt My Credit Score
When you apply for a credit card, issuers will check your credit report to see if you qualify. This check will be indicated on your report and may temporarily lower your score. This may feel like a catch-22 for people recovering from bankruptcy: you need a credit card to help repair your score, but applying for cards may actually hurt it. For this reason, we recommend you only apply to a secured card meant for people in your situation. That way, you’ll only need to apply once and you won’t have multiple credit checks listed on your report.
Re: American Express And Discover After Bankruptcy
Congrats!
I must admit, I was WAY more excited about my Discover approval than my Amex.
wrote:Just want to let people out there know that I was approved for an American Express everyday card with a 2000k limit and also a Discover It card with 1500k limit today. I had a chapter 7 discharged In May of 2012 and Discover was included in the Bk. My credit scores from all 3 bureaus were in the 670 to 680 range. I’ve worked hard to obtain these cards so just want to share my story and success with everyone.
Congratulations!!!!!!
I got back into Amex’s good graces at the 5 year mark!!!! To me, that was the point where I felt like I have bounced back from my bankruptcy!
Keep up the good work!
wrote:Just want to let people out there know that I was approved for an American Express everyday card with a 2000k limit and also a Discover It card with 1500k limit today. I had a chapter 7 discharged In May of 2012 and Discover was included in the Bk. My credit scores from all 3 bureaus were in the 670 to 680 range. I’ve worked hard to obtain these cards so just want to share my story and success with everyone.
Congratulations!!!!!!
I got back into Amex’s good graces at the 5 year mark!!!! To me, that was the point where I felt like I have bounced back from my bankruptcy!
Keep up the good work!
Guyatthebeach
Read Also: What Is A Good Bankruptcy Score
Budgeting After Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Many people file for bankruptcy due to no fault of their own after experiencing an unexpected event, such as an illness, job loss, or divorce. Even so, everyone can benefit from cutting unnecessary costs and building a nest egg to fall back onnot just those who filed for bankruptcy to wipe out credit card balances.
Reviewing your spending habits and making a comfortable budget is a commonsense place to start. Avoid buying items on credit that you can’t afford to pay for in cash. If you take out new credit cards, pay off most, if not all, of your account balance each month so that you don’t accrue interest.
How Can I Rebuild My Credit After A Bankruptcy
You may find it easier than you would expect. There’s no doubt that after a bankruptcy, your credit score will be thrashed, and the bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for seven to 10 years . There’s no minimizing the financial “fun” of a bankruptcy.
That said, rebuilding your credit after a bankruptcy can definitely be done. Your first move should probably be to apply for a secured credit card. These are credit cards that work like any credit card, except for an important distinction: you’ll put down a refundable deposit and then use the secured credit card to make purchases.
After a year or two of using the secured credit card responsibly, the credit card company you have the card with will likely give you that refundable deposit back – and invite you to apply for an unsecured credit card with them.
That said, you may be able to successfully apply for a no-frills, or not many frills, credit card designed for people with fair or bad credit. You could try doing that before applying for a secured credit card, if you’re not excited about paying money upfront, money that, again, is refundable.
In any case, you should find with a few select credit card issuers and lenders like car dealerships, that life still goes on, and you’ll still be lent money . After a bankruptcy, with your worst debts hopefully discharged and behind you, lenders know that you probably have more money now to pay off anything you borrow.
Read Also: Do It Yourself Bankruptcy Chapter 7 Software
The Best Airline Credit Card For People With Bad Credit
Just because you’re limited to secured credit cards doesn’t mean you can’t still earn free flights. The AeroMexico Visa Secured Card offers people with poor credit double miles on certain purchases, a 3,500-mile bonus for opening and using your account, and a complimentary companion certificate for a free flight.
Unlike the other cards on this list, the AeroMexico Visa Secured Card does come with an annual fee of $25, but that low fee is more than covered by the companion pass. Currently, flights from New York City to Cozumel, Mexico, range from $350 to $650, meaning your card could save you upwards of $625 without other rewards included.
Opensky Secured Visa Credit Card
If youre worried about not being approved for bankruptcy credit cards, the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card should give you plenty of peace of mind. This secured credit card doesnt even check your credit when you apply, which means that almost anyone can get approved.
This card does come with a $35 annual fee, and you will pay a 3 percent foreign transaction fee on purchases made outside the United States. However, you can get started with an initial deposit as low as $200 and your credit movements will be reported to all three credit bureaus.
Don’t Miss: How Many Times Has Trump Filed For Bankrupcy
Be Mindful Of Your Credit Habits
A good rule of thumb when rebuilding your credit is that whatever you did to ding your credit, you must do the reserve to rebuild your credit. For instance, if you hurt your credit score by having too high a debt-to-income ratio, then make a point to keep your DTI low. Youll want to keep your credit usage to 30 percent or under.
If you fell into the habit of missing payments, then do whatever it takes to stay on top of your credit card payments. Remember: your payment history makes up 35 of your credit score. If you tend to rack up a huge credit card bill over the holidays, and experience holiday debt hangover, avoid it at all costs this holiday season.
Why this matters: Your credit habits play a big part of keeping your credit score in tip-top shape. And when youre rebuilding your credit after bankruptcy, it is particularly important to show to lenders that youre financially responsible.
How to get started: Start by making on-time payments, monitoring your financial habits around using credit. It might also help you to sign up for a free credit monitoring service, which can show you how much progress youve made on building your credit back up.
Learn more:
What Type Of Mortgage Can You Get After Bankruptcy
Its technically possible to get any type of mortgage loan after a bankruptcy. There are no rules in place that permanently exclude you from getting a certain type of loan because youve gone through a bankruptcy. As long as you meet the waiting period discussed above, youre free to apply. But you can qualify for some types of mortgage loans much easier than others.
An FHA loan could be a great option if you have a bankruptcy on your record. FHA waiting periods are shorter than other types of loans. If you have a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, theres no waiting period at all after a court dismisses or discharges you. FHA loans also have looser requirements compared to other types of government-backed loans.
One of the major benefits of getting an FHA loan after a bankruptcy is its lower credit requirements. Even after a court dismisses or discharges your bankruptcy, it will still negatively influence your credit score. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 10 years, while a Chapter 13 bankruptcy will stick around for 7.
During this time, your credit score will be much lower than before your bankruptcy. You can buy a home with an FHA loan with a credit score as low as 580 points. You may even qualify for a loan with a score as low as 500 points if you have a down payment of at least 10%. However, at Rocket Mortgage®, the minimum credit score is 580.
Also Check: How To Buy A Car After Bankruptcy
