A bankruptcy will remain on your credit reports for seven to 10 years, depending on how it was filed. The good news is that it won’t follow you forever.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on your credit reports for up to 10 years starting on the date you filed. It’s also known as the liquidation bankruptcy.
Chapter 13, or the repayment or reorganization bankruptcy, can remain on your credit report for up to seven years — also starting on the day you filed. But most Chapter 13 repayment plans are for three to five years, so by the time you’re discharged, or you’ve completed it, it’s nearly time for all accounts associated with it and the bankruptcy itself to fall off your credit reports.
The good news is that bankruptcy doesn’t follow you around forever — but the bad news is that it takes years to completely disappear. Accounts associated with your bankruptcy will disappear after seven years, but the report of the bankruptcy itself will remain for up to 10 years since that information is from the Bankruptcy Court public records.
You can’t remove accurate reporting of a bankruptcy from your credit reports. The credit bureaus receive bankruptcy information from the Bankruptcy Court public records.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects your information collected by consumer reporting agencies, such as credit bureaus, and they’re obligated to report correct information. If the bankruptcy reporting is correct, it will remain on your credit report for seven to 10 years.
It can take a while for your credit score to recover after bankruptcy. Over time, the impact of a bankruptcy on your credit score will decrease. Also, the more accounts you included in your bankruptcy, the bigger the impact on your credit score, according to FICO.
Here are six tactics you can use to start repairing your credit score after bankruptcy:
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Filing for bankruptcy is the first step in organizing your finances, and credit repair after it can take time. During the bankruptcy process, your credit score may have been the least of your worries.
Soon after you’re discharged, lenders may be wary to extend you new credit due to the filing — but that won’t last forever. Be patient with yourself, keep an eye on your credit reports and minimize borrowing until you’re back on your feet financially.
Credit repair is something you can do yourself, so it may not be worth the cost.
The Unicorn card by Cred.ai charges no APR, as long as you have autopay on, making it a good choice for a first credit card to build credit.
Grow Credit offers to build your credit history with subscription services for free.
Credit Strong is a division of Austin Capital Bank and offers many credit-building loans to choose from, but they can be costly.
Self offers rent and utility reporting, Credit Builder Account and more to help boost your credit score.
Kikoff offers several credit-building products, including a secured card with no monthly fee, no interest charges and a low minimum deposit.
Experian Boost® is a free credit-building tool that helps you build credit with rent payments, utility payments and streaming service subscriptions.
Build credit by paying subscriptions or with a credit-building loan — but there’s a monthly fee.
Designed for credit-newbies, StellarFi offers three credit cards, which can be secured or unsecured. See our full breakdown of offerings.
FICO is the most widely-used credit score. Learn the 5 factors that go into your FICO credit score and how to improve it.
