Can I apply for a credit card after over a year of filing for a chapter 7 bankruptcy? 25 Answers as of March 05, 2012

You can try to begin to rebuild your credit almost immediately after discharge. However, lending companies have their own criteria for what will or will not approve you for a credit card or car loan. You may face higher interest rates as well.

You can apply right after you receive discharge.

You can get a credit card the day after you get your discharge, so you should have no problem getting one now.

Apply right now. The worst the credit card company will do is deny you.

First, check your credit reports for inaccuracies. You can obtain your reports for free once per year at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also order your score for a fee from any of the major credit reporting agencies. Once you have cleaned up any errors on the reports and know your score, you can shop around for the best card you are likely to get in your score range. You don't want to just start applying for cards willy-nilly as numerous applications in a short time period will negatively affect your score. You do want to try for a major credit card (as opposed to a store card) because those are considered better for your credit rating and are likely to have better interest rates. For information on disputing credit reporting errors visit www.ftc.gov.

You can apply for a credit card anytime after filing the bankruptcy case. You do not need to wait a year for that. Generally I recommend waiting to get the discharge and then start rebuilding your credit by applying for credit cards immediately.

Try it. Build your credit up one creditor at a time.

You can start it right away. There are companies that specifically issue credit cards to debtors after bankruptcy. I'm sure you can google and find out who they are.

You should be able to get a credit card. In fact, I think by this time you should of received multiple credit card offers. Normally, you start getting credit card offers about 6 months after filing.

You can apply at any time. The prospective issuer will look at everything in your credit report and the Bankruptcy will definitely show. When you file for Bankruptcy protection, your credit score generally drops by 240 points. Generally, your score also drops every time you apply for credit, so be cautious in the number of times you apply. Do not expect a very good interest rate. Charge something each month and always pay off the full balance every month and your credit will improve. Lenders for cars are not as picky. Your rate won't be great, but they will have collateral, so car loans are easier to get.

Yes you can apply at any time for credit, that doesn't mean you will get it though. It may be easier to get the secured car loan first though.

You don't have to wait any amount of time usually most creditors will give you credit immediately after the discharge.

You can apply for a credit card anytime after the discharge. Sometimes you can get a secured credit card whereby you pay $500 or so of your money and the card company takes about $200 for fees. Then your available credit is $300. After a year they remove the requirement of it being secured. Your limit is increased over time.

You can apply for a credit card at any time. However, there are no guarantees that you will be approved.

Yes, that should be no problem.