does nothing to take the bankruptcy mark off of a credit report until seven years has passed, and customers are still likely to get a less favorable rate.
Legislation that would make it more difficult for consumers to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 is making its way through Congress, which some analysts say is enticing people to file now before such laws come to pass, while others simply want a chance to start over and prove they can now manage their finances responsibly.
For Conyer, good money management skills are now a must. “I’m trying to rebuild from scratch because everything that I had already built up got taken away,” she says. “Once you file — whether you’re doing good, bad, or indifferent — it’s there [on your credit report]. That’s the first thing lenders see.”