FICO Chief Talks About Credit After Bankruptcy

People considering bankruptcy are usually concerned about bankruptcy’s effect upon their credit score and what they need to do in order to rehabilitate their credit. I saw an interesting article in  Yahoo Finance about an interview with Mr. Mark Greene, the CEO of Fair Isaac & Co., the managers of your FICO score. 

Mr. Greene says that a bankruptcy or a foreclosure will reduce your credit score by 150 points, and that it takes up to seven years to restore your credit score. There is a common understanding that bankruptcy stays on your credit report for seven years. The fact that your credit report includes a prior bankruptcy filing, and that it takes up to seven years to fix your credit does not mean that you will not have good credit for seven years; it means that some people do not restore their credit score until the bankruptcy report is removed at the end of seven years.

I have had many clients who report that they have rehabilitated their credit three or four years after filing bankruptcy. Post-bankruptcy credit depends upon how well you do financially after bankruptcy and whether you follow the several good-credit practices Mr. Greene discusses in the Yahoo article. 
This article makes interesting reading whether or not you consider yourself a bankruptcy candidate.