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After foreclosure wrecks your credit score,
how do you rebuild it? It takes time and patience writes Stephanie Taylor Christensen in an article
on MintLife.com. She advises you to find out the terms of how your housing
situation was resolved and then start rebuilding your credit.
 Your FICO score will be affected for 7
years, so it's
important to manage your finances responsibly in the meantime.
If your
foreclosure leaves you with no credit lines, a
secured credit card is an option to try.
"A secured card requires a cash
collateral deposit that becomes the credit line for that account. For example,
if you put $500 in the account; you can charge up to $500." writes Pat Curry on
BankRate.com. "You may be able to add to the deposit to add more credit, or
sometimes a bank will reward you for good payment and add to your credit line
without requesting additional deposits."
Credit Unions are a great place to
go for a secured card,
sometimes offering lower interest rates and low fees to their members.
Watch out for extra charges, however, cautions Curry. Shop around, look for a card that doesn't
require an application fee or other charges and always read the fine print. "Some
people have gotten secured cards and found their entire limit consumed with
fees before they ever used the card." she says. "The bad (companies) take
advantage and extort the clients because of their situations and some are
completely despicable, they'll give you the card, but you have to buy this
insurance policy for $55 a month."
Once you find the best card for you, keep the account active and pay it
off every month. Use this as an opportunity to rebuild your credit rating in
order to get an unsecured credit card again.
Curry says that it's not a good idea to keep it longer than you have
to. Use it as a stepping stone to
rebuild your credit.
Read more at BankRate.com
 photo credit: The.Comedian
Posted on August 04, 2011 11:53:13 by  Scott.Shields
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