Cleaning Up Your Credit Report

[matchu]

Hi everyone, longtime lurker here! I have read through this thread and I am still a bit confused.

Am I correct in thinking that it is ok that my credit reports list my discharged debts as long as it is listed as "included in bankruptcy" and at a $0 balance? Or should I be trying to get them all removed completely?!

Thank you all for your help!

[lrprn]

Am I correct in thinking that it is ok that my credit reports list my discharged debts as long as it is listed as "included in bankruptcy" and at a $0 balance? Or should I be trying to get them all removed completely?

If the debts are legitimate, were included in your bankruptcy, and discharged, then you want to ensure that all the credit agencies list those debts as IIB (included in bankruptcy) with a balance of zero. Send disputes in for any account that isn't showing that way. Keep checking your credit reports because some accounts may return to the incorrect status after a few months.

Frankly, the only way to get legitimate debts removed from your credit reports is to.....well.....lie to the credit agencies telling them repeatedly that the debt is "not yours", even though it is. Many filers find that kind of self-serving dishonesty morally wrong. There are many shyster-type credit recovery companies out there who promise to do just this for you or you can do it yourself.

Whether you want to try to fool your credit agencies into deleting your legitimate "bads" or not depends on whether you can still look yourself in the mirror and sleep at night if you choose to do it.

[jadams]

Whether you want to try to fool your credit agencies into deleting your legitimate "bads" or not depends on whether you can still look yourself in the mirror and sleep at night if you choose to do it.

And that fact that if you get legitimate bads deleted and then get credit -- the "bad" could be reinserted at any time that creditor decides they have sufficient information to validate.

Bad gets reinserted, new creditor runs their usual account review and sees it, bam account gets closed or line reduced and interest rate upped.

I'd rather work on proper reporting and rebuilding. Credit is fickle enough in this market I wouldn't want to be constantly afraid a reinsertion crash me.

[matchu]

If the debts are legitimate, were included in your bankruptcy, and discharged, then you want to ensure that all the credit agencies list those debts as IIB (included in bankruptcy) with a balance of zero. Send disputes in for any account that isn't showing that way. Keep checking your credit reports because some accounts may return to the incorrect status after a few months.

Frankly, the only way to get legitimate debts removed from your credit reports is to.....well.....lie to the credit agencies telling them repeatedly that the debt is "not yours", even though it is. Many filers find that kind of self-serving dishonesty morally wrong. There are many shyster-type credit recovery companies out there who promise to do just this for you or you can do it yourself.

Whether you want to try to fool your credit agencies into deleting your legitimate "bads" or not depends on whether you can still look yourself in the mirror and sleep at night if you choose to do it.

Oh goodness, I would never lie about it! I just wanted to make sure it was ok.

Here is another question I have if anyone could please answer:

I just signed up for myfico.com and got my Equifax Fico score and report. My equifax report is clean, all show as IIB and at zero balance. However, myfico has it as reporting that I have eight serious delinquencies (60 days past due or more). Now I realize that when I went into starting my bankruptcy with my attorney, I stopped paying my bills because I was supposed to. So is that correct that I have to live with it showing I am a delinquent payer or can I write to them and have them list me with no delinquent payments?

[lrprn]

...myfico has it as reporting that I have eight serious delinquencies (60 days past due or more). Now I realize that when I went into starting my bankruptcy with my attorney, I stopped paying my bills because I was supposed to. So is that correct that I have to live with it showing I am a delinquent payer or can I write to them and have them list me with no delinquent payments?

Since the deliquencies happened before you filed, the lates are legitimate and are reporting correctly.

After your bk closes and you continue to make on-time payments for everything that's reporting to the agencies, the significance of the lates will decrease. The passage of time and consistent on-time payments will improve your credit scores.

[fyi2]

Ok
IIB
0 balance

NO charge offs
no Balance on IIB

lates prior to filing ok to report but not after FILING or DISCHARGE ?

[kvangild]

Bear with me as I have several questions: Thanks in advance for your advice
1.What should a vehicle loan that I did a ride through with (didn't require me to re-affirm) be listed as on credit report?

2. When looking at my Trans Union account I've got some that say "bankruptcy/account closed by consumer" and I thought it should be one or the other? Obviously I just want the account closed by consumer but don't know if this is worth disputing?

3. For accounts that say "chapter 7 bankruptcy" I should still dispute this to say IIB, correct?

[hope2retire]

I have tried to get this information from the thread but still not sure about this.

I file chapter 13 on May 29 2009, had my first 341 hearing in Jul 09, converted to chapter 7 in Nov 2009 and received a discharged in Feb 2010. I have 30/60/90 day past due on my credit report for Jun, Jul, & Aug 2009.

Are these valid or are they something I can dispute.

[keepmine]

I've not read this entire thread so, I apologize if someone has posted this already. It seems a bit old for the Bk and Credit News forum.

http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/legal-services-litigation/11782093-1.html

Keeping Old Debts at Bay: Settlement Requires Credit Bureaus to Clean Up Reports
By Dempsey, Bobbi
Publication: Black Enterprise
Date: Sunday, February 1 2009

You are viewing page 1
A RECENT SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT could help eliminate problems on the credit reports of many consumers who have filed for bankruptcy. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus must ensure all information on credit reports is accurate and current. Debts discharged through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy

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must be listed as such.

The agreement, overseen last August by Judge David O. Carter of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, ordered the three major credit bureaus--Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian--to enact policies making sure bankruptcy-covered debts are noted correctly on credit reports.

The settlement agreement is part of a class-action lawsuit (still in progress as of this writing) filed in October 2005 against the credit bureaus by a group of lawyers representing consumers who say they were negatively affected by inaccurate credit reports involving bankruptcies. An Experian representative said the company is complying with the court order, as did a TransUnion spokesperson.

Sonya A. Smith-Valentine of Valentine Legal Group L.L.C., which specializes in cases involving credit report errors and debt collection harassment, sums up the settlement: "Any civil judgments discharged in bankruptcy have to be reported as discharged or included in bankruptcy and show a zero balance. Any accounts discharged in bankruptcy should be reported as discharged or included in bankruptcy, as opposed to a charge-off or any other reporting, and should show a zero balance. The credit bureaus have the option of removing the judgments and accounts from the consumer's credit report but are not required to do so."

The Root of the Problem

The agreement forces credit bureaus to do what they were already supposed to be doing. John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for Credit.com, served as a plaintiff's expert witness in the case. "I've reviewed lots of examples of these credit reports, and I can tell you it definitely wasn't always being done."

Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards. com, says credit bureaus often failed to do their own legwork. "The credit bureaus relied upon banks to update the info, which often didn't happen," Woolsey says.

A Double Hit

Incorrectly designated accounts can negatively affect a credit score. "It would appear that the consumer still had some debts that were not discharged and that the consumer still owed on those debts, in addition to having a bankruptcy showing up on their credit report," says Smith-Valentine. "The combination of the incorrectly reported debts and the bankruptcy on the credit report would drive down the consumer's credit score to such a level that it would normally take two years or more for the score to recover." Says Woolsey, "Declaring bankruptcy is always negative, of course, but this is like getting hit twice."

What You Need to Do

Here are a few tips to make sure your report is correct:

Get a copy of your credit report from all three major agencies. Get a free copy from each agency once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com.

Review the reports carefully. Pay particular attention to any judgments or debts that should have been discharged as part of a bankruptcy.

Notify the credit bureaus about any errors, include a copy of your bankruptcy paperwork listing the debts in question

[jonathan]

Hi,

I am trying to clean up my credit report and am a little confused about what my old accounts should say- especially since hardly any of my old credit cards mention anything about my chapter 7.

For example my old AMEX shows:

AMEX More about this account >>
unkown TransUnion Experian Equifax
Account #: ACCT#**** ACCT#**** -ACCT#****
Condition: Derogatory Derogatory Derogatory
Balance: $0 $0 $0
Type: Credit Card Credit Card
Pay Status: Unknown Collection/Chargeoff Unknown

From what I've gathered here the balance is correct in showing $0, but what about the Condition and Pay Status? Shouldn't the debt mention somewhere that it is no longer owed due to bk? The Collection/Chargeoff status seems to be prevalent on many old accounts, especially Experian. This is concerning me because at the top of my credit report Experian says I have 6 derogatory accounts... isn't the bk derogatory enough?!?!

Thanks,
Jonathan

[curiouscat]

Question here on "permissable purpose" for creditor inquiries. Does filing BK REVOKE the definition of "permissiable purpose"?

I have also opted out in the past 2-3 years on credit offers and no one should be running inquiries at all. All of a sudden after my filing, I'm getting TONS of junk mail offers publicly announcing my BK to everyone at the local post office (even for car financing WHILE in BK - not discharged!) I don't want ANY of these offers. Do I need to "re-opt" out again now that I've filed BK or should the original opt out hold?

[Jimmy17]

good evening everyone-

after reading many a post about cleaning up my credit report here, I was reviewing my credit report/scores through TrueCredit.

I noticed that on TrueCredit's site, three of my accounts, only through Experian, were being reported as collection/charge-off even after my discharge two months ago. I went to their site to dispute online but, their site indicates that these accounts were 'discharged/Chapter 7 bankruptcy'.

does it just take a little longer for truecredit to update?

as always, sooooo many thanks!

[Jimmy17]

I don't mean to piggy back on my own question but, I couldn't find anything in searching the forums-

if some of my employers are missing or inaccurate as far as being employed there, should I change them or, will this correct itself upon applying for credit in the future?

thank yous

[maungoo]

I got this new news regarding disputing your credit report from CREDIT BOARDS.

http://www.strasburger.com/fcrablog/template_permalink.asp?id=483

[bakergrl]

I pulled up TransUnion and they say chapter 7 bankruptcy but the balance area is blank, is this okay?

Also we had a credit card with a high balance with a credit union that we had rolled into our second mortgage before we decided that we had to file. On the credit report it shows that credit card as DC in the BK but this account was zeroed out when it was rolled into our 2nd. We did not reaffirm or 1st or 2nd but continue to pay.

Is this correct or are we paying for something that was DC???