If the automatic stay is lifted, can the creditor then go on to report negative info

[AbbeyA]

If the automatic stay is lifted, can the creditor then report negative information after the filing date on your credit reports? I ask this b/c our mortgage company lifted the stay and then filed foreclosure proceedings. They reported the foreclosure on my credit report, after they lifted the stay. Is this something they can do?

Thanks!

[IBroke]

If the automatic stay is lifted, can the creditor then report negative information after the filing date on your credit reports? I ask this b/c our mortgage company lifted the stay and then filed foreclosure proceedings. They reported the foreclosure on my credit report, after they lifted the stay. Is this something they can do?

Thanks!

If it was reported as a public record, they can. If they reported it on the mortgage-account, they can't.

[AbbeyA]

If it was reported as a public record, they can. If they reported it on the mortgage-account, they can't.

So you mean if they entered the foreclosure in the section that has public records like judgments or liens, that is ok. But if it is directly under/in the mortgage account on my credit report, that is against the FCRA, right?

[HHM]

So you mean if they entered the foreclosure in the section that has public records like judgments or liens, that is ok. But if it is directly under/in the mortgage account on my credit report, that is against the FCRA, right?

The law is still a little unclear on that point.

1. Yes, the public records section CAN list the foreclosure.
2. As to reporting a foreclosure under the "trade line"...that depends on when the foreclosure was "initiated". If the foreclosure was began or otherwise in progress BEFORE you filed BK, I believe they CAN report the foreclosure in the Trade Line. If the the Foreclosure was wholly initiated after the bankruptcy filing...then I believe they cannot list it in the Trade Line, but the foreclosure can still appear in the public record.

[IBroke]

The law is still a little unclear on that point.

1. Yes, the public records section CAN list the foreclosure.
2. As to reporting a foreclosure under the "trade line"...that depends on when the foreclosure was "initiated". If the foreclosure was began or otherwise in progress BEFORE you filed BK, I believe they CAN report the foreclosure in the Trade Line. If the the Foreclosure was wholly initiated after the bankruptcy filing...then I believe they cannot list it in the Trade Line, but the foreclosure can still appear in the public record.

That is basically how I "learned" it, too..

[AbbeyA]

The law is still a little unclear on that point.

1. Yes, the public records section CAN list the foreclosure.
2. As to reporting a foreclosure under the "trade line"...that depends on when the foreclosure was "initiated". If the foreclosure was began or otherwise in progress BEFORE you filed BK, I believe they CAN report the foreclosure in the Trade Line. If the the Foreclosure was wholly initiated after the bankruptcy filing...then I believe they cannot list it in the Trade Line, but the foreclosure can still appear in the public record.

Thanks for the info. It is listed in the trade line section and the foreclosure was initiated after we filed. I am just getting around to cleaning up my credit report now, 2 years after discharge. The foreclosure is not listed in the public records section. I should have done it sooner, but I didn't. Another "interesting" think I found was that the bank that had our HELOC actually bought our house at the sheriff sale. They are reporting the "high limit" of the loan as the amount of our HELOC plus the amount of the first mortgage that they paid off when they bought it at sheriff sale. It was already discharged in the bk way before it went to sheriff sale. I don't know if this hurts our scores as the balance owed is still 0 and listed as IIB.

[despritfreya]

There is not much case law on this but I have been aware of the below referenced case for some time. Even found an article on it written by Scott Lundberg (whoever he is). . .

Vlasic v. Equifax Credit Information Services, No. 03 C 4044 (N.D. Ill. 5/10/04), involved a situation where the borrower filed a Chapter 7 petition indicating his intention to voluntarily surrender the home to the lender. Having obtained bankruptcy court permission, the lender foreclosed on the property. The borrower then sued the lender, claiming it violated the FCRA by reporting inaccurate information on the credit report when it reported the foreclosure.

The lender’s argument was that it did not report any inaccurate information. The surrender of the property in bankruptcy did not transfer title to the property. The borrower argued that the reporting was inaccurate because the credit report affected him personally, even though the foreclosure only affected the property. In this case, the court sided with the lender.. . .

Vlasic first contends that he intended to voluntarily surrender the property when he filed the bankruptcy petition and thus he cannot be held accountable for the foreclosure since he had already surrendered the property in bankruptcy. Vlasic represented under oath in the bankruptcy petition an intention to voluntarily surrender the property. However, Defendants correctly point out that Vlasic's intention to surrender the property did not transfer title in the property. The holder of the note could not have sold the property prior to the foreclosure and Vlasic was the legal owner of the property at the time of the foreclosure.

Vlasic also argues that he was not a party in the foreclosure action. Yet, Vlasic was personally named in the foreclosure action as the owner of the property. Vlasic next argues that the foreclosure is an in rem proceeding rather than an in personam proceeding and thus the foreclosure cannot be reported on his personal report....

Defendants correctly point out that if foreclosures were never allowed to be reported on a person's credit report because a foreclosure action is an in rem proceeding, no foreclosure could ever be reported on a credit report because a piece of real estate does not have a "credit report." Vlasic has not cited any legal authority that indicates that a foreclosure cannot be reported on a credit report and Defendants have provided legal support for the contrary assertion. See Sepulvado v. CSC Credit Servs., Inc., 158 F.3d 890, 892 (5th Cir. 1998)(indicating that under the FCRA a foreclosure could be reported on a credit report for seven years). See e.g. Zahran v. Transunion Corp., 2003 WL 1733561, at *1 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Grant v. World Class Mortg. Corp., 1990 WL 19466, at *1 (N.D. Ill. 1990). There is nothing confusing about reporting the foreclosure on Vlasic's credit report because of his direct connection to the foreclosure. For instance, the judgment of foreclosure names Vlasic as a party and forecloses the mortgage created in conjunction with his mortgage loan account. Defendants also correctly point out that not every person that files a bankruptcy also is a party in foreclosure and thus it is appropriate to report both a bankruptcy and a foreclosure when applicable.

For the full ruling go to:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8306968488030904500&q=Vlasic+v.+Equifax+Credit+Information+Services&hl=en&as_sdt=2,3&as_vis=1

Des.