accounts still showing as delinquent

[astroboy]

I filed chapter 7 in January and received my discharge in May. I've since been able to open some new credit cards to rebuild credit but some of my old discharged accounts are still showing as delinquent. Is this right? Is there any way to fix this?

Thanks.

[JSFleischman]

Once your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is discharged, the creditor is required to update reporting of the debt to indicate that there is $0 due and the debt was discharged in your bankruptcy case. In the event that this isn't the case, you need to dispute the inaccuracy with the credit reporting agencies (click here for the FTC website how-to guide). Until the tradelines are reporting properly, you'll have an uphill battle when it comes to restoring your good credit score.

[df04527]

They will remain derogatory on your reports for 7 years. Once in awhile you can dispute and they will delete it but not very often.

[JSFleischman]

That's not correct.

The Federal Trade Commission, in the famous Brinckerhoff-Lovern letter of April 24, 1998 (see it here), spells out exactly how a debt discharged in bankruptcy must be reported. It states as follows:

Section 607(b) of the FCRA requires credit bureaus “to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates.” In our view, it is not a reasonable procedure to label an account that has been discharged in bankruptcy as “charged off as bad debt” if the account was open and not charged off when the consumer filed bankruptcy. Such a designation would be inaccurate or misleading, because it would indicate that the creditor had written off the account at the time of bankruptcy when it had not in fact done so.


As far as the FTC is concerned, reporting anything but the fact that the debt was discharged in bankruptcy and now has $0 due is inaccurate. Therefore, you should dispute under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to correct the error. If the error persists, there may be grounds for a lawsuit.

[df04527]

I was not referring to any mis-reporting on the tradeline. I was referring to how long the tradeline will stay on the report showing derogatory. Right info or wrong info. it will stay there for 7 yrs.

[bcss]

Ok. What if the account was actually charged off and then sold to a collection agency prior to filing for BK. Does the original creditor have to report it as included in bankruptcy? There was a California case Giovanni v. Bank of America that seems to contradict this FTC opinion letter. Confused...
Thanks

[df04527]

Are they both reporting now? What is it your concerned about? Your old trade lines should all be zero balance and IIB. Comments and/or remarks by the creditor are not counted toward any score calculations and derogatory accounts stay on your report for 7 yrs.

As these derogatory accounts age, the negative impact on your score will decrease. For example, after all is said and done, if your score dropped by 100+ points....in two years from now it very well could affect your score by only 50 points instead of 100. Time will heal it all if you do nothing. If you dispute them though, some may just choose to delete their entry which, of course, will raise your score.

hth