Can you "fix" problems on your credit while in a 13?

[flower04]

Our trustee has approved a secured credit card for business expenses and our attorney said that is great so we can start rebuilding our credit. Personally, I never want a credit card again. Ever.

We don't care about credit except to purchase a home again in the future. I'm wondering at what point in your 13 do you start to clean up your credit or is it just best to wait until it is done?

[lrprn]

I'm wondering at what point in your 13 do you start to clean up your credit or is it just best to wait until it is done?

Because cleaning up your credit report is not a one-time thing - errors keep coming back after they are corrected in a few months - most recommend waiting to clean up your credit reports until about six months before you expect to be discharged.

[Flamingo]

As going through an entire Chapter 13, unless you suspect identify theft or fraud, there is absolutely no reason for you to worry about your credit reports while you are in Chapter 13. If you pull them and attempt to revise them, as lrprn wisely states, they may get corrected, messed up some more or revert back in several months to the old bad information (been there, done it, didn't want the t-shirt). Wait until about 2-3 months after your discharge, then pull them all and get going. You will see that most by that time are reporting correctly.

[rrockinggramma]

I am going to disagree respectfully.

Since the White VS Experian law is now in effect, cleaning up your credit report will help you a lot as you put time and distance from the bad and the good reports.

It goes a long way for the rebuilding process and in 5 years you will look really good as a credit risk.

[Flamingo]

I am going to disagree respectfully.

Since the White VS Experian law is now in effect, cleaning up your credit report will help you a lot as you put time and distance from the bad and the good reports.

It goes a long way for the rebuilding process and in 5 years you will look really good as a credit risk.

It's a personal choice as everyone has something different occur when trying to clean up their credit reports. My experience was fraught with years of trying to keep things straight after getting reports one year into our Plan. We would dispute, it would get corrected either correctly or incorrectly, and then revert back to the old bad information a few months later. This continued well beyond our discharge also. So, therefore, to us and probably others, disputing during the Plan years may be a waste of time as it was for us. It took us well over a year past discharge to get things totally cleaned up(I believe the folks they hire at the credit reporting agencies just cannot read or input information correctly) and when the 7 year mark hit for us this past April, it was all finally removed and the only thing we had to fix was the removal of our personal creditor statement. It can be a mess so all need to know that since most have experienced the reversal of disputing items back to old information after disputing so if one has a lot of time to spend constantly disputing and correcting and want to do that, then it's worthwhile to them to keep on top of their reports if they feel the need or if they want to monitor any good active accounts that may remain on their reports.

[flower04]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but do your cc's that were included in your bankruptcy automatically get closed? Do you have to send a letter indicating you want them closed? What about bank accounts that you included? Should I close cc's that we haven't used (like Kohl's) but weren't included in bk because no balance--or would these have been canceled too?
THanks in advance-

As I said earlier, The only reason why we would even care about our credit is to buy a home in the near future after discharge.

[Flamingo]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but do your cc's that were included in your bankruptcy automatically get closed? Do you have to send a letter indicating you want them closed? What about bank accounts that you included? Should I close cc's that we haven't used (like Kohl's) but weren't included in bk because no balance--or would these have been canceled too?
THanks in advance-

As I said earlier, The only reason why we would even care about our credit is to buy a home in the near future after discharge.

Once your creditors get the paperwork as to your filing BK, they automatically close the account. If you have zero balances accounts that are not included in your filing, those may or may not survive for further use - the majority eventually get closed down when that creditor learns of the BK filing by a review of your credit report for any purpose.

[ABC]

You'll need 4 good tradelines one of which would be rental history to purchase a house. Plus no lates on your 13 payments.

[rrockinggramma]

Most of the time creditors will close accounts automatically. Kohls is a chase product so if you included any chase in your bk, then they know. You might want to call and check it out on the automated system just to see if open or closed. Sometimes it takes a month or more for it to show up on your credit report.
And the above poster is correct you will need a least 4 positive accounts but can also be rent, utilities, etc. They like to see at least 24 months of absolutely NO late payments.
But if you are on top of everything and have NOTHING BAD on your report since your filing, you should be ok

[indebt00]

do ch 13 payments show up on your credit????

I was thinking no...but just thought I would ask

[ABC]

do ch 13 payments show up on your credit????

I was thinking no...but just thought I would ask

No, but you can get a payment history from your Trustee and you'd need this for a new mortgage.

[Flamingo]

do ch 13 payments show up on your credit????

I was thinking no...but just thought I would ask

As stated, no, but the public records information as to the court, district, case number, etc. is listed on your credit reports and not removed until 7 to 10 years following filing date. (7 years for Chaper 13, 10 years for Chapter 7).