Can you delete a dismissed BK?

[txguero]

Here's my story in short. I filed pro se in Texas. I went to my 341 meeting, and the trustee wouldn't even deal with me. He said I needed to hire an attorney. I had very little assets, so I didn't understand why. If I had the money for an attorney, I wouldn't be in the situation in the first place. Anyway, he reset the 341 meeting. I got a conscience and decided to do the right thing and not go ahead with the BK Chap 7. I thought it would all just fade away. Well it got dismissed back in 2002 about 2 months after I filed. I have been paying the price ever since with my credit scores. I managed to get a house but at a high fixed rate. My question is this. Since I never went through with it, and never had any debt discharged, is there any way I can get the BK removed from my credit reports? Please help me out here. I can't wait 5 more years.

[lrprn]

Since I never went through with it, and never had any debt discharged, is there any way I can get the BK removed from my credit reports? Please help me out here. I can't wait 5 more years.

Once you file, it doesn't matter that your case was dismissed. The Ch 7 bankruptcy will be on your credit record for ten years and there isn't anything you can do about it because you did file so your credit report is reporting truthfully.

Have you cleaned up your credit reports as much as you can? Has your financial picture improved (on-time payments, paid off loans, etc) since your Ch 7 was dismissed? That and time will help your credit score climb higher despite the dismissed bk.

[freshstart06]

Txguero, I am a mortgage Broker and I have seen dismissed BK removed and I know I few that can do it, However, the cost is crazy... Anything on your credit report can be removed but you will pay a lot for it sometimes up to $5000. There are companies that can elimate your credit and add aged tradelines, there are loopholes in the law that makes this some what legal. A few years back, I was working on a Borrower loan but his scores were in the 400s, yes, I you can still get a mortgage with a 400 score with at least 30% down and 10% interest rate however, three days later he told me to pull his credit again. I told him not much could have changed in three days but to my surprise, he did something and his scores went up to 580 and he was able to 100% financing, he had a dismissed BK. He would not tell me what he did nor did I want to know, I did not want to be liable LOL.

If you search you will find, meaning there is a way around everything in life you just have to seek it. Go to www.craigslist.com look under financial and interview companies and ask for referrals. There are laws to protect consumers and legally we are protected from the credit bureaus reporting our personal info.... this is one of the loopholes that they use. However, no one can remove it from public records, but your credit report is another story.

[freshstart06]

Oh, I forgot to add, a discharged BK is impossible to remove for some reason, I am sure someone out there figured it out but it may report back on. And beware of companies that remove things off your credit then in two months it is back on. This is happens because they will claim they cleaned your credit and mail you out "their" credit report but in reality they only cleaned the credit report they sent to you but if you pull the actual three bureaus you will see they did not clean your credit report.

[HHM]

Just beware, these so called loopholes are mostly scams.

The plain fact is, once the BK is filed, it is a "PUBLIC" record. There is no loophole or law that prevents "anyone" from publishing otherwise public information. The only limitation on the CRA's is that the information has to be true (and to some degree accurate).

[freshstart06]

You are correct you can not delete public record from the courts but you can remove it from your credit report, I honestly seen it happen, I have seen a lot of things remember, I am in the mortgage business. I just don't know how they do it. I use to get all kinds of offers from legit companies that could do things to help qualify borrowers.

You are correct be careful but it is out there.

[HHM]

It's not that big a secret about how some of these companies operate...they flood the CRA with disputes, requests for verification, and requests for investigation, hoping that for a short time that there is a failure to verify, giving the borrower a window to have their credit report pulled by a lender while the negative transaction is off the borrowers credit report.

However, it is a very rare circumstance that these types of entries, public records, are "permanently" removed.

[freshstart06]

I got judgments removed that was mine and it never came back that was four years ago. There is a software system that can be purchased that taps right into the credit bureaus, trust me I this is true. I know that is not legal but they get away with it.

[CindyLou]

My husband and I filed together in 2005. I have disuputed our BK and was successful in removing it from ALL THREE of his and from one of mine (transunion) I disputed one thing at the time. First the date of filing, then the fact that they had not put "no" under the asset line, etc. In fact my husbands Transunion and Experian show no trace of his BK whatsoever and his scores are now in the upper 600's. Mine have been MUCH MORE difficult for some reason.

[lrprn]

Here's my problem with this.....when someone who actually did file Ch 7 or Ch 13 tries to get it removed from their credit reports earlier than it is due by law to roll off, 99% of the time they have to lie to accomplish it.

When you or someone you hire for credit cleanup sends multiple letters to the credit bureaus disputing stuff about your bankruptcy stating information that happens to be wrong (date is wrong, not reporting IIB, etc) and the bankruptcy accidentally gets removed before it should, well that's fine.

However it sure doesn't make it right to try to do it deliberately by stating the entry is "not mine" or asking the credit bureaus to verify your bk when you know darned well the entry is valid.

I want a good credit score too, but just because I can lie to try and get it removed doesn't mean that's the right thing to do. Maybe some folks are very lucky and get the bk removed without lying at all - I have a feeling those folks are in a very tiny minority. My POV - yours may be different. All of us have to live with the decisions we make, whatever they might be.

[CindyLou]

did not lie. They never put the discharge date. They had the wrong date for the filing date. There was no entry under the assett and no entry under a few other things. I simply said "the discharge data entry is not correct, please verify" "the asset data entry information is not correct, please verify" etc etc etc. They were not lies, but the court failed to verify the information or put the correct information therefore the BK was removed as the law states.

[lrprn]

Cindy, I'm really glad that you and your husband were two of the lucky ones that didn't lie. If anyone thinks what I said about lying to get a bk off credit reports was directed at anyone specifically in our forum, truly it was not.

From what I've read while lurking on the credit repair forums around the net, what Cindy did (which is absolutely the right thing to do when specific information about the bankruptcy is not correct) is not typically what is done. Many filers deliberately lie to the credit bureaus hoping that multiple letters requesting verifications and "not mine" will push the bk off by mistake. Rarely it works - just often enough to keep people trying it. However all the time it takes for the credit bureaus to deal with these paper blizzards trying to circumvent the law on purpose takes time away from everyone with legitimate corrections that need to be made. Ultimately that's the end result of this practice.

The credit repair boards are like a shark feeding frenzy when anyone posts that they got their bk off even one of their reports. Multiple members want to know in detail just how it was done, and typically 99% of the time it turns out it was done by lying.

[CindyLou]

now I do have to confess that I have disputed a couple of other accounts as not mine.....last resort. Actually I didn't say "not mine" I said, "please verify that this is my account." But my point was that I was sucessful at the BK's without going that route. If you look closely enough at every single point on the report there is going to be some type of error or there is going to be something that you are unsure of and it was would be perfectly legal and honest to say, "please verify XXXXX on my report. It could contain innaccurate information."

[txguero]

I appreciate everyone's replies. I guess i'll just have to wait it out. My scores range from 587-621 now, as opposed to the high 400s about 2 yrs ago. It just sucks when you are afraid to apply for any credit or loans knowing that you are probably going to get denied. I have been pretty successful on my own challenging negative items on my reports, but would be sitting pretty if I could just get the bk removed. One other tip. I had the Orchard and PlainsCommerce cc I think. Both charged fees and all that. I got a Capital One with $500 and no fees, and it's been great. Might try it when you get tired of paying $8 a month just to own those other cards that usually only start you out at $300 credit line. Thanks everyone.