Tell me if I understand this (car ???)

[ameliabedilia]

We have a lease right now that we want to keep. We called Chase Auto a few weeks ago and let them know we had filed a 7 but wanted to keep car.
This morning I checked our credit monitoring and there was an alert on TU that said "Delinquent account", but the amount delinquent was stated as $0. Which is correct because we always pay it on time.
I decided to call them and ask what was going on and also ask about the agreement as I have not recieved it yet.
The woman in the bk dept was super nice (much nicer than regular cs reps .
Anyway she told me that they do not report to the credit bureaus after someone files bankruptcy and that the alert was just because we had filed, but the account was not delinquent. She said they would not report to the credit bureaus again, at all because it was part of the bankruptcy. She said just sign the paperwork when we get it, but that there was no rush on it, just try my best to get it in before disharge.

One of the reasons I wanted to keep this car was that I thought it would help our credit situation because we would have an installment loan.
What happens if we quit paying on it (we are not planning on doing that). If they don't report to the bureaus, would it still negatively impact my credit? What could they do to us? I am kind of on the fence about keeping this car, so I am trying to figure out what's best.

Thanks

[wbp1968]

I had the same thing with Chase...I reaffirmed my car loan with them...Payments were on time and once you file Bankruptcy they quit reporting...I called Chase and they dont report again on the account until it's paid in full...Then they will report it accurately...Just a big game they play I suppose..As far as all the other questions you might have I'm not sure of...I suppose you might want to talk to your Lawyer about it.

[HHM]

If you stop making payments, the car will be repo'd.

Leases are somewhat of a quagmire in BK's, because strictly speaking, they are not loans (they are not an extension of credit). Also, the car is not an asset of yours, you have no ownership right. (thus, when you fill out your schedule of assets, you list the car, but put $0 value.)

You may want to venture over to our "rebuilding credit" section as many posts in their deal with how items should be reported to the CRA's. I believe, if you let the car go in the BK, they will simply report IIB (included in Bankruptcy) and show a 0$ balance. That is not a good entry, but if you file BK, that is what you get.

[ameliabedilia]

Yes, I knew they would take the car back, but I wanted to know how it would be reported if I signed the agreement, but then changed my mind. I will go over to that forum; leases are such a mystery with bk it's hard to get info.

[HHM]

Yes, I knew they would take the car back, but I wanted to know how it would be reported if I signed the agreement, but then changed my mind. I will go over to that forum; leases are such a mystery with bk it's hard to get info.

As or right now, there is no difference in credit reporting whether you sign the agreement or not. This issue about reaffirmations is somewhat contentious in the Consumer Advocacy circles and has yet to be resolved. Thus, there really is no credit reporting benefit to signing a reaffirmation.