Annual credit reports...

[AlohaAZ]

I know I’ll need copies of our credit report which we plan on getting from the annual credit report site—but my question is how recent does it need to be when We meet with the attorney?

We won’t be going to see him til January(first week of, if we can! Lol) but I was thinking of waiting til December to get our free reports...is that sufficient or is there a specific timeframe it needs to be within?

TIA!

[justbroke]

Some attorneys will pull a tri-merge report automatically for you as part of their fee. The reason that some of them do this, as a service, is because they use bankruptcy preparation software, such as Best Case Bankruptcy, which allows them to pull all that data straight into the software (much less typing!).

So long as you have some ideas about the creditors that you owe, and don't have any recent creditors, using a tri-merge report from today would be fine. But, please remember that your attorney may be pulling a full credit report anyhow.

For what it's worth, there's no timeframe or suggestion. I think that any report from now until January would be fine.

[AlohaAZ]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it!

[despritfreya]

I need to chime in here. While a CR may be useful, the best source of creditor info are your bills.

The problem(s) with CRs is 1) they are only as good as the person who entered the information and/or 2) many times the information is simply wrong or outdated.

While I will "allow" my client to utilize a CR, it is always with a warning that the information may not be accurate and therefore, should not be relied upon.

Des.

[justbroke]

That's a very good point Des and is likely why attorneys like to have their clients complete a form with all the known accounts listed.

[AlohaAZ]

I need to chime in here. While a CR may be useful, the best source of creditor info are your bills.

The problem(s) with CRs is 1) they are only as good as the person who entered the information and/or 2) many times the information is simply wrong or outdated.

While I will "allow" my client to utilize a CR, it is always with a warning that the information may not be accurate and therefore, should not be relied upon.

Des.

I appreciate that info! I can simply use it as a guide to remember what I have opened but all in all the Mountain of statements and bills I have on my table should be sufficient. Lol. Of course if anything else is needed I’ll be sure to have it ready. Thanks again

[spr250]

My atty had me pull my experian when I supplied all my paperwork and he pulled his own as well. Not sure why though. But I am guessing the very most current one and from whichever one you want. I would wait on pulling them until you atty says otherwise. Using it for remembering bills, CR aren't 100% accurate or have all your accounts. Basically, use your bill statements to know what bills you have, CR for backup on long forgotten ones (Id use Credit Karma or similar for it being free) and dont pull anything from freecreditreport.com until the lawyer says to. Just my 2 cents.