Almost there...a few questions about post discharge

[Diesel73L]

Hi all-we got a letter from the attorney last week saying to expect our discharge papers soon! They did mention that our retainer is now over and that we should no longer need them. However, they did warn us to check our credit report 30 days post discharge and I think 6 months post discharge and compare it to our petition paperwork to make sure that all debts listed there are now listed as discharged. They said in the letter that if there are discrepancies (which they mention are more common than one would think) that they strongly advise retaining them in order to get it changed. Let's say we do find a problem-is this necessary? I've read a lot about folks fighting zombie creditors, etc...on there own here. It's usually just a matter of letter writing and documentation isn't it?

Next, my wife is going to call the attorney about this today, but we've gotten nothing back from our auto lender about the reaffirmation agreement she signed the day of our 341 back in early January. She has been paying on time without a problem, but no communication has come from them whatsoever. Is this common? Don't they have to send us something saying that they have ok'ed the agreement?

[tobee43]

wow...what' atty's won't do for a few more bucks! (no offense to my atty friends). yes, you can clear those discrepancies up yourself...usually. we did and had no problems. although, STILL things are popping up such as credit lines we do not have which lowers our score since it looks like we have too much "open" credit. our report looks like we have 50k open lines when in fact we have less than 10k. so there is always something to fight. we go to the site and put in the request. also getting free credit reports yearly. IBROKE when and if he comes on is a great one to ask about this all.

[Pjmax]

I was a chap.7, but I've been working on my reports since January. My attorney doesn't do credit report repair, but will help with vacating judgements and liens at $350 a piece, which was clearly stated in my fee agreement. I do have a state tax lien still showing as open that I will probably need his assistance on. NJ is a PIA to deal with on state income issues.

Anyway, as Tobee said, it's probably best to wait about 30 days post-discharge to give the reporting time to catch up. Get all 3 reports from annualcreditreport.com or if you've already had your freebies, from the individual CRAs directly. The reports from 3rd party sellers don't always have complete info. You can correct most things yourself. I was able to correct most things online.

There are a few places online with all kinds of advice on removing/correcting reports, not all of it good either, so use caution, and keep reading. If you are not sure if something is reporting correctly or not, just ask here.

[Floridagail]

I filed in 2009 and reaffirmed my car , I never got anything back from GMAC either. I would not worry with that. You have a copy of your paperwork you signed. I also got the same letter from my attorney stating the services are over.

I also pulled my free annualcreditreport.com and disputed on line right after discharge date. I found several errors on my credit reports.

The reaffirmed car was a disapointment, I thought since ,it had never been late and was continuing to be paid it would be good credit.
No, it showed up as negative closed account included in bkrptcy. I paid it off and disputed it with all 3 bureaus. I wanted it to be positive reporting, I should never had reaffirmed it then. Gmac would not help me, they had there money. Finally after disputing it several times in 6mos. The credit bureaus just removed it from all reports.

[tobee43]

pj, that's a good price to get the judgments vacated. nj is a pain, no doubt. especially with a tax lien. we did have to vacate a couple and it costs but it was well worth it.

floridagail, i hear you! some of them are so difficult, it's suppose to be if the creditor doesn't reply it x amount of days it's suppose to be removed!

[Pjmax]

It's good to know that's a good price. I'm still unemployed and only have SS, so I have to wait 'til I get some more freelance work. I hope there isn't a time limit on it.

[tobee43]

It's good to know that's a good price. I'm still unemployed and only have SS, so I have to wait 'til I get some more freelance work. I hope there isn't a time limit on it.

i don't know if there is a statue of limitations on vacating a judgement in nj... i think it might be covered under nj...RULE 7:10. Post-Trial Proceedings. memory may not serve me well, but i think?? that may be 2 years. but really, the SOL is 7 years unless they can renew it somehow.

[TBA]

Unless your credit report is majorly messed up, i would do it on your own. i would start working on it at about 3 months - i dont know if 30 days is enough time, but that is my opinion.

here is something we sometimes forget. the credit bureau gets it data from your creditor. it isnt the credit bureau that is out to get you. so you can dispute something, they can remove it, and then the creditor puts it back on the next month. my point: go straight to the source. present your papers to each of the creditors that is screwing up. get them to fix it directly.

GL!

[tobee43]

tba, i know it was a chore for the atty at the time. really because it was county records we were dealing with here not just showing the creditor's debt had been discharged. it was a matter of county record. i know the atty had to file the motion and after it was signed there was still more tasks with filing all the info with the county. personally, i just was exhausted and it was well worth the money. had it been a cc or some other creditor, i most likely would have handled it myself, being that is was a court ordered document that needed removal i just felt better having someone as an officer of the court do it. again, that's just me, and you are right, you can do it yourself. but when it comes to removing the actual judgement of record it does become tricky. (i also think it may depend on where you are nj ...well they just make everything difficult).

[clunk]

When we reaffirmed two of our cars were financed thru a local credit union, they completed and submitted the paper work 3 says after receiving our paperwork. Our third car was financed thru Toyota, they took until almost the last day.