I Screwed Up - Macy's

[danaf]

ps. thanks for the info on the fact that it should report as IIB. I'll keep an eye out and dispute if I need to.

[Flamingo]

ps. thanks for the info on the fact that it should report as IIB. I'll keep an eye out and dispute if I need to.

I don't think it can be reported as IIB and will be listed as closed by credit grantor/paid as agreed and under your satisfactory accounts. It was not included in your filing and did not have a balance due and owing on it at the time of filing of your Chapter 7 so there was no debt to discharge. See FLBK7's posting below. You can't make a creditor list an account as being in BK if it never was. Maybe one of the credit/credit bureau experts on here can help out or input more. The trick to help keep zero balance cards open that survive a BK is to use them now and then to purchase a small amount and pay it off in full prior to the due date. If you let the card sit and not use it, they will investigate (as they did yours) and either close it or reduce the limit. The same is also occurring to folks with good credit who do not use their cards; they are either getting closed out or limits lowered. I did not use my Dress Barn card for about 9 months to a year (zero balance at BK) and when I went to use it I was advised it was closed due to "BK on my records; however, I used it for six years prior to that maybe 2 to 3 times a year. It is still listed as a satisfactory account but indicates closed by credit grantor now.

[StartingOver08]

I think danaf's situation is just a little different. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but danaf had a zero balance card at the time of filing; and she did NOT charge on the card post filing. Macy's now wants to close her account as "closed by credit grantor" because she asked for a replacement card. My concern here is that this is a POST filing event that is really directly related to her filing. Macy's only comment is since she filed the account is closed so it makes more sense to have it reflect iib. Any negative event after a BK has a greater impact on your score. (I know, using logic with CRA reporting is difficult! )

Macy's can choose to report her card as closed, never late (because she had a zero balance as of the filing date). Or iib. To list it as "closed by credit grantor" because she filed BK is a iib situation. I understand what you are saying Flamingo. But you actually used your card for several years during and after your BK 13. You had new debt that you put on and paid immediately so the 'closed by credit grantor' would make sense.

The score hit from the notation 'closed by credit grantor' is probably minimal after a recent BK (who really knows the impact?!). But getting the increases in scores is the removal of inaccurate information over a series of little things as well as the big ones: age of accounts, UTILIZATION, and payment history.

[danaf]

Actually, I asked for a replacement card back in Nov, just after my bk closed. And they sent it to me. I never used it. My call the other day was to ask for a limit increase because $100 was pretty low. They definitely closed it due to the bk because I've had no neg. reporting on my credit since the bk, so I think it is entirely possible to get it to report as such. I think I remember reading on here a long time ago that it doesn't matter if you include everything on the petition - i.e. this card....the bk still applies.

Credit has really tightened up. I have friends with great credit, lots of money, good jobs, a paid off home, and they couldn't secure a mortgage for a second home. Things are crazy.

[Flamingo]

Actually, I asked for a replacement card back in Nov, just after my bk closed. And they sent it to me. I never used it. My call the other day was to ask for a limit increase because $100 was pretty low. They definitely closed it due to the bk because I've had no neg. reporting on my credit since the bk, so I think it is entirely possible to get it to report as such. I think I remember reading on here a long time ago that it doesn't matter if you include everything on the petition - i.e. this card....the bk still applies.
Credit has really tightened up. I have friends with great credit, lots of money, good jobs, a paid off home, and they couldn't secure a mortgage for a second home. Things are crazy.

See my highlight - in Chapter 7 it only includes cards/debt that was maybe forgotten and not put on the creditor matrix and which had a balance at the time of filing. I don't believe it includes a credit card with a zero balance as there is no debt to discharge. Do a search in this forum because there has been quite a bit posted about that in the past (i.e., people forgetting to list cards/loans in their filing and that debt being discharged anyway). Since it is too late to do anything about it and what's done is done, I think it would be to your benefit in the long run to try to keep the account still showing as satisfactory (it will even with closed by grantor on it) as it would give more positive accounts to your overall credit report and show you paid it on time the entire time you had it. Of course if you want to try to have them show it as IIB, that is up to you but if what I mention above is correct and I think it is, they won't list that account as being discharged in your bankruptcy. Best of luck - it all goes away eventually and things get better!