credit report questions

[mslinda]

We were discharged in Dec. 2004. In checking our credit reports, one creditor lists our account as open/current, was a charge off as of 1/2005 on one report, 120+ days past due on the other two reports which list the loan as unsecured. Our van was used to get this loan originally. My questions: how do you know if your creditors were included in bankruptcy? All we received was a letter reading Discharge of Debtor and that we were entitled to a discharge. The account mentioned above was included in all the paperwork we filled out to file BK. We still have the van. No one asked for it back. We had contacted creditor to see if we could work out a payoff agreement in late Nov. but they never contacted us again. We also had another small loan with this company and they list it as a charge off also on the reports. Should we contact the creditor or the credit bureau to have this changed? And, what exactly does a charge off mean?

Thank you for your help.

[worriedbk7]

If they listed the loan "unsecured" and it was originally secured with your van...I don't think I would say anything (probably not the ethical thing to do). I would also mail the credit bureaus a copy of your discharge papers. Maybe it will just take some time for them to get updated??

[HHM]

Yeah, this is the most confusing part for most consumers, the discharge order is only one page. What debts are discharged is controlled by the BK code. There is a list of what debts can be discharged and what debts cannot be discharged. So long as all the debts you listed are dischargable under the BK code, then they are discharged. Unfortunately, they don't provide you with a list or a determination.

For example, you may list a student loan in you BK (because your required to list ALL creditors), but that debt does not get discharged because it is automatically excepted from discharge. The student loan people don't have to file any paperwork or do anything to avoid the discharge, the debt is automatically excepted from discharge.

The code reference is
11 U.S.C. 523