How to handle a BK debt listed as a chargeoff?

[tess_bk]

(Moved from Before Discharge section -- oops)

Hello,

Our Experian credit report shows that a credit card we had listed in our bankruptcy is showing as charged off, still owing almost $9000.

The account shows every month since our bankruptcy as "charge off as of ...", and at the very end of the list of "charge off" months, it says "Aug 2003 to Nov 2003" -- which is the exact period between our filing and our discharge. Then after that it lists all the months we were late with the account before the filing.

I'm sure the creditor has erred in having this reported to the credit bureaus as a chargeoff. My first thought was to contact the lawyer who handled the bankruptcy for us, but her phone number is no longer active and I can't find a new number for her -- she married shortly after our discharge, and may have left the area.

I'm not sure what action to take at this point -- do I need to hire a new BK lawyer to deal with the creditor? They have been leaving us alone, and I'd like them to continue to do so, so I definitely don't want to deal with them directly.

Thanks for any advice!

tess

[HHM]

Your right that the creditor is reporting the account incorrectly. They should be reporting it as "Discharged in Bankruptcy", or "Included in Bankruptcy"...something along those lines, but the two I mentioned are the most common. Even if you got a hold of your BK lawyer, she probably wouldn't be much help, they typically don't handle credit repair.

If you go the Experian website, there should be a section with instructions on how to dispute the entry. (Note, don't do it the online method, do it by mail). Disputing credit incorrect entries on your credit report is something you can absolutely do for yourself...in fact, the law around this is mostly designed to allow you to do it yourself. In addition, you won't be dealing with the creditor directly, you will report the Error to Experian, and they will first contact the creditor for verification, and so on. In general, it will take you approximately 45-60 days to resolve this (just because of the waiting periods involved, delays in mail etc), but don't be intimidated, you can do this.

Unfortunately, the payment history is ok, typically you only see payment history for 24 months, but creditors are allowed to report negative payment history for up to 7 years.

So what you want to do is dispute the entry of "Charged Off".

There are lots of post in this forum about credit repair...and I am sure others who respond here can direct you to those posts.

[tess_bk]

Thanks!

Thank you for the thorough information, especially the advice to file my dispute by mail -- I would have been inclined to do it over the Internet.

As you could tell by my post, I *am* intimidated with regard to the creditor. Given that feeling of intimidation, I guess what I'm wondering is, if we contact Experian and dispute the status of the account, is there any way that the creditor will turn around and start bothering us again? (I would think a charge off would not be something they'd be trying to collect on, but you never know!)

tess

[Minnymouth]

If this debt was included in your bankruptcy - it probably is dicharged - and they are not allowed to bother you anymore trying to collect it.....

Dispute the charge-off and tell credit bureau that it is supposed to say Included in bankruptcy.....