Is this language ok on credit report ??

[nickifan]

Hello,

Happy New Year everyone -- if you're on this part of the forum you're discharged! Mine was Dec. 9.

I am impressed at how fast at least Experian changed its information...I pulled the first free report with them Dec. 16th.

Most of my accounts on Experian now say "Discharged thru Bankruptcy Chapter 7" and a $0 balance, or "Debt included in Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Dec. 09 2011." Some do say there was a chargeoff before the BK, but that the debt was included in the BK. A few say 'account closed at credit grantor's request' before the BK info.

The one that puzzles me is Target... the only creditor who sued me.
They did get a judgment before I could file, but the attorney said it would "go away" because we filed within 30 days of the judgement.

Their listing in my credit report says "petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy."
Later in the listing it says "Filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Dec. 09 2011."

That's NOT when I "filed" -- it's the date of discharge/close.
Does this matter?? I know the "petition" is synonymous with their lawsuit -- can they still say that?

I will wait another month or so and pull the others as well.
I think overall this is a good picture though, no?

Thanks!

[prindia]

I also have different dates reporting on my credit report also.. From what I can see it is because of when they get notice that you filed. You can dispute it to the incorrect date but I don't hat think it really matters.

[LadyInTheRed]

Their listing in my credit report says "petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy."
Later in the listing it says "Filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Dec. 09 2011."

That's NOT when I "filed" -- it's the date of discharge/close.
Does this matter??

I'm not sure how much it really matters, but I would correct it anyway.

I know the "petition" is synonymous with their lawsuit

What makes you think that? What you quoted mentions your chap 7 petition. That is not at all synonymous with their lawsuit which was filed in a different court before you filed BK.

They did get a judgment before I could file, but the attorney said it would "go away" because we filed within 30 days of the judgement.

The judgment does not just go away automatically. Something needs to be filed in the court where the judgment was entered to have the judgment vacated. It's not a big deal to do, but it should be done.

[IBroke]

The judgment does not just go away automatically. Something needs to be filed in the court where the judgment was entered to have the judgment vacated. It's not a big deal to do, but it should be done.

Unfortunately, it sometimes is. I wanted to have a judgment vacated after my discharge and my motion was denied. Turns out I have to be discharged for an entire year before I can file a petition to have a judgment that was IIB cancelled. To make things worse, that still doesn't vacate the judgment - it only turns the judgment into a "satisfied" judgment which - when it comes to the credit-report - doesn't help a bit. Not to mention that this procedure is a pain in the a** because you need to obtain a certified copy of your discharge etc. At least this is Florida law.

The year will be over in a few days and I'll contact the law firm that is handling the case and ask them if they are willing to vacate the judgment if I pay their legal expenses - so it's some kind of goodwill-approach to deal with it.

[LadyInTheRed]

Odd that you have to wait a year. Do you mean that you are going to ask the creditor's attorney to vacate the judgment? I'm not sure I would do that. They may not even be able to as it may be a conflict of interest. I'd get my own attorney to do it. But, maybe I'm just paranoid.

I didn't mean to suggest that vacating the judgment would get it off the credit report. If it happened before you filed, it will stay on your report until it falls off due to time. If it isn't vacated, wouldn't the existence of the judgment remain in the public records section on the credit report until it expires under state law?

[IBroke]

Odd that you have to wait a year. Do you mean that you are going to ask the creditor's attorney to vacate the judgment? I'm not sure I would do that. They may not even be able to as it may be a conflict of interest. I'd get my own attorney to do it. But, maybe I'm just paranoid.

The problem is that I or my attorney have no clear legal grounds to have it vacated.

It would indeed be a conflict of interest. However, since the discharge was more than a year ago, it is virtually "carved in stone" and can't be objected any more - meaning that the judgment has no value any more. It's virtually worthless now - under any circumstances especially because there was never a judgment lien tied to it. That's why creditors often agree to vacate at that point in time. And that's also the reason why they objected first. It still could have happened that my discharge would have been overturned in the first year after the discharge - and if they would have agreed to vacate, they would have given up their rights for no reason.

As you can see, the legal basis makes it even possible for me to transform the judgment into a "satisfied" judgment. Nice if you had any liens - but worthless for credit-repair. Giving me the option to turn it into a "satisfied" judgment, however, turns the "conflict of interest" perspective into a mood point as well - because a satisfied judgment is not very useful for a creditor.

So they have the choice between a legal procedure at their own expense resulting in a satisfied judgment or they can voluntary vacate and get paid for it.

http://law.justia.com/codes/florida/...55/55_145.html

Now, if I or my attorney would like to have the judgment vacated, I would have to file another motion after this extensive first motion to have the now satisfied/cancelled judgment vacated. If that would work at all (I couldn't find any case law), it would be a huge hassle and I don't know if a judge would be very happy when I explained to him/her why I would have to have a satisfied judgment vacated.

I didn't mean to suggest that vacating the judgment would get it off the credit report.

Vacating a judgment actually gets it off the credit-report - because from a legal POV, a vacated judgment never existed and thus, has to be removed.

If it happened before you filed, it will stay on your report until it falls off due to time. If it isn't vacated, wouldn't the existence of the judgment remain in the public records section on the credit report until it expires under state law?

Usually, a non-vacated judgment falls off after 7 years - often earlier than it actually expires under state law. I know for sure that a judgment in Florida is valid for more than 7 years - so you could still have an open judgment against you that is not on your credit-report. And you're right, the BK-filing itself doesn't get it off earlier - it only prevents its enforcement and a possible renewal at its expiration.

[LadyInTheRed]

IBroke, this didn't sound right to me because I have read so many times on this board that you shouldn't worry about a judgment before BK because you can have it vacated after discharge. So, I started researching and found a thread you started that clears up the confusion: http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...gment-after-BK

While a judgment isn't enforceable after the debt is discharged in bankruptcy, whether the a judgment can be vacated following a BK discharge depends on state law.

In that thread you said "And the term "vacate" a judgment after BK is even used by the "super-experienced" users - so I'm really confused." Sounds like we both fell into the same trap. The moral for anybody reading this: Confirm anything you read here or anywhere on the internet with an attorney familiar with the laws of your state. Or, at least do your own research.

[IBroke]

Sounds like we both fell into the same trap. The moral for anybody reading this: Confirm anything you read here or anywhere on the internet with an attorney familiar with the laws of your state. Or, at least do your own research.

Absolutely. I was even in contact with another member from a different forum who lives in Florida as well. He filed the exact same petition within the first 12 months after discharge and guess what? His judgment was vacated. So even if the same law applies - the outcome still varies on the parties involved (judge, plaintiff etc.). It shouldn't be that way but unfortunately, it is.