Credit reporting during Chapter 13

[Quicke23]

I am a little over a year in my Chp. 13 @100% payback. A number of debtors did not file a proof of claim, so I'm looking at about a 36 month plan at a hefty $2500/month. I've been checking my credit reports periodically and I notice that one debt keep showing up and accruing interest. There is a note that says that it is included in the Chapter 13, similar to many of my other debts that now show a 0 balance or closed account. This company showing the balance did not file a proof of claim and is not in my schedule to be paid back. Has anyone encountered something like this and if so, what did you do to correct the issue. Would waiting until discharge be best and providing a discharge letter at the end be better or should I file a dispute with the credit agency to investigate? Thanks in advance for any help provided on this.

[mynameainttracy]

I don't see how it could hurt to go ahead and dispute it. After we filed in 2008 I didn't bother to look at my credit reports until around 2012 and then had several items to clear up. If I had looked sooner I would have disputed. We didn't see any of this until we started getting ready for a mortgage. Everything must be IIB and 0 bal. I included my case number when disputing.

[Quicke23]

Thanks- my Transunion shows it correctly; but Experian and Equifax show it like it is past due and incurring interest each month. I'm not comfortable seeing a 5,000 loan showing up as $9,000 and increasing, so I will probably file a dispute sometime along the way if it doesn't clear up.

[159515951]

IMO, one way creditors continue to "punish" customers that file Chapter 13 is to continue to report incorrectly throughout the life of the Plan, which affects you after discharge because they've continued to damage your credit while you're paying them back. I have two accounts that continue to report late every single month, and they refuse to change this notation. I've disputed this with all three bureaus three times, with no results.

This guy is one of the few attorneys that seems to care about this issue, although he candidly admits that (some) judges pretty much dismiss it as a nonissue. I hope this isn't seen as an advertisement for this attorney. It's good info that should be read by anyone in an active 13.

[Quicke23]

IMO, one way creditors continue to "punish" customers that file Chapter 13 is to continue to report incorrectly throughout the life of the Plan, which affects you after discharge because they've continued to damage your credit while you're paying them back. I have two accounts that continue to report late every single month, and they refuse to change this notation. I've disputed this with all three bureaus three times, with no results.

This guy is one of the few attorneys that seems to care about this issue, although he candidly admits that (some) judges pretty much dismiss it as a nonissue. I hope this isn't seen as an advertisement for this attorney. It's good info that should be read by anyone in an active 13.

Good information, thank you. The company continues to list my debt as "covered under chapter 13"; but the balance continues to increase. The $5,000 loan shows a balance over $10k now and according to my paperwork and the NDC, the company never filed a proof of claim. I tried an online credit dispute with no avail.

[BriOS]

I have one of these too on my experian and equifax, Its a car loan for a car that was returned when we filed. The line shows the arrears from the sale still "past due" on the loan. They are not reporting late payments every month, but the balance is wrong and effecting my score for those two reports by alot. I I have maxed out the times I can dispute this. I will sue after this has discharged if need be.

As for your case OP, they cannot continue to report monthly late pays. Thats an act of collection, and is considered illegal to someone protected by the automatic stay of BK. Your reports are supposed to be frozen to new information unless its to update the balance to zero and the status to "included in Chapter 13 BK". They are breaking the law because nobody is telling them to stop. I'd have an attorney send them a C&D letter to start with. They are doing damage to your long term credit that will last far past your discharge. No way.

As for me, Im going to keep fighting my creditor to update the balance to correctly show its zero, not past due.

[Quicke23]

Thanks for the info and recommendation. I just filed a dispute with Experian about it. It said in the notes "included in Chp 13"- so not sure why they allow the balance to increase. If that doesn't work- I will contact my attorney. I want to make sure there are no problems when I finally get my discharge.

[Quicke23]

[Quicke23]

[LadyInTheRed]

I am not certain what the property reporting is during the bankruptcy case. I know they can't report payments as delinquent, but showing a balance and having that balance increase because of interest may be okay. The debt is not discharged until you complete the plan. So, the debt really does still exist. If they are reporting the balance incorrectly, that would definitely be disputable.

[Quicke23]

Well, today, I received my discharge documents from my attorney. 100% payback of $100k in 28 months. Thank goodness for promotions and timely OT, I was able to get it done early. Next month, with a healthy income and zero debt, I will apply for a mortgage with my fingers crossed! This board has been so helpful! Thank you all!