Start fixing credit report NOW or after discharge?

[Stilltheone]

Hi All~

Can I start fixing my credit report now or do I need to wait until after my discharge? I would at least like to get a copy of it now and see what I all have to clean up.

I know I can't list anything IIB until I am discharged.

[rushing101]

Stilltheone,

I filed for BK7 June 15, 2008. The following week I sent a copy of my Schedule F (list of all creditors included in the BK) to all three CRA's with a letter demanding that the accounts be deleted or shown to reflect a 0 balance. Many of my old charge-offs have not been updated in over a year. Hopefully those accounts will just drop off of my report. Once the CRA's complete their update, I will post the outcome here on the board. My current (avg) FICO score is 565. My goal is to have a 680 within 90 days of discharge. In order to accomplish this, my next clean-up will begin a week prior to discharge.

[PaKettle]

You can start with anything on there that is currently wrong. No reason not to.
But of course after the discharge it will be a whole new ball of wax.
I got the impression they purposely screwed mine up, it was so bad after the discharge:
incorrect social, incorrect "other name", accounts open that should be closed, accounts showing past due that should be Included in Bankruptcy, a Charge Off that never happened, etc. etc... I had to file a dispute on almost EVERY Single negative item with Experian - not because they were derogatory but because they were incorrectly derogatory - worse than bankruptcy.

So you may as well get started, see how the game is played because after the discharge you may have a lot more to do!

[Flamingo]

There is no need to obtain credit reports prior to your discharge unless you suspect fraud. If you dispute too early, it will just cause more work and worry on your part since the information will probably change again. Wait a few months after discharge (Chapter 7 or 13) and then begin. It is not an overnight process and will take a while.

Note to rushing101 - late payments and chargeoffs occurring prior to your bankruptcy filing date will not be removed.

[rushing101]

Flamingo,

My reason for disputing early is to hopefully have the creditors that have not updated their trade line in over a year to be dropped off prior to discharge. I know it's a gamble. Additionally, if I can have other accounts updated with a zero balance or shown to be included in BK prior to discharge will be a victory. The "shock and awe" campaign with the CRA's will begin after the discharge is served.

[Flamingo]

Flamingo,

My reason for disputing early is to hopefully have the creditors that have not updated their trade line in over a year to be dropped off prior to discharge. I know it's a gamble. Additionally, if I can have other accounts updated with a zero balance or shown to be included in BK prior to discharge will be a victory. The "shock and awe" campaign with the CRA's will begin after the discharge is served.

If you have your own personal reasons for wanting to obtain copies of your credit report prior to filing and dispute items prior to discharge, you don't have to ask permission or ask if it is OK to do so. The folks that responded to you gave you great advice and information. You can take it or leave it. No one can say for certain if your plan will work for you but it is always best to wait until a few months after discharge to clean up one's reports. Best of luck to you!

[Cali]

I am going to wait until after discharge to do all my cleaning up.

[dragonnfly]

I am about 30 days give or take from discharge and we were going to buy a used car to replace the one we let go. I had a 2007 sebring that I was buying for 12,000. at 18% interest. I know thats a lot. My job is 25 miles from home and I wanted something reliable, with 3 cars currently all well over 110,000 I needed something we could count on. We were waiting for a letter from one of our mortgages that it was not late and then all we had to do was go sign that papers. I received a copy of our credit report in the waiting period there and it is a complete mess. I am glad we had to wait for the mortgage letter because that gave me time to think and we ran away from the car at 18%. I figured if we wait til discharge get the reports cleaned up some and then try again we will hopefully get a better interest rate. Thats why i am starting early. I sent in some generic changes yesterday and I figure they will send me the corrected report and then I can contest some of that around discharge time. I am going to subscribed to truecredit close to discharge to speed things along. My son really wants his old jeep back to drive to school mid-august so hopefully I will get a car by then. This has been a really long dragged out way of saying if you have a reason to rush cleaning up your credit go for it otherwise theres no need to rush it. Good Luck Dragonnfly