Past Due Amts on Credit Record after Discharge

[baybreeze]

I had a bankruptcy that was discharged in Aug 2003. I just checked my credit reports and found several creditors still show "account balance" and "past due" on my credit reports, even though they were all listed and discharged in bankruptcy almost 3 years ago. A few of them don't even show being discharged, they only report them as written off/bad debt. I have never rec'd a bill or late payment notice or anything to that effect from any of these past creditors. 2 of my other discharged accounts all show acct balance as 0 and balance due as 0.

Does anyone have any idea why some of them still show these balances and past due amounts? If they are incorrectly doing this...then I definitely will file a dispute with credit agencies, but i want to make sure it is disputable.

I'd appreciate anyones knowledge or input regarding this...

Thanks,
Baybreeze

[edwards2]

Because unfortunately some of them either stand their ground about reporting or dont care. You have to stay on them to report it correctly. I have tried no fewer than 3 times to get them to report one of my cards fairly but so far no luck. We just got our discharge 5 months ago. We were told to wait at least 6 months but I am not the type to do that. You need to get real proactive with them since yours was years ago.

[SinkingFast]

Evidently this is a problem that BK filers have to be real vigilent about. It's a good idea to check your credit report before filing. Address any errors that exist before you ever file BK. After you are discharged, you need to check your credit reports again to make sure everything is reported accurately, post BK.

If working with the creditors doesn't get the info corrected and the problem solved, go straight to the reporting agencies.

When you contact the reporting agencies, they open an investigation into your claims. The creditors will be forced to defend what they report as accurate and why. If they can't, your CR's will be corrected. If the creditors screw around, then you can submit info from your BK to the CRA's to show the debts were discharged. Either way, you should be able to get the erroneous info removed.

[FlaMama]

Def fight w/the creditor first, sending them a blacked-out copy of your discharge.

Next fight w/the CRA as "not mine" see where that gets you. I'd hold off on sending anything that verifies you had a BK personally. That could come back to haunt you. It's not YOUR job to give the CRA the right information, they are supposed to be reporting/verifing it right in the first place. If they can't provide proof then they by law must delete.

Good luck.

[yorkiemom_2]

get a copy of all three major credit reports and dispute the inaccurancies. They will correct the balances to zero and say Included in Bankruptcy. You don't want any balances. If there is balances I was told potential creditors will figure that amount into your debt to income ratio when applying for credit even though it is included in bankruptcy.

[edwards2]

As a follow up I have spent the past few days trying to untangle my husband and my credit reports. I just did this last September. I understood then it would be a mess because we just had our case discharged but now....anyway FYI Trans Union seems to have the most inaccuracies in our files. They had addresses listed for my husband I never heard of, his birthdate was wrong and they had my drivers license number listed on his file. I guess I missed those things the first go around but let me tell you it is an exercise you have to be on top of constantly especially in the situation we are all in...post-BK. Also, there were companies making credit inquiries that I had never heard of and it caused my husband's score to drop. LIMIT any inquiries if you can because it drops your score 10%...Monitor your report as often as you can and keep on challenging the creditors..