Discharge vs. Closed

[IambrokeinGA]

I have a couple questions.

First of all. What will the Pacer say to know that you have been discharged? The Trustee today put in a statement that they are asking to be discharged from the case and that after investiagtion our case has no money for the creditors.

Then what will the Pacer say once your case is closed?

And then my final question. What is the difference between when you are discharged and when your case is closed? Are there things that you need to be mindful of inbetween the time you are discharged and closed?

OK I lied I have another question. I am sure somewhere on this forum there is a thread about what to do now that you are discharged. Does anyone know where that might be? What I am thinking about is now that you are discharged what are the next steps? The do's and dont's.

What you can do to build your credit?
How do you go about cleaning up your cedit report?
Can you file your taxes and not worry about anyone asking for them?
Can you accept large monetary gifts from family and not worry about the state taking it from you?

[TwentyTwelve]

To help rebuild my credit, I applied for a credit card through cap1 and was approved initially for 300$, then was raised to 500$ after I made timely payments. I also applied and was approved for a car loan through cap1, which has helped improve my score as well.

annualcreditreport.com is where you go to look at your credit report. You can see how everything is being reported and then contact the bureaus if you see anything amiss. Make sure you have all the documentation to back up your claims.

You shouldn't have to worry about anyone taking your taxes unless you owe money that wasn't able to include in the bankruptcy (IRS, student loans, etc).

I would wait awhile before accepting large monetary gifts from family. If I recall correctly, they can monitor you for x amount of time and something like that might raise a red flag.

[btbeme]

The Trustee's filing was likely a "Notice of No Distribution" which is a good thing. That means that your discharge is about 50-60 days away, with the actual closing some time after that. Your discharge happens about 60 days after your 341 hearing, maybe longer, but never less than that.

As far as rebuilding afterwards...I have strong opinions about that which are well documented in these forums. While most people feel that "good credit" is an absolute necessity, I am of the opinion that your "credit score" is actually a debt score - all it measures is your ability to take on debt and juggle it with your other expenses. I am here to tell you that like after BK can be just fine using cash rather than credit. Going in to debt to create a "good credit score" seems like a real contradiction in terms.

[tobee43]

the discharge and the close are two separate orders issued by the court. while it's very important that your bk is discharged, to me, personally, the close is the END all. we rec'd ours both in the same envelope, however, i have heard others wait months. that can happen if the trustee is unsure of any assets you may have that they want etc. many times if you don't get a close order, it does mean that the trustee has found some asset they may be interested in. let's hope for the best! that's all you can do. usually, prior to the orders being issued one is made aware that a trustee is interested in any of one's assets.

time is what heals your credit best. the longer the time that passes, the more you will build your credit.

best of luck!

[chiwawa]

I checked Pacer and saw " Bankruptcy Case Closed - Discharge" 3 days after the discharged date 2/22/12. I have not receive any notice of the closed in the mail yet! Just to be sure I did get a copy of the "Order Closing Case" from Pacer. I only received the discharged from the court and from my attorney.

I checked Experian my score is 707. I am in foreclosure does not know what is the score will be after the foreclosure complete.

[tobee43]

it could just be the courts are behind in sending them out. we rec'd hard copies of both orders, and never used pacer. ( i would have had a nervious breakdown!). our's showed up by mail on day number 63, however, some people have to wait a bit.

[IambrokeinGA]

Thanks everyone for the information. Our case has been open for 9 months so it has been very stressful. Sounds like we are close to the end. Our case has been extended about 5 times and we had to go to a deposition. The most recent extension time is June 27th so hopefully we will get our discharge in the next week or two.

[tobee43]

well, there you have it. apparently, there were some issues with your case and that is why you didn't close as yet. i'm sure it will come to a close soon and you can go on with your life.

why was it extended 5 times???? didn't your atty object to that?