WHAT DOES MY CREDIT REPORT LOOK LIKE AFTER BANKRUPTCY?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.) governs how a creditor can report a debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy.
The creditor can report an account that has been discharged in bankruptcy, but the account must show a zero balance after the discharge.
The Official Staff Commentary of the Federal Trade Commission states that “A consumer report may include an account that was discharged in bankruptcy (as well as the bankruptcy itself), as long as it reports a zero balance due to reflect that the consumer is no longer liable for the discharged debt.”
A bankruptcy filing can be reported for up to ten years by a credit reporting agency on a consumer report, with some minor exceptions.
Delinquencies on an account can be shown even if liability on the account has been discharged, as long as the balance on the account shows zero.
Creditors will report debts or accounts to the credit reporting agencies, where the liability for the debt has been discharged in a bankruptcy. If you discover the misreporting of such an account in your consumer credit report, then you should dispute the information.
Consumers are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the major credit reporting agencies. A copy of the report can be obtained throughwww.annualcreditreport.com.
The three major credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Each of the websites for the three major credit reporting agencies contain information on how to dispute an entry on a credit report.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.) the credit reporting agency shall conduct a reasonable reinvestigation of any dispute regarding the accuracy or completeness of information contained in the consumer’s report.
This reasonable reinvestigation shall be free of charge and the agency shall delete the information from the file or record the current status of the disputed information within thirty (30) days of receiving notice of the dispute from the consumer.
With some minor exceptions (Section 1681i(a)(1)(B) & (C)) the thirty day period can be extended for 15 days if the agency receives information from the consumer that is relevant to the reinvestigation.
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