Credit Repair after Bankruptcy

A credit report is a documentary history of your credit activities. It contains a record of credit accounts that you have, whether they have been paid on time, whether legal action has been taken on the account, whether they have been charged off or assigned to another lender, it shows outstanding balances, slow pays, account numbers and credit that you have applied for.

 

What happens to my Credit Report when I file for Bankruptcy?

Your credit report will show a bankruptcy, the case number and the divisional or regional office where the bankruptcy was filed. This is exactly what you want, because it proves that the debt was discharged by legal proceedings and can no longer be collected or enforced.

 

How do I regain my credit

First, you need to be sure that you have listed everyone that you owe money to in your bankruptcy case. A creditor that is not listed in the bankruptcy will not have your debt to them discharged.

Generally, if you have had long term or steady employment for at least several years prior to filing for bankruptcy, you will start to be contacted almost immediately with offers for unsecured credit. If you are self employed or have had intermittent employment regaining credit will be a little more difficult.

You can't expect to receive credit as a matter of course, however. You must apply for it. And just as you would hesitate to lend money to a stranger, banks retailers and finance companies will not lend money without knowing something about you.

The best way to build back a credit rating is to pay your mortgage, and utilities on time. This shouldn't be any problem for you since the bankruptcy has relieved you of everything else. Debt that is secured by collateral, is relatively easy to get for anyone. Buy a car on financing, or a set of encyclopedias, and make sure to make each and every payment on time and in the correct amount. If you do this, your credit should come back just as before within a couple of years.

 

Should I hire a Credit Repair Firm

No one can remove something from your credit report if it is a true and accurate and report of an account that you have defaulted on, and is being reported within a permissible time range.

However as with anything else, you can hire someone to do something that you could also do yourself. Credit reporting agencies have a number of responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law. Among these responsibilities are:

1. To provide a consumer with information about him contained in the reporting agencies files and to attempt to verify the accuracy of information disputed by the consumer.

2. If negative information is removed upon a consumers demand, it cannot be re-inserted without without notifying the consumer within five days in writing.

3. Credit Reporting Agencies may not retain negative information for an excessive period. Judgments and bankruptcies may be reported for ten years, tax liens seven years, other debts six years.

After you receive your bankruptcy court discharge you should keep a copy of your discharge and the creditor list. You can straighten out most problems with your bankruptcy and credit reports by sending the Credit Reporting Agency a certified copy of the creditor list, if you feel that they or reporting a debt that has been discharged in the bankruptcy proceeding. However if you prefer to spend the money to have a credit repair firm do this for you, that of course would be your prerogative.

Mission Bay, California

Mission Bay is a bay located south of the Pacific Beach community of San Diego, California. The bay is part of the recreational Mission Bay Park, which is the largest man-made aquatic park in the country, consisting of 4,235 acres, approximately 46% land and 54% water. The combined area makes Mission Bay Park the ninth largest municipally-owned park in the United States. Wakeboarding, jet skiing, sailing, and camping are popular on the bay. With miles of light color sandy beaches and an equally long pedestrian path, it is equally suitable for cycling, jogging or sunbathing.