Fight Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors with Credit Report Lawyers.
If you’ve been through the bankruptcy process, you know first-hand the amount of stress and turmoil involved.
Despite the complexities and challenges of bankruptcy, the silver lining is the relief that comes with knowing you have a clean slate. It may take time to rebuild your financial and credit profile, but for now you can breathe easier and head to the future with hope.
That is, unless your post- bankruptcy credit report doesn’t accurately reflect your new status, and leaves you wondering what was the point of the bankruptcy in the first place?
You have a legal right to an accurate post-bankruptcy credit report, and at Consumer Justice Law Firm, we help you enforce that right. Bankruptcy threw you a lifeline to a fresh start. We make sure the credit bureaus don’t get in the way.
In This Guide…
What Are Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors?
Bankruptcy credit report errors are mistakes, discrepancies, and false data that show up on consumer reports (like credit reports) after you’ve been approved for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy gives you a plan of action for eventually getting back on solid financial footing. Of course, it’s not without a cost, including a ten year reporting period for bankruptcy on your credit report.
But, most people can expect to see improvements in their credit scores long before the bankruptcy reporting decade comes to close.
However, if the credit bureaus keep reporting old, inaccurate, or wrong information, bankruptcy credit report errors can make it impossible to get ahead.
4 Common Types of Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors
Bankruptcy credit report errors can show up as any mistake or inaccuracy, but these are the most common ways you’ll spot them:
- Reporting Delinquencies: the continued reporting of delinquencies on your credit report is not allowed post-bankruptcy
- Misreporting Accounts: accounts that were discharged in bankruptcy should not be reported as charge-offs on your credit report
- Incorrect Balances: accounts that should have a zero-dollar balance after bankruptcy should not show up on a credit report as having a balance
- Inaccurate Assessments: failing to accurately reflect your debt-to-income ratio after bankruptcy is not allowed
- Not removing an old bankruptcy: your credit report should not include bankruptcies that have aged off your report after the ten-year reporting window
What Causes Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors?
Bankruptcy credit report errors are usually caused by a combination of two things:
- Clerical errors at the financial and lending companies that hold your accounts.
- Once an Order of Discharge is entered, the companies holding your debts should update the information in their internal systems. This means things like zeroing out balances owed, marking charge-offs as discharged, etc.
- By failing to update your data, debts continue to be reported as though the bankruptcy never happened.
- Bad review protocols at consumer reporting agencies, like the big three credit bureaus- Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
- Software is in charge of compiling and reviewing your data, which means that reporting discrepancies and errors go unchecked and investigations into discrepancies or disputes are inadequate.
How Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors Harm You
- Credit Score Stagnation or continued drop. Instead of a steady state or a slowly improving credit score with time, your credit score can end up headed in reverse.
- Mortgage denials. You may have moved on and taken steps to buy a place of your own, but bankruptcy credit report errors can cause unfair denials.
- Rental denials. Whether you’re looking for a long-term rental for housing, a vacation rental for fun, or a car rental for commuting, you can be falsely flagged as a rental risk.
- Car loan rejections. Even if you’ve saved for months, selected within your budget, and paid every single bill, loan, and debt on time since filing for bankruptcy, you can be unfairly turned down.
- Job loss. Whether you’re a new candidate or a current employee, if a healthy credit report is part of your assessment, you can be let go or passed up due to bad data.
- Credit denials. Home equity loans, personal loans, and lines of credit through a bank or lender can be denied, despite the promise of a fresh start.
- Store account refusals. If you apply for a store card or account with a favorite retail brand, you can be refused rather than rewarded.
- Insurance denials. When you seek insurance or other financial products, a solid credit rating is usually critical, and you can be denied for falsely failing to meet the standard.
- Worse loan terms. Even if you’re approved for a loan, inaccurate or misleading data can mean that you get stuck with worse interest rates and bad loan terms.
- Mental and emotional distress. From missing out on long-awaited opportunities to losing sleep due to worry or being plagued by anxiety, the toll these errors take is real.
Learn more! Check out The Consumer Justice Blog to learn more about credit reporting errors of all kinds, along with top insights into other consumer reporting, debt collection, identity theft, and employment law issues.
What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?
Credit report errors are the consequence of a fast and furious data industry that relies on monstrously large corporations to gather, process, and report data for approximately 200 million consumer on a rolling basis.
Due to the massive volume of data being handled and the emphasis on maximizing corporate profit rather than data accuracy, federal lawmakers passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to protect consumers.
The FCRA applies to all consumer reporting agencies, which includes the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), background check companies, and other companies producing specialized consumer reports.
We rely heavily on the FCRA to build the best possible cases and get the best possible outcomes for you.
Your Rights Under the FCRA
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to accurate credit reports. Here’s what it says:
“Whenever a consumer reporting agency prepares a consumer report it shall follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report relates.”
In addition, it gives you the right to:
- review your credit reports for free
- know which data in a credit report was used to deny you an opportunity
- dispute post bankruptcy credit report errors
- file lawsuits against the responsible parties
- seek compensation for harm suffered
- make the wrongdoers pay for your legal costs and fees
- also, when it comes to bankruptcy, the FCRA gives you the right to a clean slate after ten years from the date the bankruptcy is filed or discharged
In fact, the FCRA plays such a critical role in protecting consumers from bankruptcy credit reporting errors, the lawyers who help fight these mistakes are frequently called FCRA lawyers.
The FCRA used to guarantee free access to your credit reports once annually, but since approximately 2020, you now have weekly access to your own credit reports.
3 Steps To Fight Bankruptcy Credit Report Errors
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can typically protect yourself against ongoing, damaging, and repetitive credit errors by taking three crucial steps: legal guidance, error disputes, and strategic follow-up.
Talk to a lawyer: Get a free consultation early on. Know your rights, what you’ll need to prove your case, where to gather evidence, and when to file a bankruptcy credit report error lawsuit.
Dispute errors: Review your credit reports and financial statements. Dispute inaccurate, misleading, false, or unreportable data. If you’re working with a bankruptcy credit report lawyer, they handle the dispute process for you, including offering personalized guidance on best practices to preserve your rights. If you’re going it alone, it’s smart to file your disputes via certified mail to preserve your legal rights.
Make them fix it: Never accept the credit bureau’s nonsense when they say they’ve investigated and confirmed the data is actually right. This is a common tactic. (A lawsuit usually gets the job done.)
What Does a Top Bankruptcy Credit Report Attorney Do
- We know the law. We know the laws that protect you, so we go after the credit bureaus using every possible legal option available.
- We know the problems. We’ve seen, heard, and handled every type of credit report error, including bankruptcy credit report mistakes, and put our full knowledge and resources into everything we do.
- We know the tricks. We know the tactics used by the credit bureaus to delay doing anything to fix credit reporting mistakes. They’d rather convince you it’s a lost cause. We know otherwise.
- We know how to navigate the process. We help you gather necessary data and evidence, craft and file legally sound disputes, and advise you of your rights and best practices along the way.
- We know how to file a lawsuit. If your bankruptcy credit report errors aren’t corrected or the fallout persists, we file a lawsuit to hold the credit bureaus accountable.
- We know how to get you money. If you’ve been harmed by bankruptcy credit report errors and you’re entitled to compensation, we know how to maximize it.
Is a Bankruptcy Attorney The Same As a Bankruptcy Credit Report Attorney?
No. Your bankruptcy attorney practices bankruptcy law. They helped you move through the process of filing for bankruptcy and having it approved. Your bankruptcy attorney is likely not familiar or experienced with handling consumer reporting errors.
A bankruptcy credit report attorney is someone who practices consumer protection law. This area of the law is dedicated to helping consumers fight back against unfair consumer reporting problems and other consumer-based scenarios.
Your bankruptcy attorney may refer you to a consumer protection law firm for help with any post-bankruptcy credit report errors that show up.
How to Dispute a Bankruptcy Credit Report Error
- Review your credit reports for incorrectly reported accounts, debts, and statuses.
- Gather any evidence and documentation you have to support your dispute, including your Order of Discharge.
- Write a thorough and clear letter explaining exactly which information in your credit report is wrong and why.
- Mail your letter, along with copies of the supporting documents, via certified mail to the credit bureau reporting the errors. This preserves your rights and leaves an easily traceable trail. Avoid using online dispute platforms if they make you waive your legal rights.
- Keep a copy of the letter and documents for your file, along with the mail receipt.
- Track the days. They have 30 days to respond.
- Don’t give up. If they don’t respond, don’t investigate, don’t fix the errors, or claim that their investigation confirmed the bad data, you need a lawyer NOW.
How Much Does a Bankruptcy Credit Report Lawyer Cost?
If you work with Consumer Justice Law Firm, the answer to this questions is simple. It costs you nothing out of pocket to work with a top bankruptcy credit report lawyer.
From your FREE consultation all the way through to the resolution of your claim, whether it involves disputes, lawsuits, or anything else, you don’t pay us a dime up front or out of pocket.
The companies we sue pay our legal bills when we win.
No Justice, No Fee.TM
Frequently Asked Questions
Can creditors continue to report my bankruptcy after ten years?
No. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is clear that ten years is the maximum length of time you should expect to see your bankruptcy included on any consumer report in your name.
This is true for your records at individual retail, financial, or credit companies and for your credit reports with any of the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion).
This ten-year period is called the reporting period and your bankruptcy is said to have “aged-off” of your reports at the end of this time.
If your credit report continues to report your bankruptcy after it has aged-off, the you have a right to dispute this error and have it corrected.
Who is responsible for updating my credit report when I file for bankruptcy?
The financial and credit companies who hold your debts at the time of bankruptcy are responsible for updating their records according to the Order of Discharge and in accordance with the requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
However, there is a frequent problem with misreporting accounts in bankruptcy and unfairly reporting aged-off bankruptcies.
For this reason, you should stay on top of every detail of your credit report, dispute any unfair or illegal data point, and work with an attorney if you’re not getting anywhere.
FREE CONSTULTATIONS! We only get paid when we win. No Justice, No Fee.TM