credit TIP: Check credit report after bankruptcy

One of the most important things consumers can do after a bankruptcy is check their credit report to make sure their credit information is reported accurately after bankruptcy.

After filing bankruptcy and securing a discharge, you should ensure that all discharged debts appear on your credit report as "included in," or "discharged in bankruptcy" and report a $0 balance.  Since creditors and lenders assess your credit risk, this notifies them that the debts were discharged (i.e., you do not owe any money on these accounts).  

If the credit bureaus report an outstanding balance on a discharged debt after bankruptcy, or do not indicate that the account was "included in," or "discharged in bankruptcy," you could be denied credit for a loan or mortgage.

It is also important to ensure that the pay status of a discharged debt does not report as charged-off or in collections.  This can be confusing and misleading and also lead to the denial of credit.

If your credit report contains errors following bankruptcy, such as by reporting a balance after bankruptcy, you should contact an attorney to help you dispute this error on your credit report.  Our attorneys routinely help consumers dispute credit report errors following bankruptcy.  Please contact us by using our contact form at the bottom of our website.