A Free Step by Step guide on removing a bankruptcy from your credit report
A bankruptcy will be automatically deleted from your credit report in either 7
or 10 years from the bankruptcy filing date, depending on what chapter you file.
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will be deleted in 10 years because, in this case, none of the debt is repaid. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is cleared in 7 years since the debt is partially repaid.
Some so called experts will tell you its impossible or close to impossible to do, absent fraud (Someone filed bankruptcy without your permission), other will tell you there is some secrete procedure, or that you must follow some complex and inordinate procedure. Non of this is true its actually simple in some circumstances and a bit difficult in others.
First lets go over the basics.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates credit reporting agencies and compels them to insure the information they gather and distribute is a fair and accurate summary of a consumer’s credit history. Under the FCRA the credit bureaus must investigate inaccurate, outdated, and unfair items on a consumers credit report.
A Majority of bankruptcies are reported inaccurately which allows us to dispute them for you, or allows you to do it yourself.
When you dispute the bankruptcy for the first time it most certainly (except in rare circumstances) come back as "verified" by the bureau. They then send you a generic form which tells you to contact the court house. When you do contact the court house they will send you a letter that it is not their policy to report bankruptcies to the credit bureaus nor is it their policy to order them to remove it from your credit report.
"The Bankruptcy Court has no jurisdiction over credit reporting agencies and does not report to any of the agencies. The bankruptcy petition, schedules, and other documents are public records. Credit reporting agencies regularly collect information from cases filed and report the information on their credit reporting services." Find out more from http://www.wawb.uscourts.gov/cs-CreditReports
I don't know why but Equifax, Tranunion, and Experian make it super super difficult for consumers when trying to dispute a bankruptcy. Instead of just giving the consumer the direct information as to who is reporting this information to the credit bureaus they make you waste so much time by going back and forth with them until they finally relent and provide you with the correct agency that is reporting this information to the credit bureau.
Now the contact information to who is actually reporting this information.
Equifax gets its Bankruptcy information from a company called LexisNexis.
Experian gets its Bankruptcy information from a company called LexisNexis
Transunion gets its bankruptcy information from a company called LCI.
The information should be disputed with these companies after and only after they are verified with the credit bureaus but never at the same time. When disputing this information ensure that you send your dispute letter certified mail return receipt requested. This certified mail ensures that they obey the 30 day rule out lined in the FCRA.
After disputing with the companies listed above, your chances of getting the bankruptcy removed increase by about 30%. They may return with a letter stating that the bankruptcy is valid but that's when you hit them with a rebuttal, like: "How was this information verified?", "prove to me that this is my bankruptcy and not someone with a similar name or a family member?", or "the public information does not pertain to me so STOP reporting it to the credit bureaus".
Remember and keep in mind that every rebuttal or response letter will be different and depending on what was initially said (First verification letter), you will respond to that letter accordingly.
Now this will prompt them on sending you a copy of the docket from a federal court system called the "Public Access to Court Electronic Records" (PACER). This however is not sufficient legal proof under the FCRA. Because obviously the record exist, what must be done is, this record must be proven to be yours. The best way to do that would be for the social security number and date of birth match yours. You might think this its easy, but its not in fact its impossible because of Rule 9037 of the Federal Bankruptcy Rules.
Rule 9037 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure went into effect on December 1, 2007. Adopted in compliance with section 205(c)(3) of the E-Government Act of 2002, Rule 9037 addresses privacy and security concerns arising from filing documents, whether electronically or in paper format, in a bankruptcy case. Specifically, Rule 9037 requires the redaction of specific personal identification information (i.e., Social Security and taxpayer identification numbers, names of minor children, financial account numbers, and dates of birth) from unsealed documents filed with the court, as well as other private or sensitive information identified by the court for cause.
To address the privacy concerns resulting from public access to electronic case files, Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9037 requires that certain personal identification information be ‘redacted’ from documents filed with the court. Filings that contain an individual’s social security number, tax payer identification number or birth date, the name of a minor, or a financial account number may include only:
The last four digits of the social security number and tax identification number;
The year of the individual’s birth;
The minor’s initials;
and The last four digits of the financial account number.
This makes it impossible for them to say with certainty that the Bankruptcy is in fact yours.
Once they are unable to to verify that the bankruptcy belongs to you, they must then request removal of the bankruptcy from your credit report.
Contact information for LCI: Contact info information for Lexis Nexis:
LCI Lexis Nexis
LCI Consumer Center LexisNexis Consumer Center
P. O. Box 1582 P. O. Box 105615
Burlingame, CA 94010 Atlanta, GA 30348-5108
Lets break this down into step by step directions on removing a bankruptcy from your credit report:
Step One: Write a dispute letter to the credit bureaus and do not use their online dispute process.
Step Two: Respond to whatever verification they send you. In most cases you might need an expert to tell you how to properly respond. The best case is they will be unable to verify the bankruptcy and remove it. If so skip everything else you accomplished what you wanted to accomplish.
Step Three: If the bankruptcy is verified you want to proceed with a procedural letter asking them to tell you what steps were taken to verify this bankruptcy and who did they verify it with. As stated above they will say that they verified it with the bankruptcy court.
Keep In Mind: It is the policy of all bankruptcy courts to not report any information to the credit bureaus.
**Make a copy of this letter from the credit bureaus claiming that it was verified with the court.**
Step Four: As you probably guessed it, write a letter to the court asking them how they verified this information to the credit bureau. Ensure that when you send them the letter you send them a copy of the letter that the credit bureau sent you showing that they "claim" to have verified this information with the court. In addition to sending this letter you want to ensure that you cc the president judge of that court. Google can help you find out who the president judge is to that bankruptcy court. This letter is a very important one, so make sure you send both copies to the court and the president judge certified mail return receipt requested.
The court will respond and tell you that it is not their policy to report anything to the credit bureau.
Step Five: Take this letter from the bankruptcy court and send it to the credit bureau (again certified mail return receipt requested), and title this letter "Intent to Sue" state on the letter that you "demand" they remove the bankruptcy since they "willfully" and "knowingly" provided you with "false information" regarding how this information was "verified" and therefore are in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It is most important that you put this information and these words in you "Intent to Sue" letter. Ensure that you tell them they have 30 days to remove the bankruptcy from your credit report or you will file a lawsuit with the federal district court in your area.
