Step's to take after you file bankruptcy to re-establish your credit.
1. Get a copy of your Bankruptcy Schedules and Discharge papers if you do not already have them.
2. Get a copy of all three of your credit reports that includes your three credit scores, so you can monitor your progress.
3. Talk to a Credit Specialist about your concerns before starting this process.
This process is fairly simple if you handle it properly. You don't need to pay a Credit Repair company to do this for you. You just need simple advise. A Credit Specialist will be able to provide you with an evaluation, addresses to all three credit bureaus and a sample letter that needs to be sent to the bureaus. (It is important that your wording is correct, as this depends on how the credit bureaus respond to your request)
==================================
Need to order Bankruptcy Records
Order Bankruptcy Records
Need a copy of your Credit Reports
Order Credit Report
=============================
What you need to know about illegal collection practices:
Note that the following artical was taken
from the Federal trade commission website.
One of the nation’s largest debt-collection firms will pay $1.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by reporting inaccurate information about consumer accounts to credit bureaus. The
civil penalty against Pennsylvania-based
xxx Group, Inc. is the largest civil penalty
ever obtained in a FCRA case.
According to the FTC’s complaint,
defendants XXX Group, Inc.; xxx Financial Systems, Inc.; and xxx Portfolio Management, Inc. violated Section 623(a)
(5) of the FCRA, which specifies that any
entity that reports information to credit bureaus about a delinquent consumer
account that has been placed for collection
or written off must report the actual month and year the account first became
delinquent. In turn, this date is used by the credit bureaus to measure the maximum seven-year reporting period the FCRA mandates. The provision helps ensure that outdated debts – debts that are beyond this seven-year reporting period – do not
appear on a consumer’s credit report. Violations of this provision of the FCRA are subject to civil penalties of $2,500 per violation.
The FTC charges that xxx reported accounts using later-than-actual delinquency dates. Reporting later-than-actual dates may
cause negative information to remain in a consumer’s credit file beyond the seven-
year reporting period permitted by the FCRA for most information. When this occurs, consumers’ credit scores may be lowered, possibly resulting in their rejection for credit or their having to pay a higher interest rate.
The proposed consent decree orders the defendants to pay civil penalties of $1.5 million and permanently bars them from reporting later-than-actual delinquency dates to credit bureaus in the future. Additionally, xxx is required to implement a program to monitor all complaints received
to ensure that reporting errors are corrected quickly. The consent agreement also
contains standard recordkeeping and other requirements to assist the FTC in
monitoring the defendants’ compliance.
The Commission vote to authorize staff to refer the complaint and consent decree to
the Department of Justice was 5-0. The Department of Justice filed this matter at
the FTC’s request in the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on
May 12, 2004.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law.
NOTE: This stipulated final order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. A stipulated final order requires approval by the court and has the force of law when signed by the judge.
Copies of the complaint and consent decree are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1 877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
- Bankruptcy Does Not Hold You Back For 10 Years If Handled Properly After Your Discharge!
*After your bankruptcy discharges, your
attorney’s job is over. It is then your job
to make sure your credit report reflects the correct information. The credit bureaus or the creditors
do not do this on their own.
show that you still owe balances, even though
you don’t, for years to come.
This is detrimental to your credit scores and will
not allow your credit scores to increase.
Even though your bankruptcy will show up in
the "public records" section of your credit report
for 10 years, it is only in your credit score's for
2 years after discharge. There is no reason
your scores can't be as high as someone who
has not filed bankruptcy after 2 years if you take
the proper steps.
=================
"Credit-Repair"
Services
One "credit repair" method to avoid after
bankruptcy is seeking help from an
unscrupulous "CREDIT REPAIR SERVICE."
Many consumers pay substantial sums of
money to so-called "credit clinics" to "fix" their
credit reports.
A credit repair service or clinic can legally
do nothing that a consumer cannot do on his or
her own, for absolutely free. Some credit-repair
companies go as far to encourage consumers
themselves to commit fraud by attempting to
create a second identity.
The Federal Trade Commission has continued
to investigate these often-fraudulent services
and warns consumers to "be wary of promises
that seem shady or too good to be true."
=======================================
Even though the Creditors make mistakes
when reporting to the Credit Bureaus, and it
seems impossible to get the
bureaus to correct the mistake's, do NOT fall for
what sounds to good to be true. The article
below was taken from the Federal Trade C
ommissions website.
Surf's Up For Crackdown on "Credit Repair"
Scams
The Federal Trade Commission,
the Department of Justice and
47 other federal, state and local
law enforcement and consumer
protection agencies have surfed
the Web looking for illegal scams
that promise consumers that
they can restore their creditworthiness by removing
items on their credit report that
are accurate.. Over 180 Web sites
are being put on notice that their
credit repair claims may violate
state and federal laws. Ten state
Attorneys General's offices, 29
Better Business Bureaus, the
National Foundation for Credit
Counseling and six of their
Neighborhood Financial Care
Centers, participated in the
Internet surf day looking for
credit repair ads that appeared
to be making deceptive
advertising claims or promoting
illegal schemes.
According to the FTC, many
credit repair operations
"guarantee" that they can
remove negative
information from consumers'
credit reports, even if the
negative information is accurate
and timely. They can't. Over 60
credit repair operations identified sell instructions about how consumers can substitute a false Social Security
number for their current number
and "start fresh" with a new
credit identity. They claim the
scheme is perfectly legal. It isn't. And any credit repair operation
that claims it can improve a consumer's credit
report and charges for that
service in advance is violating
the Credit Repair Organizations
Act (CROA), a new federal law
designed to help consumers
combat fraudulent credit repair
scams.
"I'd like consumers to remember
three things about credit repair,"
said Jodie Bernstein, Director of
the FTC's Bureau of Consumer
Protection. "First, accurate and
timely negative information
cannot be removed from a credit
report in an effort to repair it.
Second, it's not only a bad idea
to try to create a new credit
identity using a false Social
Security Number, it's also illegal.
And third, when it comes to
credit repair, only time and a personal debt
repayment plan will improve
your credit report."
E-mail warnings and letters are
being sent to web site operators
that may be violating the law.
The warning says, "This electronic mail is intended to notify you that credit
repair advertisements may
violate Section 5 of the Federal
Trade Commission Act . . . which
prohibits deceptive advertising.
Credit repair advertisements,
products, and services may also
violate the Credit Repair Organizations Act . . . the federal Telemarketing Sales
Rule . . . and applicable federal
criminal and state statutes.
In the past several years, the
FTC has taken legal action
against numerous companies
that deceptively advertised
credit repair products and
services on the Internet.
We have not determined
whether your online
advertisement(s) violate any of
the laws we enforce. However,
we have copied and preserved
your online advertisement(s) for
future reference. If your company engages in any deceptive or fraudulent
credit repair activities, we
strongly urge you to stop;
otherwise, you may be subject
to legal action."
The e-mail warnings urge the
credit repair operators to
familiarize themselves with the
laws by providing hyperlinks to
the FTC Web site where statutes
and consumer credit information
is located. The letter also says
that the FTC has established an
e-mail box at
creditrepair@ftc.gov where
credit repair organizations can
send questions or comments.
The FTC has developed four
brochures for consumers that
address credit repair schemes:
- Consumer Finance Scams;
Copies of the consumer
brochures about credit issues
are available from the FTC's web
site at http://www.ftc.gov and
also from the FTC's Consumer
Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20580; toll free at
877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357);
TDD for the hearing impaired
1-866-653-4261.
To find out the latest news as it
is announced, call the
FTC NewsPhone recording at
202-326-2710.
