Tag Archives: Bankruptcy Credit Report

How should my accounts credit report after filing bankruptcy?

The type of bankruptcy filed, the status of the bankruptcy proceeding, and whether the debt has been discharged determines how credit reporting agencies report accounts after bankruptcy filing.

Furnishers of information credit report the bankruptcy status of an account to the credit reporting agencies as part of the consumer information indicator field in the Metro 2 data sent to the credit reporting agencies.  As for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, for the month that the Chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed, the furnisher should report in the consumer information indicator field that a Petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy has been filed.  For the time period between the filing of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the discharge, the furnisher should continue to report the same consumer information indicator to report that the account was included as part of the bankruptcy.  After the debt is discharged in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the furnisher should update the consumer information indicator field to indicate that the debt has been discharged which will assist the credit reporting agencies so that they do not report an inaccurate past due balance or derogatory status after a bankruptcy.

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have also agreed to implement procedures to make sure that debts discharged in bankruptcy do not continue to report derogatory balances or a past due status.  Experian notes that accounts included in bankruptcy will not be deleted from a credit report but that does not mean that a credit reporting agency can report inaccurate information with incorrect past due balances about an account that was discharged in bankruptcy.  While the filing of a bankruptcy is obviously an extremely negative event for a credit report, the purpose of the bankruptcy is to provide a new start so that a consumer can reestablish a credit profile.  Reporting inaccurate credit information about accounts included in bankruptcy can cause significant hardship to a consumer trying to reestablish their credit after bankruptcy.  If you need to obtain a copy of your credit report after bankruptcy to review how the credit reporting agencies note the accounts after bankruptcy, please see my previous post on how to obtain a copy of your credit file.  If you know that you have inaccurate information on your credit report after a bankruptcy discharge, you can dispute the inaccurate information with the credit reporting agency as described here.  If you need any additional information or have any questions, please contact my office at 703-390-9205 to discuss the inaccurate information on your credit report.