     SteveS. | Wednesday, November 24, 1999 - 10:25 pm 
I recently received a copy of my Trans Union credit report. I filed b/k several years ago, most of my accounts state "included in bankruptcy" with a 0 balance. However, there are several that show "profit and loss write-off" and then "charged off as bad debt". One of them still show a balance. Then I have another that simply states "chapter 7 bankruptcy" and shows a 0 balance. Also, the 2nd mortgage on my home was recently sold to another company. The new company lists it as an "installment loan" nothing about it being a mortgage. Can this be changed?
Thank you so much for any help you can give. I am very thankful for all the extremely knowledgable folks that post here and help the average Jo Schmo to understand some of this stuff. |
| Sean | Friday, November 26, 1999 - 09:16 am
I am assuming that your charge offs and collections were actually included in your bankruptcy, in which case merely getting a copy of your bankruptcy discharge information and forwarding it to all three credit reporting agencies can clear that up.
As for the 2nd mortgage, I'd be cautious about doing anything about that. Sure it's annoying that the information in your credit profile isn't accurate but there are dangers to disputing it.
What if the credit reporting agency doesn't have time to check it out or doesn't want to bother? They may merely delete that account out of your profile, which will satisfy the law but may not make you happy.
More likely is they'll merely call up the creditor and say, "Does Steve have an installment loan with you?" Your creditor will reply in the affirmative and they'll come back with a "verified as accurate" and any future disputes you put through on this they'll discard as "frivolous."
Or they may just take one look at your dispute, label it frivolous and throw it away, which will only piss you off (and rightfully so).
If this really means a lot to you I suggest you contact a title company in your area and get a copy of the mortgage/deed of trust and the recorded assignment giving it to the new company. Usually they provide this service to you free of charge. Then write the credit reporting agency disputing the item and follow it up a week later with the recorded instruments as "additional information."
This will give them 45 days instead of the normal 30 to process your dispute and all the necessary information will be in front of them so they're more likely to just modify the information without even contacting the creditor. |
| voigtkampff | Saturday, November 27, 1999 - 06:30 am
Even if it is not free, that sounds like the better way to go. It's really not difficult to check the county records yourself. The clerks in my area are usually helpful in helping people to check the grantor-grantee index. |
| StevenS. | Saturday, November 27, 1999 - 11:09 pm
None of my accounts were ever in collections and I had never had a charge-off until now. As a matter of fact I was nearly current on everything when a sudden incident kind of forced me into b/k. The only reason they are showing charge offs is because of the b/k. Do you think it matters that they are showing it as an installment loan rather than a 2nd trust deed? If not, then I won't mess with it.
Thanks for you help |
| voigtkampff | Monday, November 29, 1999 - 01:39 pm
I don't think that a bnk should be listed as a charge off. They are not the same. The creditor might have charged it off for accounting purposes only because they were not aware of your bankruptcy filing until 4 or 5 months after the fact. I would dispute that and have it listed as included in bnk instead of both R9 AND included in bankruptcy. I would definitely have the account with a balance be corrected to show zero balance because of the bnk.
No clue on the 2nd mortgage issue. I'm very curious though if someone can assist. |
| Robert Bielak | Wednesday, December 01, 1999 - 08:32 am
A charge-off indicates that they wrote it off as a loss, but the debtor (you) is STILL liable for it. If it says CHARGE-OFF, future potential creditors will correctly interpret that as unpaid debt (believe me, I know).
All accounts included in the BK should have a status of "INCLUDED IN BANKRUPTCY". Period. |
