Monday Mailbag 9/17/2018
Question:
I have a bankruptcy 7 that still shows up due to the date filled by the court, also my Identity has been stolen 3 times so not sure if that’s is part of the problem. My understanding any bankruptcy 7 that is investigated or reopen will cause whatever payment to be claimed and collected. It’s with my new name that this old bankruptcy case still shows up. I applied for an apartment and the credit check they did showed the Bankruptcy. I have talked to the social security office, federal judge and also the I.R.S to prove who I am thus that the reason for my name change which I only have for 3 or 4 years.
Answer:
Identity theft is a major issue but, initiating a fraud alert with the credit bureaus may be your best option to stop it from happening again. Basically, once initiated, no one will be able to access your credit or open any new accounts without your verbal authorization on the phone.
To take care of the previous identity theft issues you will need to get a police report and file an ID theft affidavit with the FTC, file a claim with the CFPB, as well as contact the credit bureaus.
You can do all of these things yourself or hire a company like ours to do these things on your behalf.
Regarding the chapter 7 Bankruptcy, if the condo account was included in the bankruptcy paperwork and discharged, the account should not report any balance, not report a payment history, and report a status of included in Bankruptcy.
If the credit bureaus are reporting something else, your bankruptcy documents which state that the account was in fact included in the Bankruptcy should do the trick to updating the trade-line.
Investigating a Bankruptcy or account included in Bankruptcy will not reopen it. If the account was discharged in the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and not reaffirmed, the debt is not collectible and should report as stated above.
Finally, the credit reporting agencies use 4 identifying data points to verify whether an account belongs to you or not. These are; name, address, date of birth and social security number. Even if you changed your name, if any 2 of the data points in the Bankruptcy public record match your information, the entire account will report to your credit report.
Changing your name does not create a new credit file, the credit reporting agencies just add the new name as an alias in your credit report. Changing your name does NOT protect you from identity theft, you need to initiate a fraud alert to protect yourself.
Question:
Is it easier to sign up online or call a Rep and get set up? & will I get information to follow how everything is going and what is being worked on?
Answer:
Either option is pretty easy. Signing up online is probably a little faster, it takes about a minute to complete the enrollment form as opposed to calling and giving the same information to a credit consultant over the phone.
As far as tracking progress, once we process your file and start contacting the credit bureaus we will email you the username and password to our website so you can log in and keep track of your case in our client portal.
You’ll be able to see all of the work being done on your case, when the letters were mailed out, who they were mailed out to, when to expect the responses/results back, what accounts have been deleted, and what is still remaining on your credit reports.
Are you ready to get started with your journey to a better credit score?