Taking on a Ch7 BK and a Foreclosure - Follow me!!!

[griffin]

Hi guys,

I figured I would start this thread as a real-world case study of my own adventure into cleaning some big dings off my credit report.

I live in Southern California, so obviously everything that happens will be governed by that states rules and regs.

The targets.

- Chap 7 BK, discharged in June 2003
- Foreclosure in 2006

I'll just update the post as I go saying what I did and how I did it, let's see how well I do. I have no previous experience in this, but I am pretty good at harvesting info and asking questions.

[griffin]

Preparations.

Ok first thing I did was opt-out of the prescreened credit offer list at www.optoutprescreen.com . The form wouldn't work for me as it kept saying my zip code was inaccurate for my state (how convenient :mad so I just called the number on the web site and did it over the phone. The automated system told me I would be removed within 5 business days.

Next thing was to get a free account at PACER the government info site that stores all court records. PACER Service Center Home Page. An account is free, but they do charge you 8 cents per page on search results, so be aware of that.

Next thing was to get full copies of all 3 credit reports. I got mine completely free using this site https://www.annualcreditreport.com which has to provide you with 1 free copy of each report once a year by law without asking for a credit card or any fee.

[griffin]

Foreclosure Updates.

May 18th 2009
Searched all public records for California and found absolutely nothing under my name (or variations of my name) for a foreclosure. This seems like a good thing as it seems like a great point for dispute.

Drafted my letter to send to the CRA's disputing the foreclosure entries based on the useful letters posted in this forum.

Dear CRA,

My name is xxxx xxxxxxxx
my SS # is xxx xx xxxx.

I am sending this dispute certified mail # xxxx to make sure you receive it.

My report # is xxxxx.

Your company has made several errors on my credit report and I ask for your immediate assistance in correcting these errors so my rights are not further abrogated.

I have certified documentation from the Court that supports my dispute of this erroneous entry on my report. Please delete this damaging data immediately.

Foreclosure - California Federal Court-So Docket# xxxxxx

If this entry is indeed verified, please provide documentation describing the manner in which it was provided and the name and address of the provider or furnisher providing this data so that I may pursue additional legal remedies .

Thanks for your time,

[griffin]

Bankruptcy updates.

May 18th 2009
Did a search for records of my BK in California and found the entry on the Pacer web site with all the links and listings related to the case. I guess I will now have to go through all the details that are listed and verify that every last detail is correct, making a list of every and any mistake.

[griffin]

Seems I cannot edit a post after a certain period of time so I'll just update as I go - harder to compile everything in one place but not too bad.

Foreclosure Update
After getting all 3 credit reports I was astounded to to see that no foreclosure is shown on any of the reports, which then matches up with the county court records - no foreclosure to be found - this is excellent news!!

There is however some odd reporting from the mortgage companies. on Equifax & Transunion I have an account listed as

FORECLOSURE
AFFECTED BY NATURAL DISASTER :eek::eek::eek:

One says balance is at zero, the other still shows the full balance amount. Now do I query these or not - hrmmmmm :confused:

[griffin]

General Update - May 19 2009
Today I sent a letter to Experian trying to clean up my personal information. They had about 20 addresses and 15+ variations of my name in all kinds of mangled formats. I tried to use their phone based service but it sucked, so I just penned a letter with my name, current and previous address and told them to update everything.

Tansunion and Equifax didn't have bad personal info.


Foreclosure Update - May 19 2009
As I have no recorded public record for foreclosure and no mortgage company entries at Experian I decided to challenge the negative entries I had with Equifax and Transunion. Both showed credit accounts with info about foreclosure affected by natural disaster which was bizarre as I certainly don't remember my home burning down lol. Anyway, I simply asked them both to either verify or remove the entries.

[Trish]

Welcome griffin

It's cool to able to watch someone's progress and how they went about things.
Hopefully it will also help others down the road.

Thank you for posting and keep up the good work!
Let us know if you have any questions.

[griffin]

Thanks Trish, hopefully this will be of help to some others.

Bankruptcy Update - 05-19-2009

I decided to change my approach today and held back the letters challenging some of the personal information and the strange mortgage entries. Instead I decided to start down the road of getting my BK public record removed.

I followed the advice given here, made my letters with a light purple colored italic font, hand addressed my envelopes and sent this letter to all three CRA's...

Tel. xxx-xxx-xxxx
Date: 05-19-2009


Dear CRA,

My name is xxxxxx xxxxxxxx
My SS # is xxx-xx-xxxx

I am sending this dispute certified mail #xxxxxxxx to make sure you receive it.

Your company has made several errors on my credit report and I ask for your immediate assistance in correcting these errors so my rights are not further abrogated.

I have certified documentation from the Court that supports my dispute of this erroneous entry on my report. Please delete this damaging data immediately.

Bankruptcy Chapter 7 - Discharged 3/1/2003 - Ref xxxxxxxx-DSP-06/03

If this entry was indeed verified in person with Southern California Bankruptcy Courts, please provide documentation describing the manner in which it was provided and the name and address of the provider or furnisher providing this data so that I may pursue additional legal remedies .

Thanks for your time,

I also sent my letter to the clerk of the courts to get a head start for when the CRA's spew out the form letter with 'Verified' splattered all over it...

Dear Clerk of the Court or Court Administrator,

I have been instructed by my credit reporting agency to contact you regarding the reporting of public records. They are indicating that the court verifies public records directly with them, however I thought this was not court policy.

I am writing to ask if public records are verified in any other way than in person by credit reporting agencies (for example over the phone, via email, fax or letter etc?). I was under the impression that public records can only be verified in person, but would like official verification.

If you could reply to my question with a stamped/certified letter, in the self addressed, postage-paid envelope that I have provided , I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Name

Time to sit and wait.