How to Dispute a Bankruptcy on Your Credit Report

A bankruptcy filing can allow individuals or businesses who have too much debt that they cannot repay to legally absolve them from paying back these debts. Some types of bankruptcy also allow consumers to repay debts over time without the addition of added interest, fees or penalties. Since bankruptcy stays on your credit report for up to 10 years after filing, it can often adversely affect your credit score and report. If a bankruptcy appears on your credit, you can only remove it if it shouldn't rightfully be there.

Instructions

1

File a dispute with the credit bureaus if you haven't filed for a bankruptcy in the last 10 years.

If you haven't filed for bankruptcy in the last 10 years, any bankruptcy appearing on your credit is incorrect. Bankruptcy expires from the credit report after a 10-year period, so if you filed for bankruptcy protection more than 10 years ago, you should also file a dispute to have the bankruptcy removed.

Contact the credit bureaus by sending them a letter that states that the bankruptcy on your report is erroneous. Send with the letter any documentation that you may have that supports your position.

You may also wish to call the credit bureau in addition to mailing in the letter. In a situation where a bankruptcy is erroneously filed on your report, you must act quickly to avoid possible damage to your accounts or credit report in the long run. Notifying the agency that you're sending along a letter of dispute due to an incorrect bankruptcy filing on your report might be able to speed up the process of fixing the error. The representative who takes your call will be able to tell you whether there is anything that you can do additionally that will make the dispute process go more smoothly.

Contact information:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
(800) 865-1111
www.equifax.com

TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000
Springfield, PA 19022
(800) 888-4213
www.transunion.com

Experian
P.O. Box 2014
Allen, TX 75013
(888) 397-3742
www.experian.com

2

Notify each of your creditors, from auto loan companies to credit card companies to the bank that financed your mortgage, that there was an erroneous bankruptcy filed on your credit report that you didn't authorize. Inform them that you will continue making payments as usual and that the credit bureaus have been contacted so that the situation can be resolved. Timing of this step is critical, as sensitive credit accounts like mortgages and car loans could be directly affected by the bankruptcy filing. In some bankruptcy cases, the banks who hold your property titles or deeds can repossess or foreclose on your house or car.

3

Insist that the credit bureau contact your creditors to let them know that the bankruptcy that was filed was incorrect. If you were denied credit at any point after the erroneous bankruptcy was filed, the bureau also should notify the creditors who denied you credit to let them know that the bankruptcy was filed in error.

The credit bureau should send written notifications to each creditor in the event of a false bankruptcy filing. This will act as proof to the creditor that the bankruptcy was indeed incorrect so that your valuable property can be protected.

4

Get copies of your updated credit reports from each credit reporting agency once the bankruptcy has been removed from your file to assure that this action was taken and the bankruptcy is no longer located on your report.

Continue to order credit reports once each year to verify the accuracy of your credit accounts that appear in the reports and maintain good credit.