Bankruptcy Resolutions 2011: Being Proactive About Your Bankruptcy Discharge

In the beginning weeks of 2011, Americans all across the country are making (and sometimes breaking) resolutions of all types: vows to finally lose those holiday pounds; promises to eat healthier and exercise more; and possibly (and more probably) earnest efforts to lower debt and save more during these tough economic times.  But for those financially-strapped individuals who are bankruptcy bound or finally exiting the process, some resolutions are worth keeping. So, in the interest of helping you honor your financial goals, we introduce the series, Bankruptcy Resolutions 2011, where we’ll examine a few examples of keys to bankruptcy (or post bankruptcy) success in the New Year.

To kick off the series, we focus the millions of men and women who have already taken advantage of the benefits of bankruptcy over the past decade, and are now wondering how to be proactive in the process of rebuilding their credit scores.

To that end, try the following:

(1) Pull Your Credit Report
First and foremost, you should go ahead and pull your credit report every year following your discharge. Fortunately, you can access your report for FREE at annualcreditreport.com. Each year, this site allows you to pull a complimentary copy of your report from each of the three major credit bureaus.  By pulling three at a time, you can more easily verify your records from each agency are accurate.  If you find the bankruptcy is nowhere to be found on any of the three reports, consider yourself officially free and clear.

(2) If discharged debts still appear on the credit report, contact the credit bureaus.
If you find your discharged debts still remain on some or all of the bureau  reports, you should write a letter to the bureau disputing the information. To ensure delivery of the letter, it’s best to send it via  certified mail, return-receipt requested.  In addition, all three credit bureaus now conveniently allow you to dispute mistakes like these online.  In order to be safe, rather than sorry, it’s best to send a letter and also let them know online. Once you’ve submitted (and sent) notification of the error, give the agencies a month to investigate the discrepancies. Following those 30 days, you should receive confirmation detailing those updates to your report(s).

(3) Continue to Monitor for Discrepancies
Even after bankruptcies have disappeared from your report and/or discrepancies have been fixed, it’s still recommended that you continue monitoring your credit report to make sure that no mistakes show up again. 

As a result of the nuances and intricacies of bankruptcy law as it relates to discharge, if you find yourself facing insurmountable debt, it is essential to begin the bankruptcy process with assistance. An experienced bankruptcy attorney knows the ins and outs of the bankruptcy process and can assist throughout your case, no matter how long it takes. Contact the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt in North Carolina TODAY for a totally FREE debt consultation. Just call toll free to +1-833-627-0115, or make your appointment online at www.billsbills.com. Simply click on the yellow “FREE Consultation Now” button.