how long does bankruptcy stay on your credit record?

[liveandchi]

If I file for bakruptcy, how long will it stay on my credit record?

[cercis]

I think it's 7 years, but I'm not sure. I also don't know if that's from the date of filing or the date of discharge.

[dolfinrose]

It stays 10 years on your credit history. My husband and I almost considered bankruptcy after having to let our house go, and relocating to another state. We took a look at our bills and our credit history and found that besides the house which was a forclosure at $60,000 we would be able to dig ourselves out and not have to do bankruptcy.

Heres what we did:
First and most important get frugal, no
Dispute any bills that were not ours on our credit report and were over 7 years old

listed bills from newest to oldest and called creditors and worked out a settlement or pay off amount

Stayed current on all bills and any extra money went to pay off all debts with the snowball effect.

once all old bills were paid off except old house, we started working on the current bills, and paid off cars also.

This took us almost 3 years most of which were done in the first year 1/2 but we did it, not only did we have the worst credit you can imagine and a bankruptcy would have made it worse. By doing this our credit got much better, and we were able to buy a house 3 times bigger then what we had before, and have 7 credit cards now. Yes we still have a forclosure on a house but it was 5 years ago now and mortgage companies don't look at that to much after 3 years, if you don't have a bankruptcy.

[sweeps]

It's my understanding that a Chapter 13 bankruptcy stays on for 7 years. Chapter 7 for up to 10 years. But that could change with the new bankruptcy law going into effect this month....

[newnikki]

IF you have not filed now most lawyers are not taking new clients on under the old law. The new law will require you to meet certain income requirments and you will have to pay some back. That is the basics of what I know but I will know more tomorrow as this dummy is about to file. I am ok with my choice though. I took one year to deeply consider and research and I do believe this is best for me. However I have a question.....dolfinrose....can you tell me the steps you took to remove that which was 7 yrs old? I have a few of those I am not going to file and I would like to know how to go about it. Thanks! You can email me direct or post, new here though so I hope I find my way back! he he

[dolfinrose]

Hello newnikki,

To answer your question, I got all 3 of my credit reports online, I think I paid about $30. Then you can either dispute online (which I did most of ) or just write a letters to each credit agency and tell them that you are dispute things on your credit. Just need to tell them which accounts are over 7 years old and they should take them off. What they will do is send you a letter that they are investigating and when they are done, they will send you a copy of your updated credit report.

If you go to Experian.com there are links and instructions on how to purchase all 3 credit reports and how to dispute also.

[newnikki]

Hi there thanks for the reply.....not to be a nag or make this subject long winded but two questions you might be able to answer....was it a hassle i mean did it take long and several letters or was it just that simple. And is it 7 yrs from when the account was opened or first reported or what? Thanks so much for the advice

[dolfinrose]

no, not really a hassle, just need to know which accounts (must hav credit report for account #) and you can make a draft letter and just change a few things depending on each account. Took me about 25 minutes or so, to do it online, DH did it in about 1 hour when he did his by mail. Here is wesite that will answer alot of questions
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/crdtdis.htm on how to dispute items