As a bankruptcy attorney in Seattle, one of the most common questions that I get asked during an initial bankruptcy consultation when people are considering filing bankruptcy is related to how they can rebuild their credit score after filing bankruptcy. The New York Times addressed this issue in a recent article. In general the article states that you should pay your bills on time, get prepaid (secured) credit cards and report errors in your credit report to the credit agencies. Filing bankruptcy allows debtors to get a fresh start, so to those considering bankruptcy, it is only the beginning and not the end to your financial concerns. To read the full article Click Here for How to Repair Your Credit After Filing Bankruptcy.
As somebody who deals with assisting debtors in repairing their credit scores, I agree with what the article has to say for the most part. I can add that you should keep your credit lines paid off and as low as possible and in order to dispute errors on your credit report with the applicable credit bureaus you must do so in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to have the most impact on your credit. If you don’t dispute errors on your credit according to the rules, then your letters may be ignored and nothing will happen. With that said, if you do things properly and a debt or an error on your credit report cannot be verified, then it must be removed from your credit report. If it is not removed, you may have a potential lawsuit against the credit bureaus or your creditor. Taking legal action should be seen as a last resort however as lawsuits can be expensive and time consuming.
If you have additional questions about how to repair your credit after filing for bankruptcy, feel free to give a Redmond bankruptcy attorney at Symmes Law Group a call at 206-682-7975
