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Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

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weathergirl77
Contributor

Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

I filed for Chapter 7 on May 15, 341 meeting was June 11 and was discharged August 15.  I pulled my credit report and found a mistake with one of my credit cards showing a two late payments that was a mistake and I disputed it with all three credit bureaus.  Upon further investigation I found that two other lines of credit I have which I had no balances on when filing and up until recently have been recently closed and it says included in bankruptcy.  One of them is my QVC line of credit that I have had since 1986. I made a recent purchase about a week ago and after I saw my credit report I went online and sure enough it said I don't have access to the information for my Q Card.  Called customer service and they said the account has been closed.  I am very upset.  That was my oldest account and now the whole credit history is gone.  For the second account it is my Paypal Smart Connect line of credit.  It is also closed and I have no online access.  I made a small purchase in July with them as well as on my Q Card.

 

Should I have not made any purchases on these two accounts?  Like I stated they were not originally included in the bankruptcy and these were more recent purchases and I can afford these purchases but I wanted to start to rebuild my credit.  Can these two accounts be included in the bankruptcy now so long after the filing and 341 meeting?   I tried calling PayPal Smart Connect to speak to customer service and when I put all my info in it said "this is an attempt to collect a debt" and it went to connect me to customer service and I got a busy signal 7 times.  It is only $75 and it is due Sept 15 and I was going to pay I have no online access to make a payment.

I have so confused.  My BK lawyer is out of town for a couple of weeks so I can't talk to him.  

 

Thank you all  for your time.

Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
grassfeeder
Frequent Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

you can not pick and choose which lines of credit you decide to include in BK, regardless if they're paid with 0 balance.  Those items and lines of credit were closed by the creditor because you filed for Ch 7 BK protection.  Its a liability on their end to allow you access to credit that you can then expunge.

 

Your account history will have to start from 0 and you'll have to rebuild like the rest of us have.  Your AAoA will be at 0.

Fico 8 Scores 5/1/22 :
799 EQ | 793 TU | 809 EX
Message 2 of 10
weathergirl77
Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

I never thought I could "pick and choose" what is included in bankruptcy but I want to make sure I don't get in trouble using these lines of credit AFTER filing and the 341 meeting.  I was never told not to use any of my other credit accounts that had a zero balance that was not included in bankruptcy.  Does this mean I should not pay these now that they are included in bankruptcy?  I want to make sure I do the right thing now.

Message 3 of 10
SoulMaster
Established Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

This is going to be rough truth, but you'll probably be OK:

 

No, you were specifically not allowed to get/use any credit between filing and discharge. Unless you have permission from the trustee, that's bankrupty fraud and any good attorney should have advised you of that before you ever filed.  S/he should have also gone through your schedules with you, line-by-line, and explained what/why everything was included in the BK.   And yes, you can get it a lot of trouble for it.

 

On the other hand, I don't think you'll get in trouble for it.  It seems like an honest mistake on your part due to mis-information (or lack of info) from the attorney.  In the worst case scenario, you can deflect any responsibility toward the law-firm that handled your case.  I'm fairly certain that this sort of thing happens all the time.

 

So, call PP/QVC, talk to a live person and pay the bill ASAP.  The $0 balance was included in the BK and you got a transaction in before the account was closed by the system.  You want to nip it in the bud before they have a chance to call the trustee and say "she used this after filing".

 

Now, on the point, what Grassfeeder was trying to explain is that your QVC and PayPal accounts were included in the bankruptcy.  They were active/open credit tradelines (regardless of 0 balance when you filed) and must be included. (This is due to the pending-charges/availible rule AND the preferential payment rules).  As I said above, had your attorney gone through your schedules with you, you'd have seen them on there.  In certain cases there are arguments that can be made, but generally leaving them off will result in sanctions by the attorney.  More importantly, if you went to a BK mill, and not a good attorney, your schedules were auto-populated from your credit reports.

 

You're not the only one who's confused by the fact that everything (including $0 balance open lines) must be included in BK, so don't feel too bad about that.  Some $0 balance creditors will actually send you (or your attorney) back a letter that says "the balance to be discharged is $0, Ms. Weathergirl is welcome to re-open her account with us after discharge".  Those letters are rare, though.

 

As for losing the history, it doesn't matter.  Your score doesn't matter.  What matters is the BK on your reports... go read my BK7 to 700 thread to learn how/start your rebuild.... You'll be fine.

 

 

Good luck,

 

-SM

I am not an attorney and none of what I write should be construed as legal advice. For legal advice please consult an attorney.

Starting Score: ~470 preBK(8/2010)
Current Scores as of Late January 2016 All 700+. Last CR pull from a lender(housing) was mid-score 749.
Goal Score: 700+ - reached.
Message 4 of 10
weathergirl77
Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

OMG I am really nervous now and want to make it right so I don't get in trouble. I left a message for my lawyer to call me.  Thank you for the information SoulMaster.

Message 5 of 10
SoulMaster
Established Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

Don't be too nervous.  Like I said, I think you'll be OK.  Just pay back that money on the closed lines ASAP before it gets reported.  On the other hand, talking to your attorney is a VERY good idea.

 

-SM

I am not an attorney and none of what I write should be construed as legal advice. For legal advice please consult an attorney.

Starting Score: ~470 preBK(8/2010)
Current Scores as of Late January 2016 All 700+. Last CR pull from a lender(housing) was mid-score 749.
Goal Score: 700+ - reached.
Message 6 of 10
weathergirl77
Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

I just spoke to GE Capital which happens to be both creditors to my Q Card and PayPal Smart Connect.  She told me I did not have to pay because it is such a small amount but if I want to I can.  I am going to wait until my lawyer calls me.  I told him it was urgent so hopefully he will call as he is out of town.

Message 7 of 10
SoulMaster
Established Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

I never trust anyone that I know I owe money to when they say "you don't have to pay".  Crap like that has a way of turning around and biting you.  But yeah, wait for your Atty.

 

-SM

I am not an attorney and none of what I write should be construed as legal advice. For legal advice please consult an attorney.

Starting Score: ~470 preBK(8/2010)
Current Scores as of Late January 2016 All 700+. Last CR pull from a lender(housing) was mid-score 749.
Goal Score: 700+ - reached.
Message 8 of 10
weathergirl77
Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

I will wait for my lawyer to call and do what he tells me too.  Thanks again SoulMaster for all your help.

Message 9 of 10
grassfeeder
Frequent Contributor

Re: Chapter 7 discharged August 15 & checked credit report to find confusing information

soul master always says it better than the rest of us.  I tried to cliff note it for you....

Fico 8 Scores 5/1/22 :
799 EQ | 793 TU | 809 EX
Message 10 of 10
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