Filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2002, discharged October 2002. In January 2003, I disputed all three of my credit reports to list all accounts on my schedule as being included in bankruptcy. I currently have no bankruptcy accounts on my credit report, only the public record. All three credit reports state that it will be removed in April or May 2012. I know it is only a few months away until it is removed, but since it has been so long, is it worth trying to dispute the public record to get it removed early?
The reason I want to do this is because I have been trying to get a Chase United Mileage Plus card due to travel at work all on United. One of the questions they ask on the application is "Is there a bankruptcy on your credit report?' I tried calling, and writing letters to try to circumvent this, but it hasn't worked yet. I did not claim any debt from Chase in the bankruptcy, and since bankruptcy I have had 2 chase cards, 1 for $6000 and 1 for $5000. I closed both of them to apply for the new card, but still can't get approved. I know rewards cards take better credit to get approved, but based on my situation, I think I should be able to get it. I currently have a 720 on equifax and experian, and 685 on transunion. I have a mortgage for $187k, a car payment of $360 with a balance of $12k, and 1 credit card with a balance of $2000 ($5000 credit limit).
Is it worth my effort to dispute my credit reports, or should I just wait the 8 months and apply? Thanks in advance.
Starting Score 5/1/2002: 553
Hi penelope10,
Welcome! Glad you're here on the forums and posting.
penelope10 wrote:
Filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2002, discharged October 2002. In January 2003, I disputed all three of my credit reports to list all accounts on my schedule as being included in bankruptcy. I currently have no bankruptcy accounts on my credit report, only the public record. All three credit reports state that it will be removed in April or May 2012. I know it is only a few months away until it is removed, but since it has been so long, is it worth trying to dispute the public record to get it removed early? It's always appropriate to dispute inaccurate information on your CR's - it appears that the BK is reporting accurately. Disputing accurate information can truly bite you; and besides the bite issue it is against the policies of this forum to advocate disputing accurate information. Advocating or suggesting the disputing of accurate info violates our Credit Repair Discussion Guidelines, Terms of Service, and User Guidelines that prohibit the promotion of certain types of credit repair.
The reason I want to do this is because I have been trying to get a Chase United Mileage Plus card due to travel at work all on United. One of the questions they ask on the application is "Is there a bankruptcy on your credit report?' I tried calling, and writing letters to try to circumvent this, but it hasn't worked yet. I did not claim any debt from Chase in the bankruptcy, and since bankruptcy I have had 2 chase cards, 1 for $6000 and 1 for $5000. I closed both of them to apply for the new card, but still can't get approved. Depending on how recently you closed them, you may want to consider seeing if they will reopen the Chase cards - they were helping you in a few ways. First, they were helping you by showing 3 open revolving accounts rather than the one you now have; second, they can help your utilization; and third, they help in showing accounts without a balance. FICO is happier with 1 in 3 revolving cards reporting a balance rather than 1 in 1 revolving cards showing a balance. I know rewards cards take better credit to get approved, but based on my situation, I think I should be able to get it. Some cards are more BK friendly than others - DH and I have a few cards with $10K limits, but we still have a few cards on our wish list that we will app for when the BK ages off our reports (about the same time yours ages off yours). In the meantime, we understand that our BK will prevent some cards from approving us. I currently have a 720 on equifax and experian, and 685 on transunion. Do you mind letting us know where you are pulling these scores from? That'll make a difference. I have a mortgage for $187k, a car payment of $360 with a balance of $12k, and 1 credit card with a balance of $2000 ($5000 credit limit). That's a 40% utilization on one card - which many creditors would see as high utilization. It'll be best to app when your utilization is lower (and having those other two cards reopened would help resolve that issue.
Is it worth my effort to dispute my credit reports, No - disputing accurate info can be very damaging (and of course is not allowed on the boards). or should I just wait the 8 months and apply? Yep - wait 8 months and apply when your BK has aged off your CR's. Thanks in advance.
Hope that's helpful!
Thanks for the tips! I honestly wasn't trying to dispute accurate information, I just thought that a BK could show up 10 years, but was only required to show for 7. I was thinking I could ask to remove it since it was over 7 years, but I guess I was confusing the rules of 7 and 13.
I pulled my scores as a 1 time deal from equifax for all 3 credit bureaus for $14.95 when I was getting my free annual credit report. Is there any better place to get these scores routinely?
I can easily pay my $2000 balance down to $0, I thought carrying a balance was important and I thought the utilization was only high when it is over 50%. Where should I keep it?
I guess my new goal is to get my credit as strong as possible when the bankruptcy is removed in April and apply for the card I want. Thanks for all the help 
@penelope10 wrote:Thanks for the tips! I honestly wasn't trying to dispute accurate information, I just thought that a BK could show up 10 years, but was only required to show for 7. I was thinking I could ask to remove it since it was over 7 years, but I guess I was confusing the rules of 7 and 13. Yep - you're right. CH 7 reports for 10 years, and CH 13 reports (generally) for 7 years.
I pulled my scores as a 1 time deal from equifax for all 3 credit bureaus for $14.95 when I was getting my free annual credit report. Is there any better place to get these scores routinely? You'll want to know your FICO scores - which are available here for Equifax and TransUnion. I'm going to throw in some info from llecs' here:
"Virtually everyone sells scores, but they are not all FICO scores. If you got scores from the big 3, then very likely 2 or all 3 of them are not FICO scores. Experian and TransUnion do not sell FICO scores on their website. Equifax does sell FICO scores but it is very hidden and difficult to find. It's not on their products page. We call these non-FICO scores, FAKOs, and can easily be as much as a few points to 100+ points off your real FICO when pulled the same day. If it didn't say "FICO" next to the score, then it isn't.
Other companies (e.g. freecreditreport.com, freescore.com, truecredit, creditkarma, Equifax Credit Complete, Quizzle, and dozens of others out there) sell scores, but they are nothing more than gimmicks and lenders don't use them. They do this because they want to avoid paying any fees to FICO and when they say "credit score" people buy it anyway on the assumption that it is a FICO. The scores are off because the formula is different, factors in different things as compared to FICO, and score ranges are different than FICO's (e.g. FICO is 300-850, Vantage is 501-990, PLUS is 330-830, TransRisk is 350-850, and so on)."I can easily pay my $2000 balance down to $0, I thought carrying a balance was important and I thought the utilization was only high when it is over 50%. Where should I keep it? Carrying a balance and paying interest rates is not necessary for good FICO scores. The general advice is "For Best FICO scores, let all revolving accounts but one report a zero balance; let the remaining one account report <9%." Then PIF after the statement cuts. That way you'll never pay interest and FICO will be pretty dang happy.
I guess my new goal is to get my credit as strong as possible when the bankruptcy is removed in April and apply for the card I want. That's a super goal! Thanks for all the help