Confused on reporting negatives on credit report

[Anonymous]

My husband and I filed bankruptcy in 2005 (discharged in fall Sept 05) after I lost my job, before we even made our first house payment on our first home.  We did a fantastic job building our credit score back up afterward, but in mid 2009 we were hit by a combo of the recession and a major illness.  It caused us to lose control once again. 

Since that time we have been working very hard to rebuild our credit, pay off debts, etc. 

However, one of the things that I am confused about is the time that derogatory items are on the credit report.  We have several debts that were discharged in bankruptcy in 2005.  However, several of them show "opened" dates after that, and "reported" dates as much as 14-18 months after the discharge. 

I thought these items could only stay on our report 7 years from the date of discharge, which would be Sept 2012.  However, some of these were showing reported much later, so I am wondering if they will be taken off 7 years from the reported date. 

I have searched and tried to find hard answers, but keep coming up with lots of different opinions.  I have heard it's 7 years from the bankruptcy itself, 7 years from the first delinquency, and 7 years from the date it was reported. 

I realize the bankruptcy itself will be on there for 10 years, but I was hoping that many of these negative items coming off in the next 18 months or so would be a big help in boosting our credit score. 

[Anonymous]

Update-

I have been doing some more in depth reading (here, rather than the general internet) and seem to understand now that it is 7 years from your first delinquency, which would put them at mid 2005, meaning they should come off in 2012. 

I am so glad that I have found this site! Truly helpful!

[RobertEG]

No, that is not totally correct.

First, what is discharged in bankruptcy is the debt, so that each account included in the order must thereafter update it balnce of debt owed to show $0.

What is not discharged in BK is prior, accurate credit reporting of derogs and delinquencies that occured prior to the BK.  They each follow the time periods set forth in FCRA 605(a) for their ultimate deletion from your CR, and those periods are all based on the dates of delinquency.    Seven years from date of delinquency for each monthly OC account delinquency.  The date of first delinquency (DOFD) has relevance only to the drop-off of charge-offs and collections,  and is 7 years plus 180-days from DOFD on the OC account.  All derogs are not based on DOFD.

The reporting of the BK is a separate and additional credit reporting derog that remains, on its own footing, for up to 10 years from the date of entry of the order for relief.  BK does not alter the CR exclusion periods of the other paragraphs of section 605(a).  REporting of dates other than the actual date of delinquencies with the OC will not lengthen their CR inclusion period.

[Anonymous]

I am replying under a different name because I can't login under kentuckylucky. 

Thanks for the info, but now I am confused again. 

I knew that the bankruptcy itself stays on there for 10 years.  It is listed as a "judgement" on my CR. 

So, how can I figure out when other things will come off.  Lets say I have a credit card with a balance of $3000 that was included in the bankruptcy.  The bankruptcy was filed in 05/2005, and the DOFD is 05/2005.  The bankruptcy was discharged in September 2005.  That credit card shows, "closed",  a balance of $0, with a note that it was included in Ch. 7 Bankruptcy. 

When will that come off of my credit report?  I also had 2 car loans that were included in the Ch. 7.  All of the information above is the same for them too.  When do those come off? 

I am so confused now!

[RobertEG]

They drop according to their type of delinquency/derog. and their date of occurence.

Once the BK was discharged, the debt owed was legally $0, so only delinquencies/derogs that occured prior to the BK can be reported.

Look first at each monthly delinquency that occured on the account, add 7 years to the date of its individual delinquency, and that is its date of CR removal.

It is quite possible to have old derogs that precede your DOFD.  In fact, unless the account was charged-off or a collection was reported, the DOFD is irrelevant.

Take the following account history as an example:

30-day late     2/2004   Drops after 7 years from 2/2004, and thus cannot appear beginning in 3/2011.  2/2004 would be your initial DOFD.

60-day late     3/2004   Drops after 7 years from 3/2004, and thus cannot appear beginning in 4/2011.  2/2004 would remain as your DOFD.

Account paid back into satisfactory status  4/2004.

30-day late     6/2004   Drops after 7 years from 6/2004, and thus cannot appear beginning in 7/2011.  New DOFD of 6/2004 is established.

60-day late    7/2004   Drops after 7 years from 7/2004, and thus cannot appear beginning in 8/2011.  6/2004 would remain as your DOFD.

And so on, and so on.  Note that, in this case, the DOFD is meaningless, as no CO or CA was reported.

[Anonymous]

I am actually still confused. 

The credit cards/car loans that were discharged in the bankruptcy will be off when? All of them have the same DOFD, 05/2005, which is the month that we filed bankruptcy.  Until that point we had been on time every time.  I guess I am just dense or something.  I thought I understood this stuff, but now I realize I obviously don't. 

Are you saying that DOFD has nothing to do with when they will come off of my credit report because they were included in the bankruptcy?