Sears erroneously reporting being included in bankruptcy

[Anonymous]

I am having a problem with Sears who refuses to rcorrect their entry in my credit report. I filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy on October 2, 2008 (received a discharge in Jan 09). I did not list Sears as a creditor because I owed them no money. On October 3, 2008 I made a small charge at Sears which I paid off within a week. Now they are listing my account as "included in Bankruptcy/discharged in Bankruptcy". I disputed this with the CRA who came back and said it was reconfirmed by Sears. I then wrote to Sears and asked for the evidence they have upon which they reconfirmed this information to the CRA. They are ignoring my letter. I would like to write to their legal department but don't know how to contact them. Any advice. thank you so much!

[kjm79]

Though it doesn't seem fair, Sears is right.  When you file bankruptcy it applies to all current creditors.  Even though you didn't list Sears as a creditor they received notification of your BK status and I'm assuming closed the account and said included in BK.  Unfortunately, with BK you can't really choose to include or exclude certain creditors. Now, you could try and dispute with the CRA.  Send them your schedule of creditors you filled out when you filed for BK.  I'd also send this to Sears to show you did not included them.  You could also try a GW letter to Sears explaining you didn't include them in BK and asking them to remove the notation.  They do however, have the right to close the account because of the BK.  After my hubby and I filed BK, we had a couple of zero balance account we didn't include.  The creditors closed the accounts but didn't say included in BK, just "closed by grantor".  I would definelty send the schedule of creditors to the CRA and Sears, I doubt they'll reopen the account but at least maybe they'll remove the BK notation.

Also, in reading your post, you filed BK on Oct. 2, 2008 and then charged your Sears account the next day?  That was a very risky thing to do, your case could've been dismissed.  Incurring additional debt befor your BK is discharged is a big no no.  Even though you paid it within a week, the day after filing you owed a debt to Sears which is most likely why they listed the account as IIB.  Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your response. I will try your idea. Actually, our lawyer was emphatic that only creditors with balances ON the date of filing could be included in the bankruptcy. In fact, he told me to use my credit card with Sears the next day (for $6 socks) in the hopes of not having Sears cancel it for non-use which they did to my husband previously (FICO at the time was 790) and to document that I intended to remain a paying good-faith customer. We were told not to use any card included in the bankruptcy -- only cards/accounts not included.

Thank you again for your idea of sending the paperwork to Sears... maybe that will work since I've heard that each notation which has IIB on it reduces one's score a little more. The less notations, the better.....

[wilee]

I think your attorney gave you bad advice. You should've either waited for the BK to be discharged before using the card or delayed your filing until you had some recent activity but no balance. Having a balance during BK proceedings, even if only for a couple days, just about forced their hand I would think.

I doubt you'll have any luck with removing the BK notation, but I do wish you luck.