I got to thinking about the runner up (Clay) in the most recent Survivor game. I read somewhere that shortly before leaving to participate in the Survivor game, Clay had filed for bankruptcy. Now, being the runner-up in the game, he has won $100,000. I suppose that it’s also possible that he’ll snag some other endorsement deals or fees for public appearances, so he might actually get more than that, but it’s certainly not enough to live on for all that long.
This leads to my question in the subject line. If you file for bankruptcy and then come into a sum of money that you can use to settle the debts that had been written off, is it possible to “undo” the bankruptcy? In other words, can you have the bankruptcy legally reversed and just pay your debts off instead, such that as far as your credit report is concerned, it would appear that you had never filed to begin with?
Wow. This is a toughy. Only because its sort of randomly chosen (hokused picked) experience. Yes it is possible to reverse bankruptcy, say by chance that he inheirits somebodys money from an ancestor. Or they might give him extra mony as a prize.
Where would I go to get a copy of this “credit report”? I see that most people seemed to be overly worried about this.
I am 36, never had a credit card, have never bought anything on credit and am debt free. I think credit cards are for suckers (my opinion). I bounced a check in college, but that was over 10 years ago.
I hear no credit is bad credit, so why am I being punished for not being in debt when I buy a car or a house?
If it has been 3 years or less since your 341 meeting, a bankruptcy can be vacated but you become fair game for all creditors. And the creditors are under no obligation to “wipe the slate clean” and remove any negative info from your credit report even if they are paid in full. I would be willing to guess that all of that could be negotiated with the original creditors.
You’re not being punished for having no credit. You’re being punished for having no credit history.
If you’ve never obtained credit, you may not show up in the histories of the three major credit reporting agencies – Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. If you have no credit history, a lender has no evidence of you whether you pay your bills or not.
Even if you don’t intend to obtain credit, it’s not a bad idea to obtain copies of your credit reports to make sure they are accurate. Someone else’s debt problems may be showing up on your report.
If you live on your own, you do have credit. You have paid electric, gas, oil, phone, or internet bills.
If you apply for credit anywhere and are turned down, you have the legal right to a free credit report from the aganecy that gave the information to turn you down.
It actually can be a good idea to get one credit card. I used to use mine as a convenient way to pay for stuff rather than lugging a wallet full of cash around. It was a gas station Mastercard, so it also gave me rebates when I bought gas. There were no fees if I paid in full, even no interest, and I had a credit rating.
Of course, I lost my job and proceeded to trash both the card and the credit rating, but thee’s no reason that that has to happen to YOU.
Credit cards are for suckers? While I can understand this if you are talking about interest charges, but many of us pay off our bills each month and it makes life much easier. A CC doesn’t cost me a penny (no monthly fees) and all I get is convience. Have you ever tried to rent a car?
To add onto what Telemark said, I’d go one step further: people who avoid credit cards are suckers. Having a card or two and being in good standing with those banks for years is gold on a credit report. This can make a huge difference in either getting approved for a mortgage/car loan, or the interest rate you’re offered.
Bankruptcy often has certain things withheld from it. So a dozen past due credit cards are wiped clean, but the car payment and that one platnum card that you never fell behind on stay in good standing.
By doing this, the day after the bankruptcy is filed, new credit is being built. It is not uncommon for someone to buy a house only a couple years after a bankruptcy. What also often happens is people get in trouble, file bankruptcy, and are afraid of getting credit again. Without building up good credit again, years can pass and they are unable to buy a house much later on.
Note that vacating a bankruptcy doesn’t actually make it less reportable on your credit report.
They report the fact that you filed, not the fact that it finished. And it’s about the worst mark you can have. Involving yourself with consumer credit counselling services (CCCS) is about as bad, interestingly enough.
Just to make it clear, a “credit report” is a history of how well you have paid your creditors. When you borrow money, you agree to pay it off within certain terms; say “net within 30 days”. So let’s say you bought something under NET 30 terms. The seller (creditor) sends his accounts receivable to Experian a week later. Since you are within terms, your record from that creditor will show as “current”. If you don’t pay the creditor for a month and a half, then your balance will show up in the “01-30 days beyond terms” bucket. If you continue to not pay, your balance will go into the 31-60 bucket, then 61-90, over-90 (or 90-120), then over-120 (if the company uses it – Experian goes to “over-90”).
So let’s say you want to buy from someone else. The new creditor pulls your credit report and says, “Oh! This guy tends to pay 31-60 days late!” A creditor may have NET 30 terms for most customers, but when he sees your payment history he may make you pay in advance, COD, etc. so that he won’t have to wait for his money.
Someone who pays his debts within terms (i.e., is “current”) will have a higher score than someone who is consistently 30 days late. But what if you don’t have credit? As HennaDancer said, if you have bills then you have a credit history. This includes gas, electricity, phone, cell phone, etc. (BTW: If you don’t have a credit card, how do you get internet access?) So you have an a/r number with these service providors, and these companies provide their a/r data to the credit reporting agencies. Thus, if you have a phone, you’re probably in the database.
Just for 411: I don’t know about other credit reporting companies, but I know that Experian has a Consumer division and a Business division which are seperate from each other.