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Nov 06, 2007 -- Banks, bureaus and collectors all flouting bankruptcy laws

Clark has taken about 8 calls over the last several months that he thought were UFO questions with no connection to each other. People have been telling Clark they're getting harassed by collectors over debts that were wiped away when they filed for bankruptcy, or that debts that had been thrown out in bankruptcy court are showing up on credit reports as outstanding. Then Clark read Business Week's recent cover story "Prisoners of Debt" and it all made sense: Certain banks, collection agencies and credit bureaus are working together to undermine existing bankruptcy laws. When you file for Chapter 7, you get a bad mark on your record for 10 years. The tradeoff is that you also get to wipe out any credit card debts clean and clear. You usually first go through an evaluation process to see if you should pay a portion of your debts back under Chapter 13. Today you can only do Chapter 7 if your situation is hopeless.

Business Week discovered that Capital One, Bank of America, Chase and Discover are ignoring these bankruptcy laws -- by accident or on purpose -- and illegally selling debts to collection agencies so they can go after you. This flouts the law of the land, whether you agree with it or not. When a Chase lawyer was questioned by a judge about why they've sold bankrupt debts, the lawyer replied that it happens all the time. The Business Week article says the banks claim this is all an unintentional mistake. But there's a clear pattern here: First the lenders fail to wipe out the debt when you file for bankruptcy. Then they sell it off to collectors and score some cash. Next the collectors try to illegally collect the money. Finally, the credit bureaus act as co-conspirators by listing debts on your report that aren't valid. So if you've filed for bankruptcy and are caught in this vicious circle, contact the banks and bureaus by phone and in writing. Try getting them to update the status of your legally expired debts. If that doesn't work, go back to the bankruptcy court where you filed and talk to the judge.

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What others are saying

  • Some Attorneys are the new Criminals
    Oregon..attorney got judgement against me for student loan obsolete since 1988, made in 1983. He used Illinois corporations that don't exist to collect from Savings in Loan out of business since 1989. Has sent thugs to beat on door, lowered my crdit rating 801 to 746. I am severly disable BUT I will have this trash dis-barred, arrersted for mail fraud, put in jail, sued for everything he has and put out of business. Law abiding citizens are being pushed to the brink. I say FIGHT BACK HARD and lodge complaints everywhere you can so there is a record of these abuses
  • Credit reporting
    thisis all crazy, we have never missed a payument, make double payument , they raise our rates to stupid levels 24.99 on one card, they dropped ourt avaiale limits to our current balances and it;s killing our beacon score, they say we are high risk with the amount of debt!

    it;s less than 43% of income, our home is only 11% we have a decent 6 digit income as well

    this is crazy, I'm about to let them have it all and quit trying.....
  • Credit reporting agency's can be nasty!
    We filed for Bankruptcy back in 2003, at one time the credit reporting agency's listed all the debts that were under the bankruptcy- as "discharged under banruptcy". I recently pulled my credit report and noticed that those old debts that were discharged no longer have that clause attached to them, they now state "bad debt-charged off", making them appear as if we still owe them and it has devistated our credit score. Despite numerous disputes with the credit agency's to fix it, they refuse to update it to read correctley as before.
  • bankruptcy
    We filed bankruptcy 10 yrs ago this year and out of the blue we got a letter from some lawyers in Texas that we were to agree to pay for a bill that was discharged in bankruptcy 10 yrs ago or they would report a bad loan to all three agencys. I noticed that they did make look at our credit report. I wrote
    them a letter on the back of thier letter and told them it was discharged
    back in 1999.I have not heard from them since but I think I may have to check my credit report more often.
  • Credit Hasslers
    Please advise me how long creditors can harrass you about credit card balances. Some of the calls I am getting are on accounts that are 7 to 9 years old. Will they ever go away?
  • Att Phone Company
    I had a $905 phone bill that i paid off over a year ago, i still receive calls from collections, letters. I called At&t and they said they don't have a record of me paying.
  • billing debts after bankruptcy
    When I filed Chap 7, I had a home land line and a cell phone. Both with Verizon, but each billed by and paid to two different Verizon companies. The land line bill was discharged in the bankruptcy. The cellphone was kept active and paid. Verizon land line sent their discharged bill to the cell phone division. One year later, the discharged $400 showed up on my cell bill. I had no choice but to pay it or I would lose my cell phone service- and they said the entire amount would be due and payable.
  • Capital One Bank
    I had an old account with Capital one that was settled via court settlement 2 years ago. I have never filed bankruptcy and i paid that account off. I just received a statement from a collection agency for the capital one account.
  • bankruptcy
    how do I stop the auto mail offers for people who have gone bankrupt (chapter 7)
  • opt out of credit car offers
    Please tell your listeners to stop credit cards offers from coming to them for LIFE at https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

    Thing of how many trees this will save! Think of how much time this will save--people who get these pre-approved credit card offers talk INCESSANTLY about how many they get -- when they can stop them permanently!
  • CCF AMEX
    in 1990 I filed bankrupcy. Every couple of years (since 2003), I receive anotice to pay from AMEX for the $1200 that was discharged.
  • Chapter 7
    Is there hope for buying another home after filing for Chapter 7?
  • credit card fraud
    An old employee initiated a business credit card line for $25,000. I stopped it and cancelled. They now want me to pay. She has confessed and is being charged. How do I get the credit card people off my back. She made several payments to keep it going. They think I made the payments.
    chester 404 266 0067
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