Credit clean up advice from Equifax report

rastica

Hi there

I was discharged from BR in March 2012. I'm just getting enough distance now to think about cleaning up my credit file and I ordered my Equifax report. I can't figure out how to read it and had some questions:

1. It doesn't say I went BR anywhere on the report! Isn't it listed somewhere on there? I found this strange. How do creditors know, then?

2. Under the Credit Agreements section there are 4 that are showing defaulted, 2 to mobile contracts and 2 to banks. I think I know how to sort these out to be 'satisfied' from the sticky thread - send the proof of discharge to them etc. No questions here then, I think...

3. There is a CCJ though, under 'Court Information', from March 2010. I think I've read elsewhere, that you can't get these marked as satisfied. I just have to wait until it drops off - correct?

4. I know I have some other accounts that were outstanding - council tax, British Gas, etc, that don't appear on this report at all. Do I need to worry about these or do anything about them?

5. That is all that is on my account - so in order to clean up my file, I just need to get those 4 unsatisfied debts sorted and wait wait wait?

6. Any other advice for things I could be doing now to clean up my credit, in hopes that one day far in the future, I can get a mortgage??

Thank you!

fermi

1. It should be there under public record info. The fact that it isn't suggests there is some error somewhere with your report when it was generated. Slightly wrong address or similar can be a culprit.

2. Ok.

3. You can try to get is marked as satisfied, but mostly it's a no. Doesn't matter anyway as will drop off before the BR and other accounts do.

4. Not unless you are getting hassled for them.

5. Yep. Query the lack of the BR order though, becasue if that is not showing due to some error, who know what else might be not showing.

rastica

Thank you! How strange that my BR is not listed on my credit report... maybe there is some advantage to this!

One last question - will the individual credit accounts, once they are satisfied, drop off individually in 6 years? So if I get them corrected to be listed as satisfied on BR discharge date, they would stay on there individually for 6 years from that date?

fermi

Credit accounts are removed 6 years from the default date. That is why it's important that default date are all on or before your bankruptcy order date. Means that on the 6 year anniversary you have a clean file.

Settlement date does not change when it drops off, but helps in the meantime.

The BR order should be on your file. They are reported to the CRAs as a matter of course, so the CRAs should have the info on file somewhere. What often happens though is if something is slightly out of kilter with your address history, then the CRAs automated matching systems may fail to match the BR order against your file. Had that for things like the CRA had someone's address as 51 somewhere street, but the BR order had Flat 51a. Small difference meant it didn't show.