If anyone out there has been discharged from a Chapter 13 case following plan completion, please help me. I received a letter from the court today after completing my plan filed in 11/1996 (5 year plan). The letter states that I am discharged from all debts included in the original filing, but is just that, a one-page letter. Should I have received an actual schedule of all debts discharged, listing account numbers, balances, etc, or is this all I'll get? I have the original filing paperwork from 11/96 but I am wondering what I will need for proof. In other words, if I send a letter to a creditor that was included in the Ch 13 that is reporting incorrectly to bureaus as a charge-off and tell that creditor to update acct as "Discharged in Bk13" what should I send to them? This letter only has the case number, filing date and discharge date. Would I have to send original filing papers AND this letter? Thanks for your help, I was just expecting the long-awaited discharge to be more impressive!
The single page is all you get, or need. If need be, you can send a former creditor the schedule page which includes that particular account, balance, etc. and a copy of the discharge letter you just received. The court won't reiterate "what" has been discharged. It presumes that the entire schedule has been discharged unless otherwise noted.
When I was discharged the trustee sent a listing of all amounts paid. It was sort of a audit of monies paid during the bk-13. After the discharged I had to wait to for the bk clerk to offically note my file. In my case somewhere between the trustee and the clerk my physical file was "lost". As of this time Transunion keeps reporting my bk-13 as dismiss. I have disputing this every 6 months but the item keeps coming back verified. Best regards, Mirage
I also received the accounting of mones paid that you are speaking of about two weeks prior to the discharge. How long does it normally take for file to be "noted" as discharged? Should I mail discharge letter to CRA's as prrof to expedite the process or is that not a good idea?
niceguy: If you do not mail a copy of the discharged papers to the CRA they will not update. I remember the paperwork stated that it can take up to 60 days for the paperwork to transfer from trustee to the bk-clerk. I do live in a very populated district. Keep track of this as I did not. My discharged date was off by 8 months. The only good thing is that the CRAs will drop the bk-13 seven years after the filing date. Also check to see if all your creditors note that the account is in bk. Citibank refuses to change that and looks like I was charged off from Citibank. I have dusputed this item since last May, with no luck. Best regards, Mirage
Mirage: thanks for your info! I have one more question: the date of last activity on all the accts included in the Ch 13 is in 1996. If I write to the creditors directly that are reporting incorrectly as "Charge Off", last activity 2/96, will they change the status to "Inlcuded in BK" but also mofdify the date of last activity to the present because I am communicating with them? Wouldn't that be illegal? Thanks! NiceGuy
niceguy- if you write to your creditor and ask them to correct the entry they cannot start the clock again. Remember as long as you listed the creditor on your bk-13 filing and the bk Judge has discharged you, the creditor cannot come after you. I myself have only disputed this at the CRA level and never disputed with the creditor. Citibank's CA every three months would do a hard inquiry on me and try to collect. I think my account has been transfer or sold every three months. This incorrect entry has cause me just as much cc denials as the bk-13 entry. I estimate this incorrect entry has cause me about 15 FICO points. Keep certified copies of your discharged papers as they may come in handy when you apply for a mortgage. I received my first post bk mortgage on my 5th post bk-13 year. The discharge papers helped with the underwriting. My APR is still high but I plan to refinance mext spring to a lower rate. If you have any other ? let me know. Best regards, Mirage
Mirage: Thanks for the advice! The main reason I feel compelled to write directly to the creditors to correct the entries is that I have already tried to do so with the CRA's at various points during the 5-year BK 13 plan. The CRA's would update all accounts as included in BK13 and then send me an updated report. But, every time a new month would go by, the creditors would overwrite the updated info (VERY frustrating). The cycle would repeat itself time and time again. Only about half of my accounts reflect the correct status to this day. Therefore, I figure that it is best to go right to the source (creditor) so they quit overriding my reports. BTW, is the certified copy of the BK13 papers different from those that my attorney gave me 5 years ago at the filing in court? It is just a photocopy reading ("client's copy). Do I have to write in to get something else, and, if so, who do I contact? Or is the copy I have good enough (along with official discharge letter I just rec'd)? Thanks again!
niceguy- okay I understand what you are going through. It's tough when you are trying your best to get things in order and no one else seem to care. A certified copy is issued by the bk-clerk. You can obtain a copy from the bk-clerk. I went down to my district and received a copy. This copy is proof that you have been discharged from your bk-13. You can request extra certified copies to send to the CRAs as proof of your discharge. Best regards, Mirage
