Anyone know how Sears currently reports to the CRAs after a BK7 and reaffirmation agreement with them? I had my 341 end Feb '03. I have until mid April to reaffirm with Sears. I have a small balance and have no problems with reaffirming with them BUT I am concerned about how they report. If they do not report positively it will not be worth it. I haven't contacted Sears yet but I'm thinking of contacting them and getting something in writing. Does this make sense? I've searched the discussions here for "Sears and reaffirm" but I've found conflicting results. It seems that Sears was doing things differently years ago and I haven't been able to determine what they do currently. Does anyone have any information regarding this? Thanks Everybody, m5k
Sears actually CLOSED my account after finding that I had filed C7. Didn't owe them a dime - were not a creditor in the filing - just received a letter from Sears approximately two weeks after my bk was filed that said "Dear MS ___. We are closing your account because you filed a C7 bk." Drats - I was hoping to keep that account because I had no "Fix the place up- type cards (Lowes, Home Depot). Apparently Sears saw my filing in the newspaper. Sorry, have no idea how reaffirmation works.
When I filed Ch7 in 97 I received a letter from Sears asking me if I wanted to reaffirm the debt.For a second I was tempted to do so but my attorney warned me not to. He advised me Sears could alter the terms in some capacity so I did not re-affirm the debt so it just showed on my credit reports as included in BK/charged off which fell off my credit report about 2 years ago.I really don't know anyone who has actually reaffirmed a debt with a creditor so I wish you luck!! HavPlenty TU-623 2/03 EXP-631 2/03 EQ-641 2/03
Aparently it's now Sears policy (at least in DE) to close accounts when a person declares C7. Apparently Sears gleans the info from our local newspaper. As I said I have no idea how a small balance that you're willing to reaffirm works, i.e., if Sears allows you to keep the acct open, perhaps with a lower CL.
Mike: I am guessing that if you had a balance that was reaffirmed in the bankruptcy, Sears would still report it as "Included in bankruptcy". I don't know for sure because I didn't owe Sears anything, and did NOT include them in my BK7. Of course, the next week my card was cancelled anyway!!! I called them, but to no avail. They said it was their POLICY to cancel anyone who files BK and no supervisor could undo it. They suggested I read my CC agreement and reapply in 10 years when the BK comes off my CR!!! Sears is a funny animal......... I had a card with $5,500 limit with them for over 30 years with NO lates, and they cancel it! You would think they don't want all of my business after all those years. Doesn't seem like good business to me! Anyway, I met with the Sears BK representative after my 341 meeting yesterday and she gave me a number to call at Sears bankruptcy division to see about getting my account reinstated. She said it was a SHAME that Sears had cancelled my account, but all she had the power to do was reaffirm those that filed owing Sears money. Anyway, I am going to call them this week and see if I can't get that very positive CL back on my CR. (My CR still shows the account active after 30 days - interesting?) Does it make sense that Sears CANCELS those that DON'T owe them, and REAFFIRMS those that do? I quess they are more interested in the interest and late charge income than selling product through their stores. (LOL!) Anyway, I'll let you all know how it turns out, as there are many others here that had their CL canceled by Sears when it was NOT included in their BK.............. BKinUT
BKinUT, Please do let us know how you experience with Sears turns out. What you are stating is exactly the reason I will not reaffirm Sears. No matter what they say about reporting in the future, I could not believe them. Touchdown, I thought about reaffirming Sears for a number of reasons: 1. It is my oldest TL (almost 30 years) 2. Being an old TL, I thought it might help with my credit score. 3. I would not have to look for another "store card" to satisfy the correct mix 4. I did buy an appliance in the last 6 mos. that they may come and get. Reaffirming would guarantee that that wouldn't happen. 5. I will only need to reaffirm $500 at 0% interest which isn't all that much and about the cost of appliance that I bought. But since I cannot trust how they will report the TL in the future, there is no real point in reaffirming. If they hate people who file Bk so much, why would I want to support their business? The ONLY reason they are offering me anything is because I owe them money. It has nothing to do with being compassionate or just plain 'ole human. Sears appears to me to be of the real "old mentality" and no matter what I do, I will be ostracized due to a BK. They do not seem to believe that anyone has any right to BK under any conditions and that once BK is filed, you are cast out like garbage and never to be let in "their" club again. Well guess what, I've never wanted to be associated with such narrow-minded, stupid, un-educated, egotistical people anyhow. I got over trying to please people like that many years ago. They have every right to their opinion as I do to mine. m5k
I filed for bk7 last week.Within (7) days I received a letter from Sears stating my acct was closed due to my filing chapter 7. I had the card for 10 years 0 balance never late on any payments and a 5.000 CL.Seems they don't want my business or my good credit standing with them. btw who really needs people like them?
Don't take it personally, it is just business. On the plus side they are one of the ones that actually reports $0 balance and "Included in Bankruptcy" as they should. About half still have balances showing and "Charged Off" 2 months after discharge. I am awaiting the results of an investigation on the 7 or so accounts like this. In the meantime I am going to apply for a secured credit card that doesn't report as secured, pay my other bills on time, try to save a bit of money for a car and get on with my life. Good luck to you on your BK7. Mine went as well as could be expected and in retrospect it has been a blessing. m5k
Well... new development. Ordered an Experian report on 8/5 from MyFICO just to see how my "real" fico compared with EXP's bogus score (my FICO was higher than my EXP score) and I saw three A/R's by SEARS in March, April and May of this year for an account that SEARS closed. I think I'm going to try this "pseudo-non pp" review as leverage to try and get my account reopened.
Well... new development. Ordered an Experian report on 8/5 from MyFICO just to see how my "real" fico compared with EXP's bogus score (my FICO was higher than my EXP score) and I saw three A/R's by SEARS in March, April and May of this year for an account that SEARS closed. I think I'm going to try this "pseudo-non pp" review as leverage to try and get my account reopened.
