My husband and I filed CH 7 Bankruptcy in October of 2004 and were discharged in February of 2005. I checked our Credit Reports in October of 2005 and disputed a few of the findings from all three of the Credit Reporting Agencies. I had wanted these credit reporting agencies to put those debts that were included in our bankruptcy instead of showing they were a charge off or deliquent. All three of the agencies changed the findings that I had disputed except one. That one was from a collection agency that stated that the debt was verified and there would be no change. I wrote a letter to the collection agency in February of 2006 to ask them to change the debt as showing it was discharged in CH 7 bankruptcy and to then report the change to the Credit Reporting Agencies but as of July 2006 the credit report still showed the same finding as no change and that we still owed the debt. Can the collection agency legally do this or are they violating the law? We contacted our bankruptcy attorney yesterday and he wants copies of everything and he is going to write another letter to the collection agency. If anyone can answer this it will be greatly appreciated.

If the debt was discharged, it would seem that the Collection Agency is filing a false report in continuing to state that its valid.

I'm not sure what the legalities are (your attorney should tell you that). But at the least it might be considered slander. The problem is that you would have to show monetary damage to sue for slander.

It is not legal for them to post false information, after they have been given evidence of it being false. Of course what type of debt it is will make a difference since some things like student loans or certain fines and government penalties can not be discharged.

Your attorny I would think should also notify officially the credit reporting company.

It is good that you are cleaning up your credit following a BK. Too many people fail to do this. I advise people to make three copies of the List of Creditors, and three copies of the Discharge. Attach a copy to the dispute form from each bureau, referencing each item. If a certain collection agency was not listed in the List of Creditors, attach documentation showing that debt from XYZ Bank was placed with ABC Collections. Such an action will make it easier for the bureaus to correct your report. Also, it is suggested that a person get their latest report from each bureau prior to filing BK, to assure that every creditor is listed. I have seen cases where a big debt was inadvertently left out of a BK, resulting in a mess. Good luck.

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Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. Just received a phone call from our lawyer's office and was told that they contacted the collection agency and asked them why the information was still being sent to the credit reporting agences that we still owed the debt and why it didn't say it was included in our bankruptcy. The reply was that they had received the letter from us back in Feb of 2006 and they don't have a clue why it hadn't been changed. They told our lawyer's office to give them ten days to correct the information and then we could call back to see if it had indeed been corrected. So, now I guess we play the waiting game again and check back after the ten days are up.
Thanks again