Dallas, TX asked in Bankruptcy, Consumer Law and Identity Theft

Q: Why are there accounts on my credit report that say included in bankruptcy? Is it really just an error?

A family members bankruptcy is showing up on my credit report. I called one of the creditors on my report & they told me my family member gave them my ss# with their DOB when the account was opened. I asked my family member to contact the firm who handled their bankruptcy & ask why its showing up in my name. Their attorney said it was just a human error & to simply dispute it "if it's not mine". This was concerning to hear from the attorney who filed the bankruptcy. Does this sound like a credit reporting error?

2 Lawyer Answers
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
PREMIUM
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
Answered
  • Bankruptcy Lawyer
  • Boyertown, PA

A: Lodging a dispute with the credit bureau(s) (you should check all three major credit bureau reports) may work to delete the entry on your credit report.

There is a more ominous aspect to this, however. About ten years ago, an attorney with the US Trustee's office in my District told me that there had been a rash of bankruptcies filed with erroneous social security numbers, e.g., with one erroneous digit to make it look like "human error" if questioned. The result for the bankrupt would be that no bankruptcy would appear on his credit report. I had the distinct impression that there would be serious criminal prosecutions initiated for this type of apparent fraud/perjury, for the bankrupt debtors who misstated their SSN's and perhaps the lawyers who represented them.

1 user found this answer helpful

Timothy Denison
Timothy Denison
Answered
  • Bankruptcy Lawyer
  • Louisville, KY

A: File a dispute with all three credit bureaus. They should get it corrected for you.

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