Cleaning Up Your Credit- Part I
Although a bankruptcy will show on your credit file for about 10 years, your credit may improve earlier and you may even be approved for credit offers or loans within a couple of months. The key is to be responsible with the credit you do have.
First: you should get a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus(Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) and make sure that your bankruptcy is listed correctly. For each account that was discharged, there should be a “BK” indicated on the credit report to show that they were included in the bankruptcy. If there are any accounts listed on your report that do not indicate that they are part of the bankruptcy but should, you should notify the credit bureau that issued the report.
This is important for two reasons:
1. You do not want new creditors to look at your report and think that you have more open credit and balances than you really have.
2. You want to ensure that a discharged account is not continuing to accrue interest and report as delinquent on your credit report. While you have your credit report in front of you, you should also ensure than any other credit that you have that has not been discharged, is reporting your status and history correctly. Order and monitor your credit report on a regular basis to ensure all your accounts and information are being reported correctly.