How to Remove Bankruptcy After 7 Years

If you file for bankruptcy under Chapter 13, it should automatically disappear from your credit report after 7 years. If it still appears, however, there are several actions you can take to remove it. You may also want to remove information about your credit immediately following your bankruptcy.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Check your credit reports with the three main reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) after 7 years have passed. You can check these reports for free through annualcreditreport.com (see Resources below). In most cases, the bankruptcy will have already been removed.
2. Purchase your FICO score to see whether your credit score has been raised by the removal of your bankruptcy from your record.
3. Contact any of the three credit reporting agencies that still list your bankruptcy. Typically, one phone call will remove the item, as long as 7 years have passed since your petition was filed. Ask your lawyer to contact the agency in question if the bankruptcy remains on your record.
4. Remove any accounts from the time period of your bankruptcy from your credit record. These will usually be removed after 7 years, but may remain. Accounts settled through your bankruptcy will typically be noted as such on your credit report.
5. Close credit cards and other accounts that you opened immediately after your bankruptcy, if they are noted as high-interest cards or "credit rebuilders." These accounts can be detrimental to your credit if a potential creditor recognizes them.

Tips & Warnings

• Credit agencies will automatically remove bankruptcies from your record 7 or 10 years after the date your petition is filed, rather than after your discharge date.
• You can challenge incorrect information on your account.
• If you filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, 11 or 12, you cannot remove it from your public record for 10 years. Unpaid tax liens will remain on your record for 15 years.
• You cannot remove a bankruptcy from your public record if the necessary time has not elapsed.
• Even if your petition for bankruptcy is dismissed, it will still remain on your credit report.
• Companies that offer to remove bankruptcies from your credit report in under 7 years are typically scams. Some may even employee illegal methods. Other companies run scams by trying to convince you that you need help removing bankruptcies from your record after the 7- or 10-year point, when in fact they are automatically removed.