Need advice on IIB acct/Bank showing balance...

[travelgrl]

Discharged BK 7 in May, decided not to keep the car and called the bank to pick it up.

On my CR it is reporting as Involuntary repo with a balance. Sent a letter to update the report correctly and disputed with CRA. Disputes came back verified and bank says they are reporting correctly. Sent another letter to CFO of bank advising them of their errors and the continued collection by its reporting. They called me and said they sent it to their legal department.

Today received letter from their attorneys and this is what they say:

"Although XX Bank believes the information reported is accurate, it is agreeable to making a revision to show the possession as a voluntary repossession and that the account was included in your bankruptcy case. IT is not, however prepared to say that there is a zero balance owed. There is a balance still remaining on the account, although you are not legally obligated to pay it as a consequence of your bankruptcy discharge. Furthermore, XX Bank will not be taking any efforts to collect this account. It would be inaccurate for XX Bank to report that there is a $0 balance on the account or that the account has been paid. I hope this will satisfy your concerns."

So can someone point me in the right direction regarding IIB accounts and how they are legally to be reported? IE- FTC Opinions, etc.

This is unbelievable to me and I am so so mad at this point. I am thinking of hiring an atty to handle this.

[dan12909]

if its included in the bk its that with a zero balance no if ands or buts other wise it hurts you because it looks like you owe people money. I would call your bk attorney and have him or her handle it because that is wrong.

[LadynRed]

I'm not sure there IS a requirement in the FRCA that says they must report an IIB debt as a zero balance, I'll have to go look that up. However, you have won a victory, of sorts, in that they will report it as IIB. Once its reported ACCURATELY as IIB, then it should NOT have any further impact on your scores - the IIB trumps just about everything.

[travelgrl]

Thanks! Good to know that IIB will override anything. My concern, however is that up until the discharge, we were current and I thought I read in an FTC opinion letter that they must report it what is was at the time of the discharge.

ALso I remember reading somewhere that reporting a balance is considered continued collection. Besides what if we decide to get a new mortgage in a few years and it is still showing a balance? The mortgage co will make us pay that balance for approval won't they?

So, I will take this to my atty and see what we can do.

THanks

[LadynRed]

They shouldn't be able to force you to pay a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy - that would be a violation of the BK laws. Its a discharged debt - your PERSONAL LIABILITY for paying it is gone.

Yes, there are FTC opinions that state that reporting to the CRA's is considered collection activity.

There is also an opinion letter that does say that they must report the status AS OF THE DATE OF FILING. That's why its wrong for creditors to report lates or anything else AFTER that BK filing date.

[travelgrl]

Yes we were current when the BK was discharged.

Found this from a poster at CB:

FTC Office Staff Commentary Section 607 item 6 and the case of Learn v. Credit Bureau 664 F. Supp. 962 rved w/o opinion 838 F. 2d 461

6. Content of Report

A consumer report need not be tailored to the user's needs. It may contain any information that is complete, accurate, and not obsolete on the consumer who is the subject of the report. A consumer report may include an account that was discharged in bankruptcy (as well as the bankruptcy itself), as long as it reports a zero balance due to reflect the fact that the consumer is no longer liable for the discharged debt. A consumer report may include a list of recipients of reports on the consumer who is the subject of the report.

BINGO!!

[LadynRed]

I saw that too.. good info. Now we just need to get that lawsuit for the caselaw.