Can questionable, bad credit be deleted or corrected?

Can credit repair companies be trusted?

How much does bad credit cost?

Does paying off past-due accounts neutralize their negative status?

Can deleted items reappear on my credit report?

Are items such as bankruptcies and foreclosures impossible to remove or correct?

Should consumers try credit repair on their own?

Does bankruptcy wipe the slate clean for a second chance?

Do creditors bother to read the 100-word statement?

Can changing one's SSN or EIN tax number help credit matters?

Does enough good credit offset bad credit?

Does the CCCS help consumers restore credit?

Do negative items have to remain listed for 7 years?

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?

Does bankruptcy wipe the slate clean for a second chance?

A bankruptcy may help you take control of your debts and get a second chance on better managing your finances, but it most definitely does not clean up your credit reports.

Many bankruptcy attorneys apparently do not adequately understand or explain the effects of bankruptcy to their clients. Stated simply, bankruptcy is to the credit rating what the nuclear bomb is to war. It may end the war, but it leaves a mess. When you file for bankruptcy, every credit account that you decide to include in bankruptcy will become an "included in bankruptcy" account (a seriously negative item).

Additionally, a bankruptcy filing and bankruptcy discharge listing will appear in the court records section of your credit report. Because so many negative items are attached to the bankruptcy, it becomes very difficult to remove all trace of the bad credit.