Finding all old debts?

Question

My sister has to file bankruptcy and she does not know who all she owes. How is the best way for her and her Husband to track down all creditors? whould doing a credit check on them both show all this? or is there a better way. I know they should have kept track of their bills, I said the same thing to her. Thanks

Answer 1

Pull her credit report at annualcreditreport.com

Answer 2

I can't top wisegirl's advice.   My bet is short of having big hospital bills, having gone through a divorce or losing jobs do to disability, the Federal Bankruptcy Court will not allow them to go Chapter 7.  That means Chapter 13 with repayment. And that is why you should go with what wisegirl says.   I add they should contact each creditor and negotiate. See about reducing or dismissing interest.And in some cases see if anything can reduce the amount.  There is also the option of ignoring the bills, wait and see if they write them off. In about 6 or 7 years you will be free of the debt.

Now the bad part. If they got a Chapter 7. 6 weeks later they get in a traffic accident and by the end of the year lost a $10 Million law suit. They can't do another Chapter 7 for 7 years. Looks like they would have to pay big time.

I still have things on my Credit Report dating back to 1982. Just the loan pay off on a house and care, some old employers and residences. Nothing to complain about as that would help me.  Though one has me working at a rocket factory where I never worked. Though I worked at 5 other rocket companies. Actually while they had me working at Hughes. I went back to college for 6 semesters to get my third university degree. So my income was out to lunch at that time.

Answer 3

Well, I think the best idea is to pull the credit report from all three credit bureaus and start from there.  You should not file bankruptcy just settle with them pay the debt.

Answer 4

If they have no records, it looks like the best thing they can do is pull all three credit reports and get the information there.  If there are any other delinquent accounts that do not report to the bureaus, hopefully they are contacting them by mail anyway, so they can start gathering info that way as well.  But definitely pull all three credit reports for starters!