Refused Financing for new car loan due to charge off from bankruptcy 11 years ago

Question

State of Michigan

My wife filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy 10 yrs ago and one of the debts was with Ford Motor Credit. She has good Credit now and I have okay credit. We wanted to purchase a Ford automobile from a ford dealer and we were told they wont finance her due to a $9,500.00 charge off from the bankruptcy. I was told by the sales men that Ford doesn't forgive charge offs very well. My question is... can they use that to keep us from getting a loan legally? I thought when a debtor is relived of debt, it all goes away form the records and cant be used against you in the future

Answer 1

A bankruptcy discharges your debt and that bankruptcy goes on your credit report. Now, under the "Fair Credit Reporting Act" (FCRA), that information may only stay on your record up to 10 years (in the case of a bankruptcy, 7 for most other things). After 10 years the negative marks fall off of your credit report.

However FCRA only applies to credit reporting (consumer credit reports), it does not bar individual creditors to keep records of individuals indefinitely and use that information against them in future credit applications. Ford, in this case, has a record of the account and reason for closure and is denying credit, they are within their rights to do so.

So I would check your 3 agency credit reports to verify that the bankruptcy has fallen off (verify your bankruptcy date and discharge dates first). If Ford is still reporting the account, call the reporting agencies to have it removed. Then you can apply for credit outside of Ford (of course they'll tell you that you lose all the incentives), but at least you can buy a vehicle. Or choose another brand to go with.

Answer 2

Bankruptcy discharges debts, so the debtor effectively no longer owes the money.

But bankruptcy remains on the debtor's credit record, and a prospective creditor (here, Ford Credit) can consider the prior bankruptcy in deciding whether to grant or refuse credit. This has at least two aspects:

• A customer who has declared bankruptcy is less attractive than one who hasn't, as the customer has demonstrated a willingness to avoid paying prior obligations.

• Depending upon the type of Bankruptcy relief previously obtained, filing a subsequent Bankruptcy petition may require the debtor to wait a number of years before doing so. Paradoxically, this mandatory waiting period cuts the other way and makes the prospective debtor a better risk, as he or she can't immediately file the subsequent petition for relief. Your wife could now file a subsequent petition in Bankruptcy, so this factor would count against her.

Secondary sources (for example this one) suggest it's common that Bankruptcy affects one's credit for seven to ten years, but I see no law restricting a prospective creditor's consideration to that (or any other) period.