The Short Answer
Yes — pulling your credit report before you file bankruptcy is a smart move. It gives you a consolidated view of your creditors, account numbers, and balances, especially for old debts you may have forgotten. We recommend using your statements first, then cross-referencing with your credit report to make sure nothing slips through. Keep in mind that your credit report isn't guaranteed to list every creditor, so using both sources together gives you the most complete picture.
Although, it’s important to keep statements that you receive in the mail regarding your debts, you should also consider obtaining a credit report.
For many people, it is difficult to remember original creditors, collections agencies, amounts owed, and so on from years past. A credit report is a great way to visually see all of your debts listed out for you, especially if you did not keep statements. Our recommendation would be to look at your statements first, then back it up with a credit report. For many people, this will cover your bases in regards to who you owe, but remember this does not guarantee to be all of your creditors. This is why it’s important to keep up with your statements and also view your free credit report yearly. By doing this, it allows you to see whom you owe, if it’s accurate, and when and where the debt was incurred.
You are entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from www.AnnualCreditReport.com. It is one of the only legitimately free places to obtain a credit report. It will not, however, give you your actual credit score. Use this website, if you have not already done so in the past 12 months, to view your debts and names of your creditors. We recommend checking this annually so you can be sure the creditors on your report are accurate. When filing bankruptcy, it is essential that all of your creditors are listed, so be sure to use both statements and a credit report to back up what you already know regarding your debt.
It’s also a good idea to be sure you get your free credit report again a few months after you file bankruptcy. It will help you rebuild your credit after bankruptcy.
Key Takeaways
- Every creditor must be listed in your bankruptcy petition — missing one can cause serious problems down the line
- You can get a free credit report every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com without it affecting your credit score
- Your credit report will not show your actual credit score, only the accounts and creditors on file
- Use your mailed statements as your primary source and treat your credit report as a backup to catch anything you may have missed
- Not all debts appear on credit reports, so relying on it alone is not enough to ensure a complete creditor list
- Pulling your credit report again a few months after filing bankruptcy can help you track how your credit is recovering
Attorney Insight
The mistake I see most often is clients coming in with only a credit report and assuming that's their complete debt picture — then we discover after filing that a medical debt or old utility account never appeared on the report and wasn't listed in the petition. Every creditor has to be included, and omitting one — even accidentally — can mean that debt isn't discharged. I always tell clients to bring every statement they've received in the mail AND pull their free report from AnnualCreditReport.com so we can reconcile both lists together before we file anything.
