Bankruptcy Indiana

As a debt consolidation lawyer in Indiana, one of the many things I do is help stop foreclosures.  Well, one evening while driving home, I tuned into the Howard Clark Show on WIBC, and heard him discussing short sales and foreclosures.  Howard was offering a special tip to listeners who were interested in buying distressed real estate, so that banks wouldn't "demolish their credit scores."

Clark's tip was referring to credit checks. When investors wanted to bid on a home being sold in a short sale or on one being sold by a lender after a foreclosure, the banks would run a credit check on every bidder, and do that every time they bid.  That resulted in a lot of credit inquiries showing up on bidders' credit reports.

As an Indianapolis lawyer for bankruptcy, I often give clients who have emerged from bankruptcy the same kind of advice when they're shopping for a car:  Avoid multiple credit inquiries.  I recommend to the Bloomington, Anderson, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in those cities that they tell their bankruptcy clients the same thing.

Here's what I mean.  If you take a look at your own credit report, you'll probably see multiple credit inquiries listed on it.  Businesses you never heard of might be thinking of trying to get you as a customer.  Prospective employers might have checked your credit report.  An insurance company might have inquired.  Or you might even have requested a check on your own report.  None of these are any problem.  The only inquiries that can negatively affect your credit score are the ones generated when you apply for new credit.

That's why Clark Howard was warning would-be bidders on distressed property about the potential damage to their credit ratings. He explained to listeners that, until their bid was actually accepted, there was no legitimate reason for the bank to check their credit score.  For the same reason, in offering Indiana bankruptcy help, I advise clients who have filed and emerged from individual bankruptcy in Indiana to bring along a copy of their own credit report when they visit different auto dealerships to try to find a car.  That way, they won't have multiple potential lenders all make inquiries with the credit bureaus.  And that way, their credit scores won't be "demolished".