Question: I had to claim bankruptcy in September of 2001. It is no longer showing on my credit report and I have a student loan that I have been paying every month for almost five years (no missed payments). My question is “if I go to borrow money or buy a house or whatever with a bank, do I have to tell them that I had a bankruptcy in my past?” The reason I ask is because I was honest last week and got screwed on the interest rate for a loan because of this bankruptcy 8 years ago!!
Thanks
Answer: It’s your decision what you disclose. Most lenders will run a credit report on you before giving you a loan, and in most cases your bankruptcy will not appear on your credit report after seven years, so if your bankruptcy was eight years ago it’s not likely they will know.
More importantly, most lenders don’t care what you did eight years ago. They care about today: what is your income today, what assets do you own today, how much of a down payment do you have today, etc., so a bankruptcy from eight years ago should not be an issue for most lenders.