Will filing for bankruptcy clear all my debt?
There are some debts you can’t get out of if you declare bankruptcy.
Bev O'Shea is a Georgia-based freelance journalist specializing in personal finance and consumer credit. She has worked in personal finance since 2007, when she joined MSN Money as a copy editor. She is a former personal finance writer for NerdWallet, where she was an authority on credit reports, credit scores and identity theft. At NerdWallet, she originated a "scam alert" column, frequently appeared on NerdWallet's Smart Money podcast and led coverage of a massive Equifax data breach.
More recently, she has written for HerMoney, NextAvenue and Experian. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, MarketWatch, USA Today, MSN Money and elsewhere. Every now and then, her credit score reaches 850.
There are some debts you can’t get out of if you declare bankruptcy.
Here’s how to find out if a debt collector is legit.
Learn what a debt collector is and how one can impact you.
Goodwill letters can convince creditors to remove late payments from your credit report.
Personal loans and student loans are common types of unsecured debt.
Dispute errors your find on your credit report in order to increase your credit score.
Removing accurate and timely information from your report is generally not possible. This is true for hard inquiries as well, unless identity theft has occurred.
Learn how to minimize negative changes to your credit score when consolidating debt.