Safekeeping of Business Bankruptcy Documents

Macon GA Bankruptcy Lawyer | Bankruptcy Attorney Macon Georgia

The bankruptcy process involves a wealth of paperwork that is inclusive of your documentation of assets and debts, as well as paperwork of petition filed in court etc. All documentation involved in the bankruptcy process is important and has to be retained for considerable period of time. Keeping your petition and discharge paper work are as important or more as keeping your business documents. The question is how long should these be retained in your possession.

Business Records

In the bankruptcy process all your business paper work, liabilities and assets would have been checked by your bankruptcy attorney. Some of these papers have to be kept in custody indefinitely.

These include corporation documents, stock records, deeds, pension and retirement documents, court papers etc. Other documents like invoices, payroll records, billing statements need to be retained for a period of six years. It is necessary to keep your monthly and quarterly bank statements for a period of three years and there is no harm in having a set as backup.

The bankruptcy petition and your discharge papers are the most important and these should be safely stored for the rest of your life. The petition is a lengthy document and contains the name of every creditor involved in the bankruptcy filing. Your copy of the petition should include all amendments made at the time of filing. The discharge papers are proof of your debts having been discharged through bankruptcy under supervision of law.

There have been cases where creditors sell your already discharged debt to another company who attempts debt collection from you. This is called as zombie debt and mostly the new company is unaware of your debts being discharged. If this happens you can verify the name of creditor by referring to your bankruptcy petition and mail a copy of your discharge and creditor listing to the new creditor. Ensure that this does not find way to your credit report.

These documents can come in handy while applying for a new loan or trying fir refinancing. Most mortgage brokers and lenders require that discharge papers be submitted so that they can verify the debts that has been discharged. The discharge papers would have the same specificities that would be visible on the credit report too for a period of ten years.

Credit Scores

Your credit report lists out all your discharged credit in spite of having no obligations towards any debt. Regular checking of your credit report can ensure that debts that are not yours do not pop up on your report. You need to keep track since certainly no one wants to go the bankruptcy way again. Your bankruptcy attorney can provide valuable details with regard to safekeeping of documentations that was involved in your bankruptcy.

Contact a skilled Macon bankruptcy attorney if you need debt relief assistance or want to file bankruptcy.