You may think that one time when a thief would not want to steal your identity is when you are filing for bankruptcy. It seems that this would be the one time when your credit standing does not make you a prime candidate for this crime. Well, unlucky for you, your information still proves valuable, and it is a great time for thieves to be able to access it fairly easily unless you take precautions.
According to Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Center, “No event in your life will uncover all your personal financial information the way bankruptcy does.” You will need to dig up all of your information on your assets and liabilities and provide them to a third party – normally your lawyer or the court you are filing with. To gain this information for yourself, or to provide it to others, you could leave yourself vulnerable.
Here are some tips to avoid doing that:
- Make sure all of your debts are yours. You don’t want to use your settlement, and possible your liquefied assets, to settle someone else’s debt. Check your credit report and score carefully with all of the three major bureaus.
- Do not automatically provide financial information to anyone who asks. Find out from your lawyer what you need to divulge to creditors and debt collectors. Remember, you are not required to speak to them directly even if they call you repeatedly. You can instead request to have the calls stopped and they are legally required to comply.
- Sometimes lenders will send you credit offers after your bankruptcy goes through in order to reestablish a relationship with you. Be careful before accepting them. First of all, the rates and terms will not be very good, in most cases. Second of all, they may be scams. Do your research carefully.
When you’re going through a bankruptcy, an identity theft protection plan can prove to be very helpful. Many sources advise credit monitoring during this period. Even if they don’t find your financials to be too attractive, thieves can use your valuable information to get medical care, obtain new credit, or even create identifying documents, which they can use to travel. Don’t sell yourself short; thieves still see you as valuable. You need to think of yourself the same way.