I am totally fed up with Sears!
In 1992 we filed for Bankruptcy. A representative called and asked us to reaffirm the debt. We agreed by telephone. Boy we were so vulnerable and ignorant about laws!
We continued to get statements from Sears until we joined Genus in 1999. We paid Sears for 34 months, and then realized we had overpaid the balance! Genus does NOT tell you when you have paid an account in full.
We received a credit report and noticed that Sears was reporting different on all reports. Either included in bankruptcy, or past due and charged off!
At first I was upset because they had reported the account as included in Bankruptcy. I wrote the CEO of Sears via Planet feedback. I asked for the account to be reported as paid in full.
The next week I learned that Sears had been involved in a lawsuit. Consumers claimed they had been tricked or bullied into reaffirmation with Sears when they filed Bankruptcy between 1992-1997. It seems Sears had never legally filed the reaffirmation papers. We never knew reaffirmation had to be court approved. Sears had to have the reaffirmation signed by the judge before the debt was discharged.
Well, I couldn't believe it. We know no one from Sears had showed up at our hearing, no papers were filed or signed!
I have written the CEO of Sears once again via Planet Feedback again and demanded a refund of the money I had paid on an account we thought was reaffirmed, we were not obligated to pay, the debt had been discharged through Bankruptcy. Furthermore, Sears has continued to verify with the CRA's that the reporting is accurate!
I also sent the CEO a copy of the dispute letter I sent to Sears, the two Planet Feedback letters and copies of my payment history with Genus, showing we had overpaid the balance. Once again I demanded a refund of the money paid on the Sears account, and deletion of the Sears account from our credit files due to deceptive business practices by Sears and continued collection activity while the account was disputed, as well as inaccurate reporting.
I'll keep you up to date on how all this goes, I just can't believe Sears!
I also filed complaints with the BBB and FTC as well as the Attorney General in Illinios where Sears is located.
Can you think of anything else I need to do?

Yeah, file a lawsuit for your actual damages, plus $20K for mental anguish and $100K for punitive damages.

I was just speaking with someone who was part of the lawsuit. He was contacted by Sears and they paid him $1600, and gave him some Sears store certificates. Whoppee!
I was thinking I opened the account in Hawaii when my husband was stationed there. We filed Bankruptcy when he was discharged and we moved to NC. I guess Sears could have tried to contact us in Hawaii, but don't know the letter would have been forwarded, at least you would think so.
A lot of people say I probably missed out, I don't see how. Sears still did what they did! There shouldn't be a time frame. There should be someone I can contact.

I just went back to the BBB site and did a check up on Sears. They list the lawsuit and say that Sears is working with the U.S. Department of Justice on an on-going matter. Interesting. So I went to the U.S. Department of Justice site and E-Mailed them asking for help. I explained my situation and all I have done so far to get it resolved.
I also noticed and wrote down Sears Vice President of their Law Department as well as their Consumer Affairs Specialist. Just in case.

I don't know anything about the class action and their time frame, but you can sure file your own suit for their CURRENT credit reporting violations.

The SOL is 2 years for FCRA violation, I have no idea about the bankruptcy violations.

I spent hours last night researching their lawsuit. They are still paying people for their so called reaffirmation. The settlement requires Sears to continue to identify and then repay every effected consumer from 1992 to present.

It sure would be nice to see you get your money back and get that account deleted.

I agree. I think I've complained to every place I can possibly complain to! Now I guess I just wait.
Several people have suggested I contact the attorney's that were on the case, but I can't find out who the original attorney's were because each state was involved and had their own attorney.
I E-Mailed my State Attorney General, asked if they could direct me to who to call or write.
A lot of the articles I have read say if the consumer has a signed reaffirmation letter from Sears and evidence of payments made they can file a claim. I never received a reaffirmation letter, just the phone call. But I do have evidence of my payments, at least form 1999 to 2002. I mean why would a consumer want to make payments on a discharged account unless someone talked them into it?
All 50 states were involved in the lawsuit, I see everyone listed when I looked up keywords "reaffirmation of a debt", everyone except my state!
I've spoken with a couple people that received notices from Sears about the suit. We moved three times since we filed, but were continuing payments during that time, so its not like they didn't know where we moved!
The compensation listed for effected consumers is:
1) The debt will be stricken from the consumer's charge card balance.
2) Sears will repay the customers all monies paid to Sears on account of the debt, including all finance and penalties, plus interest at 10 percent.
3) No interest will be charged to these customers on new purchases made since their bankruptcy.

"Beyond this restitution consumers will also be entitled to a portion of a $25 million fund established by Sears to further compensate affected customers. The amount will be divided according to a formula based upon the amount of payments made by each customer".
Our account is listed as closed. Sears had stated that if we made the payments they would keep the account open.
Its all so screwy.

New Development. I contacted the Bankruptcy court and ordered my files, it costs $35.00, because they are so old and have to retrieve them. Anyhow, they could tell me that a #8 document, which is a reaffirmation agreement was in the file. At first I thought, well guess they did file the paperwork legally, but he clerk said it doesn't mean the agreement is legal. It may have not been signed by the court, or us. So they say it could take up to 7 days to get the file! What a pain.
Either way, Sears has done something wrong, if we did reaffirm legally, they should not have closed the account and they should have noted our payments, and the account should be listed paid in full, no derogatory remarks. If not, then I have my proof.

I've been reading up on reaffirmation all day! Its confusing because they say the reaffirmation must be filed through the courts and approved by the courts, signed by the creditor, debtors, and Attorney. Then the Attorney must provide an affidavit.
My husband and I both don't recall signing the reaffirmation. We filed in 8/92, and the affirmation papers were dated 10/92?
I hate having to wait to see the papers.
In all the articles it sates that Sears had debtors sign the papers, but did not file with the courts or get the courts approval.
Its a very confusing issue.

Looks like you'll have to wait for your file. But as you mentioned, if the reaffirmation was legit, the account should be OPEN and not "included" and of course your payments should be credited properly.

CEO of Sears, Mr. Lacey, has received my letters and payment history as well as my demand for a refund of money paid on the account.
Still haven't heard back from court clerk, those BK papers must be really filed away! I really didn't think it would take a full week.

I could just scream! While I was out the court clerk called saying my file was in, they were closed by the time I got the message. Now I have to wait until Monday!
As of today, the only report showing Sears as a charge-off and past due balance is Equifax. The other reports Sears has either been deleted, or list Sears as included in BK.
Christine, shouldn't an account included in BK come off when the BK does?
Discover Financial is scheduled to come off 2005 according to Experian. I filed in 8/92. Its also strange because Experian lists Discover as a positive account on my husbands and a negative on mine. Its listed as included in BK/never late.

Of course! That's what I've been trying to tell you. Actually it's SEVEN years.

I would dispute with Discover, very low key "please delete this re-aged account immediately" via fax (for the best chance of it being ignored) and then dispute with the bureaus (the bad accounts only)

If you're lucky, they verify the CRA dispute and ignore the faxed dispute -- and you can settle for $$$.

If you're not so lucky, they'll comply - but that's not so bad either.

Ok Christine now I'm really confused! I picked up the reaffirmation agreement from the courthouse. I had them make a copy of it for me. It appears we DID sign the agreement. The requirements for a legal affirmation are:
1) Reaffirmation agreement must be filed with the Bankruptcy court and reaffirmation agreements are subject to court approval.
2) Reaffirmation agreement must contain a clear and conspicuous statement that advises the debtor that the agreement is not required under U.S. Bankruptcy law.
3) A reaffirmation agreement is required to be a voluntary contract. The automatic stay provisions prohibit creditors from coercing a debtor to reaffirm any pre-petition debt.
4) The reaffirmation agreement must be signed prior to discharge of the bankruptcy in order to be enforceable.
5) The debtor must be notified that the agreement may be recinded by giving notice prior to the bankruptcy discharge, or within sixty days after the agreement is filed with the court, whichever is later.
6) The attorney for the debtor must file an affidavit certifying that the agreement represents a fully informed and voluntary agreement.

The form we signed does not contain #2 anywhere on it. I do not know if the affirmation was approved by the court, it was filed though on October 23, 1992. I have looked on every site I know to see how I could tell whether the agreement was court approved! Would it have a stamp, or a signature by the judge? I just don't know, and the clerk at the court did not have a clue either!
Just so happens I received a letter from the BBB today on my complaint I filed on Sears, attached is a letter from Sears. This is in response to the first complaint I filed in April. Since then I have filed another. The letter states this:

Mr. Johnson filed for Bankruptcy in August 1992 and reaffirmed the Sears account. Mr. Johnson continued to make payments on this account until August 1998 at which time payments were no longer received. Because Sears received no payments from August 1998 through April 1999, Mr. Johnson's Sears account became charged off in May 1999, with the account balance of $1834.42. I have enclosed an itemization from May 1995 through April 1999.

Now I am confused because in the reaffirmation agreement it states that "debtor agrees to pay the sum of $464.68 in payments of $15.00 per month until sum is fully paid. Creditor agrees to immediately reinstate a line of credit of $540.00 to the account".

I don't know why Sears did not send itemized accounting for the period between 1992-1995. The interest rate was 18%. I do see that I was charged over $400.00 in late fees. They have items in the purchases column, we never used the card after the BK. The charges are almost every month and between $7-$10.

Sears later states that there is a balance due of $791.42 after payments received through Genus. "Sears has removed the Bankruptcy codes and the account will now report to the credit bureaus that the account charged off and the current balance is $ 791.42. Any future payments will continue to reduce the balance and that reduced balance will report to the credit bureaus".

I have had the Sears account deleted from all reports except Equifax. If the bureaus report the account after they have deleted the account, don't they have to inform me? I'm really not sure what to do. Should I contact this person that sent the letter and request a copy of the reaffirmation agreement showing that it was properly filed and approved by the court?It my be they cannot produce a copy of the reaffirmation. I still don't know whether it was court approved. Should I just hope that the account will not be reported? Should I wait to see what response I receive form the CEO of Sears or the complaint I filed with the BBB in Indiana? The response I received was from Illinois. Sears was listed under a few addresses.
I really need advice on this, frankly I'm so confused and tired of dealing with this Sears situation, I want to hire you to work on this one! I don't know where to start.

Needless to say I'm confused! I feel something is not right here.

Yes, but often they don't.

This is really unbelievable.

Here's the problem:

Sears obviously has NO regard for your rights and the law. But I'm not a lawyer, and apparently the only thing they react to is correspondence from a lawyer.

I can only put all the violations together for their review, along with the demand for a refund of all monies paid to you + my fee ($100) and your expenses ($100? for reports, etc.) and deletion of the account.

I need the power of attorney and credit reports, your complaints, the affirmation, their responses, etc. for that, see Negotiating collections and charge-offs

I've never had a creditor or collector pay that demand, all they do is delete -- unless my clients sue or have an attorney submit a settlement offer. And I know that you are "not very aggressive."

And, of course Sears and all the others with no respect for the law KNOW that. They KNOW that only one in several thousand will get legal advice, and it's much more profitable for them to just lie and ignore legitimate disputes. You might just send them more $$$.

Have to say that it really bothers me that people pay me to get those types of disputes resolved, but then again, I know how stressful it is to actually sue. Nobody should ever have to pay me for a dispute like this. But, while I used to offer help with similiar situation free of charge, I have learned the hard way that all I do is work for free for those creditors. Fixing their screwups.

I also know that YOU won't sue, but for the other readers, after a good demand letter you could just go and file in small claims for everything you paid since the bankruptcy. And chances of finding an attorney to take this on contingency are real good. You SHOULD be able to settle for at least $10K.

Sears is apparently defrauding people just like Wells Fargo

They do it because they can.

I guess I'm a real whimp! I hate confrontation.
I mentioned to you that the Sears Rep. didn't send me itemization for the account from Oct.1992-April 1995. The balance when we signed the affirmation was $464.68. I would have made 32 payments during that time.
I know at the very least I need to request itemization for those 32 months.
If I knew for sure whether the reaffirmation was approved by the court it would really help. Wouldn't the judge have had to sign for approval? All I see is "filed U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of NC" and a clerks stamp and initials.
I really would like to handle this myself, I'm just not sure how to go about it the right way.

Just wanted to add, my husband is a Police Officer and knows a lot of lawyers. Guess I really should consult with an attorney before I do anything else.