There are many reasons someone may need to pull a free credit report. Applying for a loan, credit card, mortgage, or even a job all require an assessment of a person’s credit history. In addition, when you’re helping your clients through the bankruptcy filing process, an important step is pulling their current credit report.

Now, there’s great news for you and your bankruptcy clients: The three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) are offering free weekly credit reports online through April 2021. That means you can pull three credit reports – one from each bureau – each week until the offer period ends.

Here’s what you need to know about how this benefits clients when pulling bankruptcy credit reports.

Why does this news matter for bankruptcy clients?

The bureaus are providing this offer to help more people manage and understand their finances, an important consideration during the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. With free weekly reports available, it’s easier than ever for debtors to obtain their credit information and stay on top of it regularly.

More people might be turning to bankruptcy as the economy worsens. Many small businesses are closing and more and more individuals are getting laid off and claiming unemployment. When filing for bankruptcy, a credit report is a key step in the process, and clients can typically only get one annual credit report. This latest news means they can pull reports weekly if needed, a major benefit for anyone struggling financially.

Why does this news matter for attorneys?

Free weekly credit reports also make life easier for bankruptcy attorneys. You can ensure that each client’s report has the most up-to-date information when you’re able to pull it regularly and update your client information in NextChapter accordingly.

Obtaining credit reports for bankruptcy clients can be one of the most stressful parts of the filing process for your clients, so anything to make this step easier is a huge plus and ensures that lawyers help their clients in need.

When you want to save time with automation, use NextChapter's credit report integration with Universal Credit Services (UCS), a top-ranked national credit reporting agency. With this integration, bankruptcy attorneys can pull tri-merge credit reports in NextChapter for any client and the data will be automatically imported into the schedules.

We recently held a webinar with UCS that covered the details of the integration, the benefits of using credit reports, and application requirements.

Watch the online replay of the UCS/NextChapter webinar to learn more!