
Quoting
Vlasic v. Equifax Credit Information Services, No. 03 C 4044 (N.D. Ill. 5/10/04)
Vlasic first contends that he intended to voluntarily surrender the property when he filed the bankruptcy petition and thus he cannot be held accountable for the foreclosure since he had already surrendered the property in bankruptcy. Vlasic represented under oath in the bankruptcy petition an intention to voluntarily surrender the property. However, Defendants correctly point out that Vlasic's intention to surrender the property did not transfer title in the property. The holder of the note could not have sold the property prior to the foreclosure and Vlasic was the legal owner of the property at the time of the foreclosure.
Vlasic also argues that he was not a party in the foreclosure action. Yet, Vlasic was personally named in the foreclosure action as the owner of the property. Vlasic next argues that the foreclosure is an in rem proceeding rather than an in personam proceeding and thus the foreclosure cannot be reported on his personal report....
Defendants correctly point out that if foreclosures were never allowed to be reported on a person's credit report because a foreclosure action is an in rem proceeding, no foreclosure could ever be reported on a credit report because a piece of real estate does not have a "credit report." Vlasic has not cited any legal authority that indicates that a foreclosure cannot be reported on a credit report and Defendants have provided legal support for the contrary assertion. See Sepulvado v. CSC Credit Servs., Inc., 158 F.3d 890, 892 (5th Cir. 1998)(indicating that under the FCRA a foreclosure could be reported on a credit report for seven years). See e.g. Zahran v. Transunion Corp., 2003 WL 1733561, at *1 (N.D. Ill. 2003); Grant v. World Class Mortg. Corp., 1990 WL 19466, at *1 (N.D. Ill. 1990). There is nothing confusing about reporting the foreclosure on Vlasic's credit report because of his direct connection to the foreclosure. For instance, the judgment of foreclosure names Vlasic as a party and forecloses the mortgage created in conjunction with his mortgage loan account. Defendants also correctly point out that not every person that files a bankruptcy also is a party in foreclosure and thus it is appropriate to report both a bankruptcy and a foreclosure when applicable.