How to discharge debt?

How long after a discharge do the creditors have to report to the bureaus that the debt owed to them was discharged and no longer owed?

• Answer:

  They don't. Despite popular publicity, all a Bankruptcy discharge does is halt the actual collection efforts of creditors, the balances owed itself still remain and always reflect your credit history negatively anywhere from 7 to 12 years. In other words if you win a bankruptcy case, you are protected from harrassment and for example if one of your debts was a broken apartment lease no apartment agency in America has to rent to you (or allow you to so much as reside on their property with someone else paying!!) unless the entire balance is paid in full on top of whatever security deposit they may require, which if you filed for bankruptcy I'm going to tell you now will be about 66% or two thirds of the entire lease value since such an action holds about the same weight as a felony record as far as credit and now many employers are concerned, unfortunatelty... hope this helps. You are wrong, Matt. A debt discharged through bankruptcy no longer exists.