Removing Late Payments From Credit Report

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Since the beginning of the economic crisis of 2008, many consumers today have found it more difficult to avoid late payments.

Because of the difficulties in holding onto jobs, consumers must be careful to protect their credit ratings, as late payments will be a part of the credit record for seven years. When consumers apply for credit with a major retailer, bank, or credit card company, the creditor will outline their policy toward late payments in their contract. The consumer should make note of the payment terms and place them where they can easily refer to them.

Many consumers are ignorant of the fact that they can have this negative report removed from the report, if he pays the bill shortly after the late payment date. If the bill is thirty to sixty days past due and this has been reported to a credit bureau, the consumer can discuss this with the creditor by telephone or in person, and ask to have it removed from the report. As a precautionary measure, the consumer should follow up the discussion with a letter to confirm the conversation.

If the consumer is successful in having his negative report removed from his credit record, he should make a concerted effort to pay his bills on time from this time on, as frequent thirty to sixty day late payments are damaging. The creditor may decline to remove the adverse record if consumers repeatedly miss due dates in the future.

If the consumer has made a payment that is ninety to one hundred twenty days past due, this would damage his credit for up to seven years. At this point, the person is considered a risk and unlikely to make payments on time. Accordingly, the bank will be reluctant to remove this activity from the credit report. If a payment is one hundred twenty days past due, the bank will sell the account to a third party collection agency and will be noted as a “charge off” on the credit report.

Consumers should make it a point to check their credit reports periodically to ensure there are no errors in the reporting. If there is a mistake, the consumer can discuss this with the creditor and the credit bureau and ask to have the error removed form the record. This is the only other situation where consumeres can have adverse information removed from the credit report.

If the consumer has a need to have this handled professionally, he/she can opt to hire a credit repair specialist who can investigate the matter and contact the creditors for the consumer. They will investigate the alleged late payments, negotiate the reomval of the negative entry from the credit report, and also negotiate payoff balances for a fee.

They can do this professionally. Although many consumers may benefit from their professional service, the consumer should investigate these companies thoroughly before engaging their services as many claim to be able to lower credit scores or claim they can eliminate bankuptcy records from credit reports, when in actuality, they cannot.

In conclusion, the consumer can negotiate with creditors relative to disputes over erroneous entries on their credit report, or they can hire a credit repair service.