Positive information stays on your credit report indefinitely. Negative (but accurate) information can stay on your credit report for up to seven years. After that, it must be erased. This includes late payments, accounts that the credit grantor turned over to a collection agency and judgments filed against you in court – even if you later paid the account in full. Bankruptcy can remain on your credit report for seven to ten years. Unpaid tax liens can remain for fifteen years.
You can write a 100-word (or less) statement to be put in your credit report explaining the reasons for the negative information; be specific and write a clear explanation which could include circumstances such as unemployment or long-term illness. This statement may not be helpful, though, if the lender views the statement as an excuse. Another drawback is that the statement can remain after the delinquency has been deleted, which unnecessarily raises questions from lenders. More important are “dispute statements” that allow you to present your position when you disagree with what a lender has reported.
Author: Margaret VanGinkel, vangin@iastate.edu
|
