How to Get Late Payments Off of a Credit Report
If you're an average American, you probably have a few dings, like late payments, on your credit report that you'd like to clean up. Having a good credit score means better interest rates, lower payments and the ability to get more competitively priced loans and charge accounts. It takes some persistence and patience to clean your late payments off your credit report, but this step-by-step tutorial will help make the process clear and straightforward.
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Things You'll Need
- Past financial records
- Internet access
- Word processing program
- Paper
- Printer
- Envelopes
- Postage
- Highlighter (optional)
Instructions
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Obtain the most current copies of your credit report from all three credit agencies: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. You can contact the agencies directly (see Resources below). You'll need easy access to some personal information to get your reports, as you may be asked for some of the following (among other information): your most recent two or three home addresses, your date of birth and your social security number.
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Once you've received all three copies of your credit report, set aside the enclosed form for disputing entries in your report (if there are no dispute forms, don't worry---you can create a letter in step 4). Examine your credit reports carefully. Look not only for information on your late payments, but any other information that may be out-of-date or incorrect. Highlight or circle anything that may need correction.
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3
Make sure the reported late payments are more than 7 years old. Late payments that are "younger" than that won't be removed. If the late payments are less than 7 years old, make a note of when they will reach that "age" and proceed with removal after that time.
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4
If your late payment information is older than 7 years old or incorrect in any way, fill out the information requested on each company's dispute forms that came in your report.
If there were no forms, you may write a letter instead. In the letter, state your name, social security number, current home address, and date of birth. Then clearly list every correction to be made with the reason for the correction.
In both cases, explain as clearly as you can. Too much information, in this case, is better than not enough. -
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Submit the forms electronically, if possible, or mail the completed form(s) or letters to the address provided on your credit report.
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Once each credit agency has received your disputerequest for clean-up, they will do an investigation of the late payments. They are required to contact you within 30 days of their decision.
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If the credit agency disagrees with your request, you should immediately call their customer service number:
Experian: 888-243-6951
Equifax: 888-766-0008
TransUnion: 800-916-8800
Always check your credit report or the agency's website for the most current phone number. -
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The next step after this is to contact the creditor to whom you made the late payments directly, and request that they contact the credit agencies and request a removal. This process is more time-consuming, but is your best bet if a credit agency continues to list incorrect information about a late payment.
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Enjoy your improved credit score wisely.
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Tips & Warnings
You can order FREE copies of your credit report from all three agencies once every 12 months, or more frequently if you've been the victim of identity theft, on public assistance, have recently become unemployed, or have been denied credit or employment because of something in your credit report. If it is too soon to remove a late payment or you have trouble getting it removed, you may request a brief statement in all your credit reports that explains your situation to anyone evaluating your report.
Even though it seems redundant, do order a credit report from all three agencies. They often report different things in different ways, and you may spot some other discrepancies that you need corrected in the process.
