Can you get late payments removed from credit report?

Introduction

Late payments are a bad thing for your credit, but there may be ways to get them removed. Let's take a closer look at late payments and what they do to your score.

Late payments can be a serious problem for your credit score. Having late payments on your credit report can hurt your chances of getting approved for an auto loan, refinancing, or renting an apartment. And if you are trying to buy a home, it could also make it impossible for you in the near future."

The ability to remove late or past-due debt from your credit report is often vitally important, especially if you need to get a loan, rent an apartment, or buy a car. No matter what reason behind the late payment (such as paying bills on time) can mean better scores in the future.

Why late payments impact credit scores

Late payments can be reported to the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) by the creditor or loan servicer. This can lower your credit score by up to 50 points. That’s because late payments are considered “paid late” by all three major credit bureaus, even if you make them up within 30 days of th
e due date.

Late payments also count as “inquiries” on your credit report and could lower your score even further, especially if they were made by a lender who reports inquiries to all three bureaus.

If you’re in the red for more than seven months and have missed at least one payment on any account, including car loans and student loans, it could impact your score (though not all lenders will report those accounts).

How to get late payments removed from a credit report

Removing late payments from a credit report can be difficult. The best way to get any overdue payment removed is to pay it in full and in a timely manner.

Here are some tips for getting late payments removed from your credit report:

1. Contact the creditor directly. If you know someone who has paid off the debt, you can try calling them or sending them an e-mail asking if they would be willing to speak with the creditor about removing their late payment from your credit report.

2. Contact the creditor's collection agency, if applicable. If you have not already done so, contact the collection agency to see if they will remove the late payment from your credit report. The collection agency may have different requirements for removing a late payment than the original creditor does, so keep this in mind when making your request.

3. Contact all three major credit reporting bureaus — Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax — and ask if they will remove all or part of a late payment from your file as long as you make arrangements with the original creditor directly. Credit reporting bureaus don't want to see negative information on their consumers' reports because of mistakes by creditors, so they may be willing to remove most or all of it provided that this information.

What other steps should I take when it comes to improving my credit score?

If you're thinking about improving your credit score, here are some steps to take:

Keep track of your credit utilization and total balances.

This is important because it shows how much of your available credit you're using. If you're not using your available credit, it's likely that there are other ways to get the money you need.

Monitor your credit report for errors

If an account is listed as closed when it isn't, or if there's an error on your report (such as an address change), contact the creditor immediately to correct the problem.

Review your pay stubs for potential errors that could affect your score

Review your pay stubs for potential errors that could affect your score. For example, if you're paid monthly instead of weekly, this can cause problems with calculating interest rates on credit cards and mortgages — especially if those accounts are used frequently or carry large balances.

Once you have access to your credit report, it's time to go back through it and see what's on there that could affect your score. You might realize that you've missed payments or had late payments made against your accounts in the past — this can ding your score because these accounts remain open on any one lender's database for seven years from the date they were last paid off — but this isn't always the case.

You should also check for discrepancies between what companies report about how many items were purchased during a given time period compared to what actually occurred (known as "accounting errors"). If there are discrepancies in the number of purchases made by an employer during various periods of time, this may be indicative that someone at that company has been stealing from his or her employer.

You can ask the creditor to remove late payments.

Writing a letter with your contact information and explaining that you prefer not to have the charge on your credit report;

calling the creditor and asking them to remove the charge; or

writing a letter to the credit reporting agency requesting that they remove it from your report.

Unfortunately, there are no federal laws that govern how a chargeback is handled by a third party. The creditor can decide whether to remove the chargeback and refund your money, or they can simply ignore the chargeback and keep your money.

The safest bet is to ask the creditor to remove it. They may not be able to do this for you, but if you ask them politely and explain why it's unfair for them to keep your money, they're likely to agree.

Conclusion

Based on the information we have, you can get late payments taken off your credit report. You can start by disputing the late payments with the credit bureaus. If disputing the late payments doesn't work, you can try going after the original creditor for not reporting that account accurately. Although it may be difficult to do so, you can file a complaint against them in small claims court.

If you use credit and have a history of late payments on your report, they may be weighing down your rating. This can keep you from getting the best rates when you apply for new credit. If you aren't able to get the items removed on your own, consider hiring a professional to help you build up your score again. All it takes is one good payment and voila! Your credit report looks more favorable.