Repair Credit Report Help

Fix Credit Report?

I didn't recieve the bill in the mail due to moving so I was late. It did go on my credit report and when I seen it I paid it off immediately. Is there any way to get this off my credit report? I tried to get a vehicle and I couldn't get it. The loan people told me because I was late on this bill it made my score go down 50 or 60 points. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. Hi Kimberly, Try writing the credit card company and asking them to forgive you and change their report. Many cards forgive one late payment, especially if you were moving. Basically it was your fault so you should expect to live with the consequences. The hit is rather significant so you probably have a history of credit issues. Applying for a new loan also lowers your credit score, by the way. Your credit card score will go up as you continue to make payments on time. Also, avoid carrying a balance on your credit cards. Pay the balance off in full each month.
2. credit repair programs usually charge 450 to remove from credit..
3. It sounds like more of a problem than just one late payment. Do you have other problems? One late payment wouldn't make it go down that much. It could be the combination of a new move with the late payment too though.
4. No. You cannot fix it or remove it. What you could do is get in touch with the original lender, have them type a letter explaining that your payment was late b/c of the circumstances but they know you are a responsible person who paid off immediately. While your score will not change, most lender will accept such letter as a good explanation and can approve a loan. WATCH OUT FOR THOSE WHO SAY THEY CAN FIX YOUR CREDIT... they can't.
5. i used to work for a collection agency- the only way to solve the problem is this- get a receipt for the payoff. send it to all the major credit reporting agencies- experian, equifax, and transunion- these can all be found by doing a search on yahoo- make a copy for YOURSELF and write a letter stating you have proof it was paid and you would like it removed- also, you have been denied credit, so ask for a copy of your credit report from each one- after it is fixed, they will also send you a revised version of your credit report... its quite a bit of work but worth it- otherwise it will ruin your life- another option could be find a really good, personable credit union- establish yourself with them and you will never have to get a loan from anywhere else again...hope this helps!
6. Oh, they are notorious for that. I had a home burn down years ago and the property tax evaluation had been done 9 days before it burned up. Two years later I applied for a credit card and found out I owed one years taxes!! I had never been contacted..nothing, they sent it to the credit bureau after three months. I argued, how could I owe a years taxes for 9 days on a non existent house. But, I couldn't win, I tried everything including calling the Taxation Department. I paid it, only because it was ruining my credit, but it is on my rating as "bad debt paid"... You can appeal but it takes forever. The only thing I could do was make the credit bureau put a note beside the "bad debt paid" explaining what happened. It did help a little...
7. The easiest ay to get it removed is to persistently call the creditor who put it there...talking to every customer service rep you can unti you find one that will accept your story. The creditor who put it there is the one who has to remove it. I write a blog on the subject of credit management, mortgages, real estate trends, etc. Check it out for more information that may be helpful.
8. One late payment would not cause this problem, you need to discover just what did !
9. gtofinance's answer is the only decent one here! And you have found out one of the big mistakes I've been trying to tell people about! NEVER pay an overdue or charge off unless you get the creditor to agree, IN WRITING to remove the negative information from your credit score. Creditors don't care about you or your credit...they only want their money. Once they have it, you are going to find it extremely difficult to get them to fix your credit. If the information is "fair and accurate" there is no way to get it removed. There are only two ways that you can change/delete a negative report on your credit. 1) The creditor must delete it 2) The creditor fails to respond to a dispute investigation from the credit bureau. So at this point you are stuck trying to sweet talk the creditor into removing it. Try again to explain to them that it was an honest error, and once discovered you paid the debt. If you try talking to a regular customer rep they will simply tell you they can't do it. Ask to talk to a supervisor. If they absolutely refuse to do it, send a dispute letter to the credit bureau and hope that they don't respond to the investigation. This is the most effective way to get information removed, but it's not guaranteed.
10. Use this letter: To Whom It May Concern, I am requesting that the following inaccurate items be immediately investigated. Please delete this misleading information in order to show my true credit history. By the provisions of 15 USC section 1681i of the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, I demand that the following items be re-verified and deleted from my record. Company Name Account # Comments __________________________ ____________________ ______________________ __________________________ ____________________ ______________________ __________________________ ____________________ ______________________ __________________________ ____________________ ______________________ Under federal law, you have 30 days from receipt of this letter to re-verify these entries. It should be understood that failure to do so within a thirty day period constitutes reason to promptly delete the information from my file FCRA 15 USC s1681i (5)(A). Also, pursuant to USC s1681i (6)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, please notify me when the items have been deleted. You may send an updated copy of my credit report to the address below. According to the provisions of 15 USC section 1681j, there should be no charge for this notification. Additionally, please provide me with the name, address and telephone numbers of each credit grantor or other subscribers that you contacted for follow up. My personal information is as follows: Full Name :______________________________________________________________ Social Security Number: ________________ - _______ - ________________ Date of Birth ____________________________________________________________ Current Address _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Sincerely, _________________________________________ Signature Date:____________________________________ Send it to the bureau that is reporting the paid collection: Equifax P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374 800-685-1111 http://www.equifax.com Fax: 1-888-729-0083 or 1-866-233-3777 TransUnion P.O Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 1-800-888-4213 1800-916-8800 http://www.transunion.com Fax:714-447-6032 or 714-830-2449 Note: TransUnion allows you to dispute online without a file number as of June 2004. Simply go to their site and click on "dispute". Start the dispute process and just leave "file number" blank. Experian P.O. Box 2104 Allen, TX 75013-2104 1-800-682-7654 1 800 493 1058 1-888 EXPERIAN http://www.experian.com poss. fax: 714 830 2444 Note: If you have been denied credit within 60 days go to www.experian.com/reportaccess and get a free credit report online and dispute items right then and there! No credit card needed- it is completely free as of June 2004. Innovis Data Solutions (a newer 4th credit bureau) Innovis Consumer Assistance P.O. Box 1358 Columbus, OH 43216-1358 WWW.INNOVIS-CBC.COM 1-800-540-2505 Poss. fax: 281-504-2594