How Do You Get Late Payments Off Your Credit Report?

Removing the Late Payments from Your Credit Reports

Late payments are considered very harmful as they can make your credit score drop dramatically. If customers are paying you much later, this implies that you were once in a position to pay your dues early enough. This communicates risk to other lenders, they may decline to give you credit or if they do, they may charge higher interest rates for credit.

Thankfully, you can, through a procedure known as credit report dispute, be able to eliminate late payments from your credit report. Below is a breakdown of the process of how individuals may challenge the late payments, and perhaps even have their credit fixed.

Review Your Credit Reports

When you want to contest information about your credit reports, it is advisable to first verify your credit reports from the three credit bureaus which include Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. For instance, the consumer can obtain free copies of the reports on an annual basis through www. AnnualCreditReport. com. Brow through every section of the credit report slowly and try and identify any of the reported payments that you consider to have been reported wrongly. Note down any amount in collections as they could also be a result of the delayed payments for the fiscal year.

Tangible Proof Details of the Late Payment Are False

For the dispute process to be effective, you need solid reasons as to why the late payments should not be included on the credit report. The credit bureaus are only obligated to delete the information that they cannot prove to be correct or the information that has been determined to be false. Examples of evidence may include: Examples of evidence may include:

• Copies of canceled checks which would show that you have met the obligation at the agreed time.
• Timely payments being shown on the bank statements
• An apology from the creditor in the form of a written response to the debtor.

If you are not able to provide physical proof of the late payments, write down points that will substantiate your reasons why the payments are incorrect – for example, you never remember owing that creditor. However, it’s important to note that when you have writing on your side, your argument is going to be much stronger.

Writing Sample One: Draft Dispute Letters to Each Credit Bureau

Prepare businesslike dispute letters to send to each of the credit bureaus, namely Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. On the worksheet, create an individual entry for each of the late payments you wish to dispute and specify the name of the creditor, the amount, and the period of the late payment in question. The credit bureaus will take this as you denying the information provided and as a result, you need to state that this information is inaccurate or could not be verified and demand that the credit bureaus investigate the entries and delete them. If you have supporting documents or copies of any sort, make sure to enclose copies of them as well. It is recommended to send the letters by certified mail so that the delivery can be proved to have been delivered to the respective companies thus proving they received your dispute.

The action should allow 30-45 days for the dispute investigation.

According to the laws of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit bureaus usually have 30 days, from the time they receive your dispute, to come up with an investigation. They will contact the creditor who reported the late payments to corroborate the information or seek further details. To this end, the creditor has a certain amount of time within which he/she can respond to the credit bureau’s inquiry.

If the late payments cannot be proven as accurate, they have to be deleted from the credit bureaus. If the creditor proceeds and confirms them as correct, then the delayed payments will still be collected. Once they have completed the investigation, the credit bureaus have five business days to send you results in writing.

Do not Neglect to Follow the Processes for Disputes

Be alert of any mail or email you receive while undergoing the 30-45 days period of disputing. Unless you have chosen to receive electronic notices, the credit bureaus will send notifications through mail. Also, make sure to review your credit reports on the same frequency to ensure that updates are made. If the deadline passes without a decision, do not hesitate to contact the dispute departments of the credit bureaus to find out more about the status of the dispute. It further provides a guide on how to be more assertive – credit report mistakes are likely to be missed especially if one is passive in handling the disputes.

File another Additional Dispute in case you need to.

If the first complaint is not enough to get rid of the late paying clients then the next option is to file for another one. Submit any additional data you obtain to support your case that the information provided is wrong. Now compose another dispute letter to ensure you emphasize that you firmly believe this information should not be part of your credit history. However, correcting a wrong source consumes a lot of time. Enduring the dispute process once again might just produce the desired effect.

This strategy aims at reducing the amount to be paid by directly communicating with the creditors and seeking a favorable repayment plan.

In its place, try to reconnect with the creditors to whom the initial delayed payment was made. If they are comfortable, you should ask whether they would be willing to call the credit bureaus to request the negative entries be deleted since the debts have been paid off. Give them the information that the entries are wrong and are adversely affecting your credit and inhibiting approval for auto loans and rental houses among others. Tell them you will forward documents that prove the delay was an indication that payment had been made earlier. In case the creditor offers to do it for you directly with the bureaus, this can be more helpful than the disputes you do yourself.

Consult a Credit Attorney

If you have exhausted all rights of direct dispute and bringing the case to no avail, then it is recommended to seek the help of a credit attorney to get a result on the problem. There are laws in place regarding the rights of consumers to receive accurate credit information, which the attornies can utilize. They also prompt quicker responses from the credit bureaus, and this is one of the reasons why most people prefer to use them. In most cases, a lawyer can submit an effective legal notice that will force the removal of the negative information for as little as a few hundred dollars. However, to achieve this, the attorney fees may not be much of a burden if they help clear the late payments as desired.

Avoid such late payments in the future

Yes, it is very irritating to deal with such customers, but think of disputing the late payments as a fresh start to your credit score. In the future, ensure that all contracts are settled on or before the due dates for invoices. Pay for subscriptions that you would otherwise forget or set up for daily/weekly emails or text messages from creditors. Review your credit reports regularly to ensure that your credit reports reflect the correct information about your payment history. It is negative if you have paid your bills later than the due date because it shows that you are not good at managing your accounts. While it is important to show responsibility now, this move can help to reverse a bad credit standing gradually.

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