How Long Will A Repossession Stay On Your Credit Report?
Negatives on Credit Reports
Things that are considered negative on a credit report are bankruptcies, judgments, repossession, past due payments, public records, and unpaid tax liens.
Each negative report stays on your credit history for different amounts of time. Bankruptcies are on a credit report for 10 years, unpaid tax liens 15 years, every thing else is on a credit report for 7 years.
Positives on Credit Reports
One great thing about credit reports is when positive information is reported it stays on forever. There is one exception of this and that is when you have an account that you paid and closed it will only show for 10 years.
How to repair your credit
There are a lot of agencies that claim to be able to repair your credit over night. This is impossible. Repairing your credit score happens with time.
If you keep making your payments on time and keep the promises made to your creditors, eventually your credit score will get higher. Also as time goes by the negative information will fall off, also helping your credit score.
Removing Information on Credit Reports
To remove any information that you feel is incorrect you need to write to the consumer reporting company with proof of what is incorrect. They will evaluate it and then decide whether it is incorrect or correct.
Information for credit reports are gathered by many different consumers credit reporting companies. When sending in a letter to have information removed it has to be sent to the company that reported that particular information.
Laws behind Credit Reports
There have been laws passed to protect consumer’s credit reports. One of the laws is that you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from the three following credit bureaus, Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax. You can receive a free copy once every 12 months. This way you can make sure everything is correct.
To receive your free copy you can contact Experian at 888-EXPRIAN (397-3742) or www.experian.com, Trans Union at 800-916-8800 or www.transunion.com, and Equifax at 800-685-1111 or www.equifax.com.
Another law passed is called The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This act helps to make sure that the consumer reporting companies are fair and accurate. It also helps in protecting the privacy of the information given to the consumer reporting companies.
There are amendments added to the FCRA to continue to set guide lines for the consumer credit reporting companies. These amendments also put responsibilities on the companies that gather the information and report it to the consumer reporting companies.
What is on a Credit Report
First of all they have all of your identification information, your employment and income, and all of the previous places that you have lived.
They will have a history of your payments to your creditors. Whether you have paid them on time or been delinquent. It also shows if some one as checked your credit when you apply for a loan or credit card.
When an employer or landlord checks your credit history it will also show up on your credit report. And you will also see when you have had a bankruptcy or unpaid tax liens reported.
