To remove late payments from your credit report, consider the following approaches:
1. Verify Accuracy of Late Payments
- Review your credit reports from the three major bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax) to check if the late payments are reported correctly.
- Compare with your own financial records to confirm if the late payment is accurate. Creditors typically report payments as late only if they are 30 days past due
2. Dispute Inaccurate or Erroneous Late Payments
- If a late payment is reported incorrectly (e.g., you paid on time but it was marked late), you can file a dispute with the credit bureau reporting the error.
- Provide supporting documentation such as bank statements or payment confirmations.
- The bureau will investigate, and if the late payment is found to be inaccurate, it will be removed
3. Request a Goodwill Adjustment
- If the late payment is accurate but due to extenuating circumstances (e.g., medical emergency, natural disaster) and you have a good payment history, you can write a goodwill letter to the creditor.
- Explain the reason for the late payment, show your positive payment history, and politely ask for the late payment to be removed as a goodwill gesture.
- Creditors are not obligated to remove accurate late payments, but some may agree if you have a strong history and a valid reason
4. Negotiate a Pay-for-Delete Agreement
- For accounts with outstanding balances, you can try to negotiate with the creditor to settle the debt in exchange for removing the late payment from your credit report.
- Get any agreement in writing before making payment.
- This approach is more common with collection accounts but may sometimes apply to late payments
5. Special Cases: Fraudulent Accounts
- If the late payment is on an account fraudulently opened in your name, file a police report and an identity theft report with the FTC.
- Contact the creditor’s fraud department with these reports to have the account and associated late payments removed
Additional Notes
- Accurate late payments generally remain on your credit report for up to seven years from the date of first delinquency.
- Their impact on your credit score diminishes over time but cannot be removed unless inaccurate or removed by goodwill
- Avoid paying companies that claim they can remove accurate late payments for a fee, as this is often a scam
By following these steps, you can attempt to remove inaccurate late payments or potentially get goodwill deletions for accurate ones, improving your credit report over time.
