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Credit Advice
Topics addressed on July 6, 2011:
Past delinquencies are deleted, and you are the best person to restore your credit
Dear Experian,
Are past delinquencies that have been paid off ever removed from the credit report? Also, do you have someone that you recommend for cleaning up credit?
- WHI
Dear WHI,
While your credit report is a credit history, it doesn’t last forever, at least not the bad stuff. Past delinquencies are deleted seven years from the date you missed the payment. Bring your account payments current and the negative information will be deleted over time.
As for recommending someone to help clean up your credit, there is a perfect person: YOU!
It won’t cost you a penny to do anything that a credit repair organization would charge you hundreds of dollars to do. Get a copy of your credit report so that you know what is in it. You can do so once every 12 months at no charge at www.annualcreditreport.com.
Review it to make sure everything is being reported correctly and to help you identify which debts you want to start with to begin your credit rehabilitation.
An accredited non-profit credit counseling service can also help you with budgeting and money management skills. You may find that by simply making some changes to your spending you will be able to begin paying off your existing debts, which is the first step.
It will take some time, but you can regain control of your debt and begin to use credit as a financial tool rather than feel as if you are caught in a trap.
There is no quick fix. It took time to get into trouble with debt, and it will take time to climb out of the debt trap, but you can do it!
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team