Find Answers to Your Credit Questions
Search the Ask Experian advice column. If you don't find the answers you're looking for, you'll have the chance to ask your specific question.
Ask Experian
Do you have a question about consumer credit? You may find an immediate answer by using the search engine. If you can't find what you're looking for, please fill out the form, being as specific as possible.
Please note: The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually. However, if your question is of interest to a wide audience of consumers, the Experian team will include it in a future column.
Deleting Information
Figuring out when negative information is removed from your credit report can be very confusing, and understandably so. Positive open credit information remains indefinitely, and paid positive accounts remain 10 years, making your credit report a great benefit for you in obtaining and using financial services.
Negative information is purged from your credit report, so that if you have credit problems you will have an opportunity to build a good credit history over time. Delinquencies (30 — 180 days) can remain seven years from the date of the initial missed payment after which the account was never again current.
- “Paid, Closed/Never Late” account status helps your credit standing
- Authorized user accounts can be removed from report upon request
- Charged off account cannot be reported after seven years
- Closed accounts remain part of credit history
- Court judgments on small business credit reports
- Credit report may be hurt by joint lease, utilities with roommates
- Date opened nor date closed affect when account is deleted
- Debt cannot be returned to report after “seven year period”
- Debts older than seven years should not return to your credit report
- Deleting a mortgage after divorce
- Deleting an account did not raise the credit score
- Deleting evictions, judgments and bankruptcy from your credit report
- Delinquency cannot be removed after two years of on time payments
- Experian shares fraud alerts, deleted fraud accounts with other bureaus
- How disputed information is updated with other credit reporting agencies
- How long “past due” record remains in credit report
- How long before information is completely removed from your credit report
- How long it takes for scores to go up depends on your overall credit history
- How to determine an account’s original delinquency date
- Information is deleted automatically at the end of the seven year period
- Inquiries from existing creditors and for preapproved offers
- Late payments not deleted immediately after account is paid off
- Opt out of debt, not credit reporting
- Paid debt not deleted immediately; documentation not necessary for removal
- Paid negative accounts are not deleted immediately
- Past delinquencies are deleted, and you are the best person to restore your credit
- Removing “account in dispute” notation from report
- Removing accounts and judgments that are not yours
- Removing an Active Duty Alert
- Removing authorized user accounts after a breakup
- Removing bankruptcy from your credit report
- Removing closed accounts in good standing from your credit report
- Removing negative information from your report
- Removing your son as an authorized user
- Revolving accounts paid in full and closed but still showing on report
- Satisfaction of judgment will not cause the public record to be deleted
- Status line describes when information will be deleted
- Tax liens don’t remain on report forever
- Vacated judgment should be removed from the credit report
- Voluntary repossession remains on credit report
- What happens to a spouse’s credit report when they die
- When are closed accounts deleted?
- When negative information becomes positive
- When paid off accounts are deleted
- Why an original account and collection account both appear on your credit report for the same debt