Credit Card Canada - Canadian Credit Card Reviews and Applications

Credit Card Articles

How to Remove Late Pay History from Your Credit Report



In an age of global connectivity and perpetual consumption, having a good credit record has become something quite important, not to say essential, especially for the citizens of developed countries. As the Canadian economy has just started emerging from the recession, an increasing number of Canadian citizens and permanent residents with tarnished credit scores have started looking for ways to clean them up.

Getting better interest rates on your consumer loan or mortgage, qualifying for better conditions on your car leasing plan or finding a better paid job – these are only some of the reasons why one might want to remove late payment history from his or her credit report. Getting rid of late payments on your credit history might not be a call away, but there are ways to improve your credit score.

Discuss your financial situation with your creditors

Due to the global economic crisis and market stagnation, many borrowers find it difficult to make the ends meet. At the same time, the best way to deal with late payments is to prevent them from occurring at all. If, for example, you find it increasingly difficult to service your consumer loan, you should contact your creditors immediately and ask for an extension of the term, which will automatically lower the amount of money that you pay off each month. Although you will pay more money on interest in the long run, it is also true that you will keep your credit record clean and will be able to qualify for better conditions on your future loans. On the other hand, some creditors may agree to wipe out late payments from your credit record, if you make one or two payments on time. This practice is known as ‘goodwill adjustment.’

Removing late payments

If you have a 30- to 60-day late payment, you may contact the credit bureaus and ask them to have it removed. Payments that are late with more than 90 days are more troublesome to deal with. If the creditor rejects your request to have the payment removed, contact the credit bureaus. If your efforts are to no avail, you may try again. However, you should do your best to show your creditors that you are a responsible payer. Do timely payments for 6 or more months and ask them again to remove the late payment.

Pay off your loans

Late payments are not as dangerous if you find a way to pay off your dues before the term. Once you pay off your debt, you should attack the credit bureaus with letters, in which you insist on having the late pays removed from your credit record. Of course, you need to enclose a statement from your bank or credit card company, saying that your debt has been fully paid off.

Late payments don’t last forever

The good news is that late payments are automatically removed from your credit report after a period of seven years or so.

Check your bank statements regularly

Even if you have made all payments on your consumer loan on time, your bank or credit card company may still register them as late payments because of, say, a software failure or some other technical problem. To prevent such unfavourable developments, you must contact your bank immediately after you notice incorrect information on your statement and explain it is not your responsibility.