How long does a small collections amount stay on your credit report?

Question

I checked my wife's credit report and she has a small collections amount of $23. She was unaware of it and thinks it may have been from her divorce. She thinks her ex-husband never took care of it or failed to provide the bill to her. I'm paying it off so that it's taken care of but wonder how long it will be on her credit report. With it being paid off now, is it going to hurt her credit for the next 7 years?

Answer 1

Send the creditor a letter offering to pay for delete.  Ask them to sign and return a copy of your letter indicating they accept.  Put lines at the bottom of your letter for signature, date, and print name.

When you get the acceptance copy, send them the money.  don't give the direct access to your bank account.

If you do not get a pay for delete, the item will stay on her credit file for 7-1/2 years from the date of first deficiency.  Paying will not restart the 7 year period.

Answer 2

Before you just cut them a check, try to negotiate a pay for deletion arrangement with them. They'll probably take it. They'll get paid and your wife will get her credit cleaned.

Answer 3

7 to 10 years

Answer 4

You can use credit repair agency to fix your credit - for example this one - http://freecreditreport.sinfree.net - They can clean lots of such bad stuff from your credit report - and do it much faster than yourself, so your credit will go up fast.

Answer 5

Hey there, this is Sharon of Sharons_lifelessons, if you would have contacted them prior to paying it off and said, "I will pay this off in full, if you remove it completely from my credit", it would be gone now! Always check it out before you jump! What you can do now, is put in your computer a letter to the credit companies stating it is paid off and was to be paid in the divorce by the ex, if you have that in the divorce papers make a copy and send it to all of the credit companies showing the collections.  Mail the letter in, the credit companies then have to mail a letter to the companies showing the collections and they have to respond with in 30 days.  If they do not respond....and they may not because it is paid off, some of them may be taken off the report.  Does that make since?

Oh, and the reason for saving it in the computer, you are going to send it out every 30 days, you do it enough they will not respond and the collections will be gone.  A little bit of work, but worth it

Answer 6

1. Order your credit reports from the 3 bureaus

www.equifax.com

www.experian.com

www.transunion.com

If you're ordering for the first time, get your score (for a fee) from Equifax as their scoring matters most.

2. Make copies of your report and put the originals in a binder. On the photocopied reports use a highlighter and check for any incorrect, outdate, false, etc...info

3. Download a dispute letter(s) from the credit bureaus website and list anything that is wrong. Mail them to their office(s). They have 30 days to reply.

4. If they will not remove something that is not yours or too old (> 7 years) as them for a debt validation. This may take an additional 30 days.

5. Once the 'baddies' come off, take care not to let any of your other accounts fall into that predicament.

6. If you haven't already make sure your existing accounts are current and paid on time ALWAYS.

7. Get a secured credit card with www.capitalone.com or www.mastercard.com for like $500-1000 or more if you can and use it sparingly. Charge like $50 on the card each month and pay it in FULL and on TIME. Make sure you do this for a minimum of 6 months so that you estabish a positive repayment history.

8. Problem with just letting them 'fall off' is that they may never. You may get sued before that...that's where you suddenly get a summons to appear in court and a judgment for collection against you.

For the 2 collection items...pay them but get a 'pay for delete' from the collectin agency in WRITING...they'll delete it after you pay and it will help your credit score