On-Time Payment History is definitely more Useful than Length of Credit History
Many people when examining their credit reports will be disappointed to discover a record of your old account, opened many years ago, showing late payments or delinquent status and even a charge-off. Their first kind of reaction is to get it off their report as soon as possible. It is really an understandable response but, if it's possible to get it removed, more care needs to be exercised when considering such an action. The length of credit history is an important factor in determining your credit rating; longer history usually translates to better score. Of course the negative status of your account does impact the score negatively. Now add to the equation that the older a charged-off account becomes, the less negative influence it has on your score and the problem becomes even more perplexing. Facing this dilemma, do you go ahead and remove the account or let it stand to demonstrate a longer credit history?
The first line of defense must be to ensure that the information is accurate; if they are not go ahead and challenge it so that it remains in your report, but the negative content is corrected. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), missed payments can remain on a credit report for about seven years. If your delinquent payments are older than that, they should be corrected. But don't forget, in case you missed payments and your account remained open, subsequent payments will result in the debt to be re-aged which means that the seven year period provided by the FCRA will probably have begun to run again extending the time that's needed to pass before it will appear in your report. Disputing the account on those grounds will fail since it is being reported accurately.
If you are within your rights to have the account removed from your report, then consider your present payment history. If you currently are paying as agreed and also on time, then this is more influential in calculating your credit score than having an older charged-off account on your report. "On time payments" always are superior to "age of accounts". Another reason supporting removing the older charged-off account is that it will often be viewed by lenders, employers, insurance underwriters and landlords as a red flag causing them to look beyond your credit score and could influence their decision to deny you credit, employment, insurance, etc.
All things considered, the general consensus is that removing an older account is a clever choice when you're able to demonstrate a solid history of more current on time payments.
Many people when examining their credit reports will be disappointed to discover a record of your old account, opened many years ago, showing late payments or delinquent status and even a charge-off. Their first kind of reaction is to get it off their report as soon as possible. It is really an understandable response but, if it's possible to get it removed, more care needs to be exercised when considering such an action. The length of credit history is an important factor in determining your credit rating; longer history usually translates to better score. Of course the negative status of your account does impact the score negatively. Now add to the equation that the older a charged-off account becomes, the less negative influence it has on your score and the problem becomes even more perplexing. Facing this dilemma, do you go ahead and remove the account or let it stand to demonstrate a longer credit history?
The first line of defense must be to ensure that the information is accurate; if they are not go ahead and challenge it so that it remains in your report, but the negative content is corrected. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), missed payments can remain on a credit report for about seven years. If your delinquent payments are older than that, they should be corrected. But don't forget, in case you missed payments and your account remained open, subsequent payments will result in the debt to be re-aged which means that the seven year period provided by the FCRA will probably have begun to run again extending the time that's needed to pass before it will appear in your report. Disputing the account on those grounds will fail since it is being reported accurately.
If you are within your rights to have the account removed from your report, then consider your present payment history. If you currently are paying as agreed and also on time, then this is more influential in calculating your credit score than having an older charged-off account on your report. "On time payments" always are superior to "age of accounts". Another reason supporting removing the older charged-off account is that it will often be viewed by lenders, employers, insurance underwriters and landlords as a red flag causing them to look beyond your credit score and could influence their decision to deny you credit, employment, insurance, etc.
All things considered, the general consensus is that removing an older account is a clever choice when you're able to demonstrate a solid history of more current on time payments.
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