Thursday, July 1, 2010

How Long Does an Unpaid Bill Stay on a Credit Report?

How Long Does an Unpaid Bill Stay on a Credit Report?

The Credit Score

    Your credit report is a document containing information about all of your debt- related activities. Items such as savings accounts, loans, credit cards and outstanding debts are all found on your credit report. The good information is weighed against the bad information to determine your credit score. If you have a high credit score (above 660), you are likely to get approved for more lines of credit. If you have a low credit score (below 620), getting approved for credit is unlikely.

Unpaid Bill

    Paying bills on time is integral to maintaining a high credit score. If you miss a payment or make a late payment within 30 days of the original payment due date, that goes on your credit report and stays there for seven years. Once you become 90 days late on paying a bill, your account is closed and sent to a debt collector, which also stays on your credit report for seven years. While making a late payment is bad, simply ignoring an account and letting it go unpaid for extended periods of time is much worse.

Charge Off

    After a collection agency is in possession of your account for an extended period of time (usually well over a year), the agency might contact you and offer you what is referred to as a "charge off." This allows you to pay less than the amount of money you owe to completely settle the debt. It sounds great, but it comes at a price. A "charge off" severely affects your credit score and is a red flag for future potential lenders. It lets them know that not only did you let a bill go unpaid for a long period, you didn't pay the entire amount of the bill.

1 comment:

  1. Went through a divorce and found out that my X trashed my credit. In December when I took back my financial life, I was ruined. I discovered my FICO score was at 533, all account was late, over limit, mostly charge offs. Debt was worth $60k. Immediately I put a plan of action on how to fix my credit, because I needed a car for myself. But with my current credit score then I won’t get approved due to the charge offs and debts coupled with low credit score which appeared in my credit report. Thanks to ROOTKITS CREDIT SPECIALIST who was there for me when I needed them the most. After when I spoke with my dad I explained my situation to him, he introduced me to rootkits credit specialist, immediately I contacted them via: rootkitscreditspecialist@gmail.com also texted on +1 760 474 3440. I got replied few minutes and I explained myself and they promised to get job done. Within 5days my credit score changed, charge offs were deleted from my report, all debt cleared and my credit score was raised to 815 across the 3 credit bureaus. My car loan has been approved, I’m super excited to jump into my 2019 Mazda CX-5 car.

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