What Happens If Your Mortgage Goes Missing on the Credit Report?

A credit report contains information about your history as a credit user. Your credit report is integral to your ability to obtain credit, but can also be used for rental applications and employers make check it before offering you a job. If your credit report doesn't contain information about your mortgage history you can take steps to change the error.

Credit Report Inspections

All consumers have the right to view a copy of their credit report once a year without charge. Each consumer has three credit reports maintained by the three consumer credit reporting companies: TransUnion, Equifax and Expirian. Errors can appear on one or all of these reports, and just because one has correct information doesn't mean the others will as well. Erroneous mortgage information can appear on one or all of your reports.

Impact

The effect that any information has on your credit report differs from case to case. Creditors use your credit report to determine your credit score, a number that represents your creditworthiness. Your score is based on several factors, such as your payment history, amount of money owed and the average length of your credit accounts. If you have a good history of paying your mortgage for a long time, that missing information may hurt your score. On the other hand, if you've gone through a foreclosure and that is missing, the absence of your mortgage may raise your score.

Errors

You have the right to change incorrect information on your credit reports. After inspecting the report and identifying the error, you can contact the credit reporting company and ask it to remove or correct the error. You must be able to prove there is an error by providing written copies of documents that support your claim. If the company refuses to correct the error you can contact the Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint.

Lenders

Your mortgage lender probably reports your mortgage information to at least one of the three credit reporting companies. When errors appear on your report, you also can contact your lender and inform it of the mistake. A lender may be able to get the information corrected more quickly than you as its information is what the credit reporting companies rely upon.

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How Long Do Public Records Stay on Credit Report?

Each item on your credit report, including a public record, is subject to the reporting periods outlined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. After the reporting period for each public record expires, the information must be removed by the credit bureaus.

Facts

Public records almost always consist of debts that went through the court system. Public records have a negative effect on your credit score.

Time Frame

Paid tax debts, judgments, Chapter 13 bankruptcies and foreclosures will remain on your credit report for seven years. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will appear for 10 years and an unpaid tax debt can appear on your credit report indefinitely.

Misconceptions

Although a judgment may be renewed by the original creditor prior to the date the judgment expires, the judgment will still be removed from your credit report after the initial seven-year reporting period.

Considerations

If you review your credit history and discover a public record reporting in error, you may dispute the information with both the information provider and the credit bureaus. This will result in the information being removed prior to the expiration of the reporting period.

Warning

Paying a debt that appears as a public record will not result in the negative information being removed from your credit report. Nor will it improve your credit score.

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My Credit Report Is Screwed Up

Credit reports play a critical role in a person's financial life. These reports include information, available to creditors, about a person's lending history. The contents of a credit report, which are used to form the person's credit score, determine whether a person is eligible for various loans and, if so, at what rate of interest. Therefore, if a person finds an error in his report, particular one that lowers his score, he should hasten to correct it.

Credit Report Laws

Credit reports are maintained by private companies called credit reporting companies. While these companies are not obliged to change the information in these reports if it is correct, they are obligated by federal law to correct erroneous information. The three major credit reporting companies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- all have slightly different methods of correcting errors, although all require that individuals write letters informing them of the errors.

Letters

A person wishing to correct his credit report should send a letter to one of the three main credit reporting agencies. This information will then be passed on to the other two. The company will likely provide a specific form that the person needs to fill out and sign. The company may correct the report immediately, or it may first contact other parties to verify that the change is factually correct.

Credit Scores

A person's credit score is affected the minute that information on the report is changed. Once the error has been corrected, the person's credit score immediately reflects the new information and either goes up or down, depending on its nature. Although credit reporting companies are legally obliged to correct errors, they are not financially responsible for making them: a person cannot sue if an error caused him to face higher rates on a loan.

Considerations

Not all information on a credit report is necessarily worth going to the trouble of correcting, as not all information affects a person's credit score. For example, if a credit report incorrectly lists a person's previous address -- particularly in a small way, such as through a typo -- the person's credit score will not change if the error is corrected, making the change unnecessary.

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How Long After You Pay Off Your Debt Will Your Credit Score Go Up?

Your credit score will increase if you manage your debt responsibly. Paying off consumer debt, such as credit cards and installment loans, can raise your score in approximately 30 days, assuming the creditor reports it immediately to the credit bureau.

Time Frame

Creditors update your file with the credit reporting bureaus every 30 days. If you pay the debt right after they've reported, it will take well over 30 days -- closer to two months -- for the bureaus to generate your new score.

Expert Insight

The Federal Trade Commission and myFICO.com agree that there's no "quick fix" for credit worthiness. Accurate negative information, such as late payments, bankruptcy and foreclosure, appear on your report and affect the score for seven to 10 years. Their impact lessens over time, especially with proper credit management.

Warning

Not all creditors report to all three major bureaus -- Experian, Transunion and Equifax -- and some don't report to any of them. Paying off a debt does not guarantee your score will increase. Check with the creditor to find out which credit bureau it reports to and when.

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Consumer Credit Risk

Consumer credit is any borrowing used to finance non-capital purchases. A good way to consider consumer credit is borrowing for anything except a house or real property. Consumer credit can be the easiest credit to receive but also the easiest to ruin. Managing credit and maintaining credit is a vital part of working and living in a modern economy. Although there are some people able to have a quality lifestyle with no credit or borrowing, they are very few. Most everyone at some point will have to consider what sort of consumer credit risk they may be.

History

A consumer's credit history is very important to someone considering offering a credit card or personal loan. How people have handled their credit in the past is a very good indication of what they will do in the future. Assessing credit history is dictated by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and limits just how far a creditor can look into a borrower's past. Action, however, at intervals of the past one, three or seven years can weigh heavily in determining how much a risk a borrower will be.

Income

Of course, income also affects a person's credit risk. All debt must be paid with present and future income. If the income is too low to service the debt, then the risk is too great. Some borrowers will attempt to earn extra money with additional work, but creditors weight how long and how much the borrower can sustain such a work schedule.

Existing Debt

No matter the income of the borrower, if there is already debt drawing off some of the money, then how much will there be for new debt? Also, existing debt can indicate how "borrow happy" someone is. The credit history and the existing debt may show a borrower has just borrowed money from several sources and is now wanting more. This can indicate a deepening financial situation that the available income cannot overcome.

Stability

The borrower's work and lifestyle history can also affect the credit risk. If the borrower has been on the job for several years, it indicates steady income. If the borrower has had several jobs in just a few years it could indicate another job change is imminent. Such instability can affect the ability to pay the debt. Also, a borrower's home and address stability can affect credit. Moving around from place to place for reasons not related to job requirements (a military man or management professional may have to move regularly for work) can mean the borrower may be hard to find in a short while. This makes lending money more risky.

Trustworthiness

Consumer credit is usually unsecured. This means the only guarantee the lender has for getting payment on the debt is the borrower's trustworthiness to make the regular payments. All the factors considered when determining credit risk will be used to assess the borrower's sincere desire and ability to pay back the debt.

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How to Increase FICO Score With Credit Card Utilization?

A borrower's credit score is a reflection of his credit history. It is a numerical representation of his ability and willingness to repay debt. By using credit cards, a borrower can raise or lower his credit score quickly. Through the proper use of credit cards, a borrower can raise his FICO score and give himself the opportunity to procure more credit at lower interest rates in the future.

Instructions

1

Note the credit limit of your credit card(s). Do not carry over 30 percent of the limit at a time. The lower the credit card balance versus the limit, the better the impact on your score.

2

Avoid opening new credit cards to take advantage of low balance transfer options. New credit lowers a credit score, as well as a lender checking your credit report.

3

Pay your credit card (and all debt payments) on time. 35 percent of your credit score is made up of your credit history. On-time payments will help to keep your hard-earned score high.

4

Use each open credit card once a month in order to keep the tradeline open. Open tradelines add length to your credit history, which in turn increases your FICO score. To keep it open but avoid new debt, simply charge one necessity to your card each month and pay it in full at the end of the month. For example, use your card for one budgeted grocery store trip a month and "pretend" the funds came from your checking account and not the credit card. Pay off the card in full once the bill arrives to avoid interest.

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The Five Best Ways to Improve Your Credit Score

A good credit score is your ticket to easy credit approval and low interest rates. Your score comes from credit report data compiled by TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, so if you improve your financial management practices, your reports reflect more positive information. Good credit bureau records translate into a credit score improvements.

Pay Bills on Time

Your bill payment records contribute 35 percent to your credit score, according to the MyFICO scoring company, so the best way to improve your score is bringing any late accounts up to date and ensuring that all future bills get paid on time. Put reminders on your calendar for bill mailing dates or set up automatic payments from your bank account. The current prompt payments eventually outweigh past delinquencies and pull up your score.

Lower Revolving Debt

Too much credit card debt lowers your credit score, so MSN Money writer Liz Pulliam Weston recommends paying down what you owe until you reduce the amount to 10 percent of your total available credit limits. Thirty percent is acceptable, but 10 percent has the best effect on your score.

Use Older Credit Cards

Your FICO score improves when you keep older accounts active. The length of your overall credit history influences your score. Pulliam Weston recommends occasionally using all of your cards to generate current record records. Do not rack up large balances or that will offset the positive effect. Charge inexpensive items you can readily pay off.

Diversify Your Accounts

Your credit score improves if you have a mixture of account types, rather than just credit cards or loans. Open a credit card if your only accounts are installment obligations mortgages and auto loans. Get a small personal loan if your credit use is currently restricted to revolving accounts. Pulliam Weston advises that the best source for installment credit is your current bank or credit union. Do not open too many accounts all at once or you will hurt your score.

Eliminate Reporting Mistakes

Many credit reports contain obvious mistakes, like incorrect payment dates that make up-to-date accounts look delinquent. MSNBC writer Bob Sullivan warns that 25 percent of consumer credit reports are inaccurate. Some mistakes are less obvious but still hurt your credit if you do not correct them. For example, Pulliam Weston warns that under-reported credit lines make your debt to available credit ratio look bad. AnnualCreditReport.com gives free report copies on request every year from TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Review them and complain to the credit bureaus about every potentially harmful error. A consumer protection law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the bureaus to investigate and fix or delete mistakes.

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