paying my credit off, how long does it take to come off report?

Question

I've NEVER once ever borrowed money, so my bad credit is a reflection of two medical bills (I am unaware of one ever even happening) and a bill from Verizon, but that is a home phone, not a cell phone.

How long will it take for those to come off my report or to stop hurting my score? Its not like it's borrowed money, two things I wasn't even thinking about my credit when I opened them. Thanks

Answer 1

.Pay your bills and request that they show them as paid in full. Use credit cards sparingly over the next 12 months and pay in full monthly. This will start showing that you have a history of paying your bills in a responsible manner. If you do not know who the medical bills belong to then dispute them on all 3 of your credit reports and the credit bureaus will have to divulge who the original owners are. The 2 medical bills could be the result of the original collector selling your bill to a collection agency and both are trying to collect for the same bill. Any unpaid bill that's over 7 years old, request that they be removed from your credit report. Any bill that a collection agency is trying to collect that is over 7 years old can be removed, because the 7 years extends back to the original collector. After about 12 months doing this and having no outstanding bills your score should go up about 100 points or more. All bills that were past due and you can get removed will increase your score. Also any bill that you may owe the IRS can be removed after 10 years from date of filing your taxes, unless fraud is involved, then the statue of limitation is infinite.

Answer 2

First of all, you need to follow up on that medical bill that you don't remember. There could be an error, or someone could be trying to steal your identity.

If the other medical bill and the Verizon bill are past due bills, make sure and pay them as soon as you can. If the Verizon is not a past due bill, then it might show up because you have an open line of credit with them. This is good. Do NOT cancel it.

If you have any credit cards, do NOT cancel them. Even if you don't want to use them, don't cancel them, unless a loan officer tells you to. That said, don't open up any new lines of credit unless a loan officer tells you to.

It varies how long it can take for you to get your credit score up. Make sure to always pay your bills on-time. If you have credit cards, try to pay the balance off. If you can't pay more than the minimum every month.

Answer 3

This actually varies based on state and what kind of debt they are. If they are simply a bill, they are removed as soon as you pay them off. Now if it is a "debt" and has gone to collections it works differently. Each state has it's own laws, some states it is upward of 3 years while others go up to 7 years (most are the latter). Now, if you pay a debt off they can remove it right away, but they can also do what is known as a "write off" which hurts your credit the same as basically a "bankruptcy" meaning you will have to work on rebuilding your credit even with it removed. You may want to look up your stat laws, a company is only allowed to "talk" to you about them for so long before it is required by state law to be written off, unfortunately for me that is the 7 years. Other states have 3, 5 and 7 year laws. This means if you live in a state that has a 3 year limit law, after 3 years they can no longer collect it. But there is a catch, they can reset the clock on you if you ever say something like "I'll try to pay" or "I plan to pay" or any other "verbal" agreement to pay them. So hold your ground and tell them, "I have no money sorry." then if they won't let you off the phone hang up. Also, there are laws about how they are able to contact you. You may request "No calls", this means they are no longer allowed to call you through the debt collector only the original company can then call you, thus the collector will have to send you snail mail to talk about it. Best method for this is to simply answer the phone and ask upfront the company name, the persons' rep ID (they must give you this if they won't ask for there manager), and the phone number to contact the company. This information can be used to file a claim against them, which can have the debt removed with out having to pay it (though it is usually written off). Hope that helps. There are so many laws out there, and I knew a debt collector and all the rules that were based around me so it helps to get informed of your rights. When companies break those rights they tend to do whatever, including wiping the collection to prevent any issues. -Saint

Answer 4

l am a loan officer, and I just wanted to reiterate what Leah and others have said. You have established a credit history by paying your bills on time. When you cancel the credit card, you cancel the history as well. But that having been said, lenders often want at least four tradelines with good history, so if you don't have that yet, and you are at least 12 months away from buying a house, consider opening another account.

No matter what, get a recommendation to a trustworthy, competent loan officer in your area and have a consultation with them. They will most likely pull your credit for free, and advise you on what to do, (with hopes that you will come back to them for the mortgage eventually...) Don't wait until you are 6 months away from buying a home, that could be too late.

Answer 5

If you have any credit cards, do NOT cancel them. Even if you don't want to use them, don't cancel them, unless a loan officer tells you to. That said, don't open up any new lines of credit unless a loan officer tells you to

Answer 6

I will take 7 years to come off your report, but you can dispute it and ask to have it showing in a paid status.

Answer 7

after u have paid off, it takes 7 years to come off your credit report

Answer 8

7 years from the time they first went into default.