question about something on my credit report

I haven't been keeping tabs on my credit report, and it turns out that something that should have been marked as settled years ago is still on there. I kept the letter saying it had been paid for years, but now I can't find it. It may be in storage, or it may have been thrown out with a lot of my old credit card statements a few months ago.

Here's an excerpt from my transunion report:

CDN IMPERIAL BK OF COMME


Account #: ******
Condition: [Derogatory]
Balance:
Type: Installment account
Pay status: Bad debt/collection/skip
Payment: $11 Monthly (due every month)
Opened: 07/05/2004
Reported: 06/05/2009
Responsibility: Individual account


CIBC Credit Card
Account #:
Condition: [Derogatory]
Balance:
Type: Revolving account
Pay status: Bad debt/collection/skip
Payment: $27 Monthly (due every month)
Opened: 01/01/1999
Reported: 05/01/2004
Responsibility: Individual account



EQUIFAX REPORT:

CIBC Overdraft
High Credit/Credit Limit: Not Available
Account Number: XXX...732
Payment Amount: Not Available
Association to Account: Individual account
BalanceAmount: $0.00
Type of Account: Installment
Past Due: Not Available
Date Opened: 2004-07 Date of Last Activity: 2004-07
Months Reviewed: Date Reported: 2009-02
Status: Bad debt, collection account or unable to locate
Payment History: No payment 30 days late
No payment 60 days late
No payment 90 days late
Prior Paying History: At least 120 days past due ( 2005-03 )
At least 120 days past due ( 2005-02 )
At least 120 days past due ( 2005-01 )

Comments: Account paid
Update freeze requested by credit grantor

CIBC CARD SERVICES
Phone Number: Not Available
High Credit/Credit Limit: Not Available
Account Number: XXX...226
Payment Amount: Not Available
Association to Account: Individual account
BalanceAmount: $0.00
Type of Account: Revolving
Past Due: Not Available
Date Opened: 1999-01 Date of Last Activity: 2004-05
Months Reviewed: Date Reported: 2004-06
Status: Bad debt, collection account or unable to locate
Payment History: No payment 30 days late
No payment 60 days late
No payment 90 days late
Prior Paying History: Three or more payments past due ( 2003-11 )
Two payments past due ( 2003-10 )

Comments: Settlement made
No update since date reported

Why is the fact that a settlement was made only listed in the comments (on transunion it's not even reflected at all). Shouldn't the status reflect that the account was settled, closed, or paid as agreed? The way it is now, it is killing my score, even though this was resolved 5 years ago. Likewise, the overdraft was paid in full a long time ago as well. It should reflect that in the status, no? I checked my credit today expecting a good score and instead it was terrible, despite the fact that i have very little debt and the balance on my credit card is kept low. I'm pissed to see this stuff still on there, though I suppose i should have followed up better at the time.

I no longer have the account numbers and I can't find the settlement letter for the credit card account, though I do have the proof of payment for the overdraft account. I think I threw it out by mistake with all my old credit card statements when i moved. It's going to be a pain ********** to get this stuff removed.

i am surprised how long **** stays on there. i have a sears account i closed in 2001 and was late on once still showing up.

It wont disappear just because you paid it. It will depend on the laws that govern your state, but typically they will stay on for 7 years from date of first delinquency. That is unless you get the agency to remove it, or you dispute it and they don't validate it. You need to educate yourself on the process of getting tradelines deleted. It can sometimes be easy, sometimes not. It just depends. Probably it wont be too hard since it is paid and it happened some years ago, but you may just have to wait it out. you can start learning at www.creditboards.com

Things stay for 7 years. I missed a payment one time on a pack of underwear I bought when I first got to college and it showed up until a few months ago.

Originally Posted by tiecollector

Click to expand...

Things stay for 7 years. I missed a payment one time on a pack of underwear I bought when I first got to college and it showed up until a few months ago.
You needed to make payments on a pack of underwear? Was it Zimmerli?

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

You needed to make payments on a pack of underwear? Was it Zimmerli?

It was dumb. I went to a mall store and if I opened a store account I got like $30 in free boxers. Well I let the store account payment slide for 2 months and there you go.

my credit score is bad cause i forget to pay on time. now i pay someone to pay my bills on time. all he ******* does is send them out when they're due.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Click to expand...

Why is the fact that a settlement was made only listed in the comments (on transunion it's not even reflected at all). Shouldn't the status reflect that the account was settled, closed, or paid as agreed? The way it is now, it is killing my score, even though this was resolved 5 years ago. Likewise, the overdraft was paid in full a long time ago as well. It should reflect that in the status, no? I checked my credit today expecting a good score and instead it was terrible, despite the fact that i have very little debt and the balance on my credit card is kept low. I'm pissed to see this stuff still on there, though I suppose i should have followed up better at the time.

I'm not sure about Transunion, but Equifax Canada will keep the info on file for 6 years from the date of last activity ie. not necessarily from the date of delinquency.

BTW, the biggest factor which affects your credit score is the repayment history. The amounts owed and the length of credit history are also important.

Originally Posted by thekunk07

Click to expand...

my credit score is bad cause i forget to pay on time. now i pay someone to pay my bills on time. all he ******* does is send them out when they're due.

Online Bill Pay is a life saver.

Originally Posted by flashback

Click to expand...

It wont disappear just because you paid it. It will depend on the laws that govern your state, but typically they will stay on for 7 years from date of first delinquency. That is unless you get the agency to remove it, or you dispute it and they don't validate it.

You need to educate yourself on the process of getting tradelines deleted. It can sometimes be easy, sometimes not. It just depends. Probably it wont be too hard since it is paid and it happened some years ago, but you may just have to wait it out.

you can start learning at www.creditboards.com

Best advice that will be in the thread. That forum is hugely useful and there are many many people who are extremely savvy on credit practices that can help you out.

One thing to keep in mind when you have a bad mark on your credit report: if you have an unresolved debt, the debt is a bargaining chip. If you pay a debt or a collection agency, they then have absolutely no incentive to remove the baddie from your report. Negotiate. Milk the laws for what they're worth.

I know that stuff stays on the report. So I know that my payment history on the bad accounts will be there until it falls off. My issue is that the current status seems to reflect that they are still unresolved, as if they are still trying to collect money from me when in fact they were paid. It was not bad debt and I am not unlocatable. I paid what was owed. The status fields are what I'm not understanding. It's the only reason I can figure out for my score still being in the tank, because I haven't missed a payment on anything else since I had these issues, and the credit card I have on the report (and that i've had since 2005 or 2006), shows not a single missed payment ever.

My understanding is that these things remain as a black mark, that my payment history for them will remain bad, but that once they are paid that their effect on my score should diminish over time. That doesn't seem to be the case here. My score hasn't budged since I looked at it 2-3 years ago.

Originally Posted by flashback

Click to expand...

You need to educate yourself on the process of getting tradelines deleted. It can sometimes be easy, sometimes not. It just depends. Probably it wont be too hard since it is paid and it happened some years ago, but you may just have to wait it out.

you can start learning at www.creditboards.com

Thanks I'll check out the board.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Click to expand...

I know that stuff stays on the report. So I know that my payment history on the bad accounts will be there until it falls off. My issue is that the current status seems to reflect that they are still unresolved, as if they are still trying to collect money from me when in fact they were paid. It was not bad debt and I am not unlocatable. I paid what was owed. The status fields are what I'm not understanding. It's the only reason I can figure out for my score still being in the tank, because I haven't missed a payment on anything else since I had these issues, and the credit card I have on the report (and that i've had since 2005 or 2006), shows not a single missed payment ever.

My understanding is that these things remain as a black mark, that my payment history for them will remain bad, but that once they are paid that their effect on my score should diminish over time. That doesn't seem to be the case here. My score hasn't budged since I looked at it 2-3 years ago.

the things are reporting exactly as they do for everyone else. The status isn't saying that they are still unpaid, but that was what caused it to be put on your report in the first place. In the comments where it says "debt paid" or "settled" that is the mention of you paying it.

Your idea about paying off the debt and the effect on your report decreasing over time is completely wrong. The fact that the tradeline is on your report is what is causing your score to go down, and it doesn't really matter that you paid it off because anyone that pulls your report isn't seeing that, they're just looking at your score. If you want your score to improve you need the negative tradeline removed entirely. Go read up on creditboards about the process of doing that.