00:00 YouTubers, what’s going on? This is Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. Excuse me, my voice is a little uh, beat, beat up here. Bear with me. A question of the day is, “Nik, how often should I be using my credit cards?” And, it’s a great question, and I think you’re going to be shocked at my response, and that response is never. I don’t think you need to. Um, I know you don’t need to, okay? One of the greatest little secrets of credit is the fact that if you don’t use your credit card, the bill comes in, it says zero due, and you don’t have to send a check, um, even though you’re not sending in a payment, it’s still reporting an on-time payment, guys.
00:34 And a lot of people don’t know this. Your banker’s not going to tell you this. The credit card companies are not going to tell you this, but this guy’s going to tell you this, because I’ve looked at, I don’t know, a hundred bazillion credit reports in my lifetime, okay? Let’s say you have a slew of four or five credit cards right now that are active, but you really don’t use them. I mean you can just don’t use them every single month, you are getting an on-time payment from that credit card, okay?
00:58 To fol-, uh, to follow up with that question, some people ask me, “Nik, but if I don’t use it, they’ll close it out.” That’s a good question. Okay. Um, if you’re scared of that, um, I, I haven’t seen it yet, I’ve not seen a card get closed, uh, because of no use. Uh, in my experience I have cards that are over 10 years old, I haven’t touched them, they’ve never been closed, okay? They’re expecting you at some point to make a purchase. But, if you’re worried about that, and you want to once every six months buy yourself a cup of coffee and pay it off the same day, if that makes you feel better, go ahead. Even that, I don’t think is necessary.
01:32 Also, some people will say, “Nik, but there’s an annual fee for that card. Should I pay the annual fee just to keep it open?” Heck yeah, you should. You know, if it’s a $29 annual fee, or $59 annual fee, or whatever it’s going to be, there’s a higher likelihood they won’t close out the card. Because they’re getting something, okay? It does have a little … The card does have um, some costs associated with it, they mail out a card every so often, they have to send you a statement, so if that alone covers their cost, there’s a higher likelihood that they would never close it out. So, I would absolutely pay the annual fee. I’m cool with it, okay? Because you know what you get. You know, you get a card, it’s active, it’s open, and it’s reporting on time, because you didn’t use it.
02:11 Keep the cash in your pocket, keep the cards at home. Throw them in the freezer. If you’re wondering what I mean by that, check out one of my previous episodes about, you know, how to freeze your credit cards, literally. Freeze them.
02:22 Guys, this is Nik Tsoukales, with Key Credit Repair. Thank you so much, have a great day.
Credit Cards – How often should I be using them?
Voluntary Repossession – Is it a bad idea?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:01 What’s going on, guys? This is Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. So, today we’re going to talk about car repossessions or voluntary car repossessions. So, the question I get a lot is, I owe too much on my car, I can’t afford the payment, I want to give it back. What should I do, Nik? Well, let’s talk about that. So, let’s say you do give the car back, okay? Um, and I’m going to give you a short little, uh, uh, example of w- what the worst thing that could happen is, okay?
00:23 So, let’s say you owe $25,000 on your car, okay? You give it back, uh, you call the car company, you call Chase or Bank of America, whoever it’s going to be, and you say, “Come and pick it up.” They’ll gladly do it, okay? But let’s realize they’re not in the car business, so the second you do that, they’re going to turn around and they’re going to get it over to a wholesaler. They’re going to give it off to an auction, okay? That auction, for a fee, is going to sell it back to the marketplace to probably a used car dealership, okay? That used car dealership, obviously, needs to make a profit, so they’re going to buy that car pretty cheap.
00:55 So, let’s say in this scenario you owed $25,000, okay? And you turn around, you voluntary or had it voluntary repossessed, okay? Car goes to auction and they sell it off for $15,000. Now keep in mind, now that you have or the bank has collected that $15,000, they can come after you for the difference, okay? Uh, not in every state, but probably half the states in the U.S. So, you got a $10,000 deficiency balance here, and this is scary, okay? That deficiency balance in half of the states in the U.S. can be collected, okay? And they will collect on it, and what they’ll do is they’ll, typically they’ll hire a collection agency that’ll start to solicit you and they’ll try to get that deficiency balance from you.
01:37 Now, if they can’t collect on it, a few things could happen. It could turn into a judgment. They could try to take you to court, okay? In some cases, they will forgive the debt, in which case they’ll send you something called a 1099-C document, okay, where that $10,000 will be considered taxable income. I obviously prepare … I- I- I prefer to pay the taxes on $10,000, um, versus, uh, the entire $10,000, okay. Also, there are some laws in place regarding taxation where you can claim insolvency. Obviously, speak to a tax professional if this does happen to you, and it could be the case where you wouldn’t pay much of anything, okay?
02:12 Um, but obviously they can come after you for the difference, so it’s not just, hey, let me hand the keys back and- and it’s all over, okay? If you do find yourself in a situation like this, there are other alternatives, guys. Let’s say you only have a year left in the car loan, okay, or it’s a car lease, in fact. You could turn around and swap it out to somebody. Find someone that only needs a car loan for a year that’s willing to pay the premium. Maybe sublease it to them. Find a friend. Try to sell it yourself, okay? Maybe in a case like this, if wholesale was $15,000, it’s possible that this car in the open market would go for $20,000, and then you’d only be making up a $5,000 deficiency versus $10,000, okay?
02:50 Also, another thing to keep in mind is if it does get to the point where it does go to a debt collector, okay? If the debt collector has bought the debt for, as you hear, 10, 20, five cents on the dollar, you are in the position in a lot of cases to negotiate, uh, some debt relief on that and get a settlement on that debt. So, that always is an option, but that’s always something that we want to keep kind of as a back up plan. It’s not something we want to strategically approach because while we take that strategic approach, our credit really is going to take a bath, okay? So, there is no, uh, clean getaway from these, uh, uh, companies, unfortunately.
03:23 Also, in regards to the deficiency balance in your state, that’s definitely something you want to speak to a professional about, okay? Because if it is a predatory loan you’re in, if it’s a 20 per- 20% interest rate, you got sold a lemon, there are some laws that protect you. Some states are a little bit more consumer-friendly in regards to deficiency balances, so you might not, this might not even going to be applicable for you, okay? Something to keep in mind and something you can actually ask us here at Key Credit Repair and we can help break down for you.
03:50 So guys, this is Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. Thanks again for checking out our Credit Minute, and if you need anything else, feel free to email me at Nik, N-I-K, at keycreditrepair.com. Have a great day.
Voluntary Repossession – Is it a bad idea?
Debt Consolidation – Is it a good idea?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 YouTubers, what’s going on? This is Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. Your credit question of the day is, is debt consolidation a good idea? Guys, so this is, uh, something I feel really strongly about, which really coincides with a lot of pieces we’ve been doing lately on credit education, understanding the different phrases and really kind of a glossary of terms of what a lot of this stuff means, and th- this is the problem.
00:22 It is a good idea, but there are a lot of programs that a lot of our consumers, a lot of our clients, perceive as debt consolidation. Some people think consumer credit counseling is. Some people think debt relief or debt settlement is.
00:40 Now, the- the- the problem is, is when we mix up these different programs and consider them something that they’re not. So, some people will, um, entertain a debt relief program thinking it is a, not realizing that in a debt relief program, technically they have to either fall behind on their debts and then negotiate settlements, or they have to already be behind or possibly in collections then negotiate settlement. So, that’s a different type of program sometimes perceived as.
01:07 Other times, people are trying to do consumer credit counseling, not realizing that a consumer credit counseling program allows a remark on their credit report in the comments section that says, “Being managed by consumer credit counseling.” Although that’s credit score neutral, that could hurt your ability to finance something in the future if banks and lenders see those comments on your credit report. Again, could be perceived as . It performs pretty similar, um, to a but it is not one, okay?
01:34 Now, what is a debt consolidation? Well, pretty simple. What you’re doing is you’re getting a new loan to replace all your other smaller loans. So, let’s say you have $20,000 in credit cards over 10 different credit card, uh, companies or 10- 10 different accounts, okay? What you’re doing is you’re getting one new big loan, okay, which will then, uh, you’ll take the proceeds of that loan to pay off all the other 10, okay, and then you’ll be sending one payment into that new company or that new l- lender, okay, versus sending 10 payments to each of those other lenders.
02:04 Now, that’s a great program because if you’re taking credit card debt, consolidating it into an installment loan, usually the interest rate’s going to be drastically lower, you know. Let’s say an unsecured installment loan, the interest rate’s 7% versus typical credit card rates of 18%, 20%, 25%, pretty common. So, you’re saving a lot of money, a lot of interest, and that way if you can’t afford the monthly payments on the minimum payments on the credit cards, you’re going to take that extra money, send it into the installment loan or the new consolidation loan and get out of debt far, far, far quicker.
02:36 Um, so if you qualify for a debt loan, it’s fantastic, but make sure it’s a consolidation loan, um, it’s not a debt relief program, it’s not consumer credit counseling, it’s not debt settlement. Those are great programs in their own regards for their specific purposes, but let’s not mix up the phrase, guys. So, this is Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. Thanks for checking us out, guys. Have a great day.
Debt Consolidation – Is it a good idea?
Employment – Why does it matter if I have good credit?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 Why do I need good credit when applying for a job? Well, this is becoming more and more common, probably one of the more, um, prominent reasons we’re getting asked to repair someone’s credit for employment, okay? We get a lot of people that call us when they’re applying for a new job, whether it’s a finance company, a government job, or they’re doing an upgraded security clearance and they’re working for a government job. It’s very, very common. We probably get a good, you know, 50 to 100 calls a day for this exact same reason.
00:26 So let’s talk about the importance behind this and why the government, why these employers actually care. So for example, the finance industry. So let’s say you were getting licensed to become a mortgage lender. Let’s say you were getting licensed to trade stock. Let’s say you’re getting a license to manage other people’s money. Well, the first thing they want to see is can you manage your own? Can you budget yourself before you’re giving that advice, before you’re becoming a fiduciary, um, and certified to actually help people financially plan? Can you financially plan yourself, okay? So that’s a major component.
00:57 The other thing really is fraud. So, when people are under pressure, um, when they’re in debt, when things are falling apart, there’s a higher likelihood that you, or the consumer, um, the applicant, could possibly do something at that job to maybe steal someone’s money. Okay? If you’re handling someone’s money and you’re in debt, the concept, or the way these companies perceive it is you could be a higher risk at maybe stealing from the company or stealing from your clients. Okay?
01:25 With government jobs it’s another issue, okay? We’re seeing it a lot. Um, where someone needs to get some sort of security clearance upgrade, they check your credit, and then that upgrade doesn’t happen. In fact, the government announced recently that they’re going to be monitoring credit on an ongoing basis depending on the security clearance levels of their employees, okay? And those security clearances can be effected in real time, um, in a negative way, depending on where someone’s credit is. And that’s kind of a scary thing, okay? This is making credit monitoring more and more important. And again, the perception is there, let’s say you’re under financial hardship, one indication of that is your credit score, at least that’s how it’s perceived, that you can in fact, um … There could be a higher likelihood that you might steal from the government. Maybe you’d be a spy. And this is the perception. Not to say that this is the case. It’s probably not going to happen, but this is where they’re coming from.
02:16 That’s why monitoring your credit, um, being on top of your credit right now is more important than it’s ever been. 20 years ago it was a matter of not being able to get approved for a loan, or maybe you’re going to get a higher interest rate for a loan. Now it’s something that could actually effect how you earn. And that could be scary. It could effect, uh, how you keep your job, or if you can continue keeping your job, or the licensing for the business you’re in, okay? Another thing we’re seeing and we’ll touch on is bonding. We have insurance companies that are not issuing bonds to construction companies for that big job, um, because of a credit score. Okay? So credit scores are tying into not just your ability to lend, and the cost of lending, it’s tying into your ability to get a job, the ability to maintain a job, as well.
03:02 So, guys, if you have any questions regarding how you should be monitoring your credit, and how you should protect yourself, um, if you’re trying to get some sort of security clearance, or you want to protect yourself ongoing, um, career, uh, career protection, call it, check us out. Give us a call at 617-265-7900. We’re happy to walk you through how you should actively be monitoring your credit and how you should be protecting yourself when it comes to something like this. Thanks, guys, have a great day.
Employment – Why does it matter if I have good credit?
Rental History – How can I get it on my report?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
[00:00] What’s going on guys? Nik Tsoukalas here with Key Credit Repair. Your credit question of the day, I have how can I get my rent payments to show up on my credit report? Big question, great question, and, um, I’m going to show you how to do it with a quick little hack
.[00:11] So we have RentTrack.com, a great little website that can assist you in doing this, okay? Keep in mind it is two T’s. What RentTrack is going to do is it’s going to allow you to send your rent payment through RentTrack and have it hit the landlord. So let’s say you pay 1500. You’re going to set up an auto withdrawal from your bank to RentTrack. They will then turn around and mail a check from RentTrack to your landlord in your name, of course, okay, and at the same time, they will then report to Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax that on-time payment. They’ll also give you the option to, uh, backtrack and have them report up to two years of on-time payments to the three credit agencies, which is a fantastic resource.
[00:50] So guys, how to get your rent payments to show up on the credit reports, RentTrack.com, a great resource. Have a great day.
Rental History – How can I get it on my report?
Discharged Bankruptcy – Why did my mortgage stop reporting?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 Credit repair. So, this is your credit question of the day. So, let’s say someone has just filed a chapter seven bankruptcy. All of your debt has been discharged but you decided to keep your home. Okay? The mortgage hasn’t been discharged, okay, but it’s no longer appearing on your credit report. You’ve been paying your mortgage on time. You got to keep the house, um, but you want the positive credit on the report and you’re wondering you know, what gives? Why is it not there?
00:24 Well, here’s why. Okay, when you file a bankruptcy typically what you’re doing is you’re listing all of your assets as well as all of your liabilities. Liabilities being anything that you owe money on. Okay? And although the bankruptcy hasn’t been discharged, the mortgage companies will typically remove that record automatically from the credit report. Okay?
00:45 And the reason for that is, you remember that bankruptcy is a protection. It’s to protect you against creditors while you are going through a hardship, okay? So, if the mortgage company decides to report on the credit, it could be perceived as there’s trying to collect on a debt. That’s a major violation, a major violation of all the different bankruptcy laws that are out there.
01:03 So, by default, what will happen is the mortgage company zero’s out that record. Okay? They do this um, because it’s a liability. They don’t want to be perceived as a company that’s trying to solicit you for money and violate the bankruptcy court, um, so it’ll get removed.
01:19 Now, there is a way to get it back on, okay? And actually, there’s a caveat to this. Keep in mind that because it was listed as a liability, technically you could walk away from that house, okay? So, let’s say you wanted to walk away from the house, um, they can’t come after you for that mortgage. Okay? So, keep that in mind. Because it was listed as a liability you have that protection.
01:38 Now, if you continue making the payments on the mortgage, what you wanna do is, you wanna get it reaffirmed. So, the only way to get it back on the credit report is to go through a small process of reaffirming the debt, okay? Your bankruptcy attorney can assist you with this. They’re gonna file some paper with the court. They’re gonna get that reaffirmed. Once that’s done, you can reach out to the mortgage lender, show them the paper work and that’ll give them permission to actually start reporting the debt back on your credit report, and you can start getting the positive reporting from that.
02:07 It’s a bit of a process. It’s definitely worth it if you’ve been paying it on time. It’s a great asset. You have tons and tons of on time payments on this account, you want to get the positive reporting of that, okay?
02:18 Uh, this could happen with some other debts too. So, let’s say the bankruptcy court asked you um, or allowed you to keep your automobile, so you can get you know, back and forth from work. The same thing could happen with that, okay?
02:29 There are a couple of things that won’t get removed from the credit report through a bankruptcy. One of those is student loans, or federally backed student loans, as well as child support. So, those actually won’t come off.
02:40 Um, any additional questions regarding this specific topic, and how to get these reaffirmed, guys feel free to reach out to me at nik@keycreditrepair.com. If you have a credit question you’ll like me to answer, I’d be happy to do that.
02:52 Thanks guys. Have a great day.
Discharged Bankruptcy – Why does my mortgage stop reporting after my bankruptcy was discharged?
Bankruptcy – How long could a bankruptcy stay on my credit?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 Guys, Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. Your credit question of the day. Pretty simple stuff. Um, I’m- I’m asked this constantly right now, especially with kind of a looming future, uh, recession probably at hand, uh, and- and that question is going to be, how long could a bankruptcy stay on my credit report? Okay, and this is a question we get a lot of times pre-filing.
00:20 People are scared to do a bankruptcy even though they need it because they’re worried it’s going to destroy their credit for the next unforeseeable future, maybe even a decade, but it doesn’t. Okay. Let’s give you some logistics here, some specifics. Chapter 13. It’s going to appear on your credit report for seven years before it drops off automatically based on the statutes and limitations. That’s an automatic drop off after seven years from the date it was discharged.
00:43 Now, keep in mind, a Chapter 13 typically has a three year repayment window. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. A Chapter 13, you’re repaying the debts through a trustee, really through the court. They’re just managing the whole thing for you. Very similar to a debt consolidation, but the court’s, uh, administrating the whole thing, um, and it allows you some protection against the creditors while you get back on your feet.
01:06 Now, Chapter seven is a different circumstance. Okay. Um, again, we have 10 years for Chapter seven, but with a Chapter seven, when that bankruptcy is filed, it’s typically discharged right away within 30 days and all of your debt is wiped out. Okay. So, that your statutes and limitations on that is 10 years from the discharge date. So, it’s a little further up, but it makes sense because if you’re in a 36 month repayment plan, okay, with a Chapter 13 and you add the seven years, it’s about 10. Okay. So, they- they really each match up.
01:41 Um, I would say if you do have the option of one or the other, Chapter seven is always your best bet. You’re not repaying back anything. Everything is getting wiped out and you’re getting a cleaner slate much, much quicker. Okay, but for those of you that are maybe self-employed, you have a lot of things to preserve, you have assets that you need to maintain like the business, some real estate, Chapter 13 is a wonderful alternative and it’s going- it’s going to save those assets where Chapter seven really you’re- you’re forgoing everything, okay, with the exception of some things you can protect- protect like, uh, the owner occupied home that you’re in the state that you’re in.
02:18 So, guys, credit question of the day. Again, just a quick recap. How long will a bankruptcy stay and appear on my credit report? You have seven years from the discharge date on the Chapter 13 and you have 10 years on the discharge date for your Chapter seven. Any additional questions regarding your credit you’d love for me to answer, guys email me. Nik … N-I-K … @keycreditrepair.com. I’ll shoot you an email back. Whatever the question is, regardless of how hard you think it might be and how complicated you think it might be, I’ll get a video right back out to you. We’ll post it on YouTube. Keep in mind, if you’re thinking about it, someone else is thinking about it too, and, uh, i think we’ll allow you to help your fellow citizens here. Thanks guys. Have a great day.
Bankruptcy – How long could a bankruptcy stay on my credit?
Mortgage – Will applying for a mortgage hurt my credit score?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 What’s up, guys? Nik Tsoukales here with Key Credit Repair. Listen, I’m going to talk about probably the most asked question my, uh, my loan officer colleagues get, uh, when someone is applying for a home loan, and that question is, does ap- does applying for a home loan create an inquiry that will hurt my credit?
00:18 So, we’re not just going to give you some basic credit jargon here. Guys, we’re going straight to FICO. I’m going to read this off to you guys, then I’m going to include the URL in our vlogs. So, definitely click more. I’ll have the link in there, and for you loan officers that are getting asked this, I want you to share this with your customers, okay?
00:34 So, um, right on myfico.com/credit-education, we see does the, does the formula treat all inquiries the same? And the answer to that is no. Research has indicated that FICO scores are more predictive when they treat loans that commonly involve rate shopping such as mortgage, auto, and student loans in a different way. For these types of loans, FICO scores ignore inquiries made in the 30 days prior to scoring.
01:03 So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won’t affect your scores while you’re rate shopping. Guys, that is black and white. It will not affect you. It will not hurt you. Do your rate shopping. Keep everything going within a 30-day timeframe and you will be fine. Guys, this is Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. This is your Credit Minute. Have a great day.
30 Days – Why can’t I fix my credit inside of 30 days?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 … Credit Repair, credit question of the day, “Why can’t I fix my credit inside of 30 days?” Well guys, let’s break it down. You know, I’m going to give you a kind of a generic response, then I’m going to jump into the details.
00:12 The generic response is, let’s say you have 10 collections. Let’s say you’ve been um, burdened in debt. Let’s say you have derogatories from the last seven years. This took years and years and years for this bad credit situation to evolve. Um, and for us to get this stuff fixed, for us to budget the money, for us to deal with the finances, and everything, it’s not going to be an overnight thing. Could a small credit issue be fixed within a couple of days by making a phone call? Yeah, of course. Those are the one-off scenarios, but that’s not our typical file, okay?
00:42 Also, keep in mind the basic investigation um, cycle is typically going to take about 45 days. This is for you to just challenge something, and I’ll just quickly diagram it for you behind me, okay? So, let’s say we went ahead, and we sent a dispute letter to TransUnion Credit, okay, and we challenged one of the derogatory marks on the credit report. TransUnion’s going to open up that investigation, and they will then, in turn, send that dispute over to the creditor, okay?
01:13 We got a 30-day window between when the creditor has to respond back to TransUnion, that investigation cycle, okay? So, we got 30 days, right here. We got 30 days, guys, just in here, okay? So, keep that in mind. And then once that investigation cycle is over, they’re going to go ahead. Um, either, they’re going to delete the mark, they’re going to mark the item as um, fixed. They’re going to confirm the mark. Let’s say it hasn’t been removed, if that’s the case, okay? Then they’re going to prepare and send you a confirmation, again, actually mail it to you. They’re going to send it right to your mailbox, okay?
01:47 This is you. Happy as can be, okay, jumping for joy. Just because maybe you just got something deleted, okay? And they’re going to send it to your inbox, or your mailbox, showing you that the item’s been removed. This entire cycle typically takes, from beginning to end, about 45 days. That includes mailing. So, um, you want to allot that, that, that amount of time, just for one cycle of disputes.
02:16 And now let’s say you challenge 10 items, okay? Four of them are removed, fantastic, right? That’s a huge net positive, but six are still there that you’re still questioning, and you want to go ahead and submit rebuttals. You have the ability to do so. You want to do a followup. That could take another 45 days.
02:32 What I tell clients is this is a longterm process. You’re going to get your quick wins in the credit repair, which is usually the quick, easier items that are going to come off the credit report, the obvious things. You’re going to get your quick wins from the, uh, uh, tips that we give you, whether it’s how to deal with your credit utilization, opening up accounts, closing out accounts, whatever we’re going to advise you on.
02:55 But then you’re going to have those longer term ones that are gonna come over 90 days, six months, nine months, a year, and then even items or changes that are gonna happen beyond a year, which are typically not things that we’re working on, things that we’re advising you on.
03:10 So again, think sprint, or … think marathon, not sprint when you’re dealing with credit repair. Thanks guys. Nick Tsoukalis, Key Credit Repair. Have a great day.
Why can’t I fix my credit inside of 30 days?
How Long does it Take for Paid-Off Credit to Report?
Your Credit Minute Show Notes:
00:00 What’s up, guys? Credit question of the day. How long does it take for a paid off credit card to report to the credit agencies? So, you probably got my video about a client we have that just paid off $27,000 in credit card debt and his follow up question was, how long does this stuff take to report to the credit agencies? Now, the rule of thumb is and what I tell everyone is, wait. Wait about 30 days, and why do I say 30 days? Well, number one, the credit agencies aren’t actively updating these accounts. These accounts are getting updated from the creditors. So, let’s say it’s an open account, okay? It’s an open account with Capital One. Capital One may be updating their, or updating the credit agencies once per week. They may be updating things real-time daily. They may be updating things one time a month for all of their clients. Think about all of those billions of pieces of data that have to update to the three credit agencies each month. Usually what you’re going to find is the way that you’re billed is the way the credit agencies will report that data.
00:58 So, if the last bill you received shows the account as a zero balance and you look at your credit a week later, you’re going to see that the credit report is reflecting that specific data. So, you want to correspond your last statement with the credit report and give it a couple of weeks, okay? Now, if you’ve just paid something off the day you got your statement, you might really just want to wait until the next statement cycles through a couple weeks after that before you actually see the item reporting on the credit agencies as a zero balance. So, it’s a great question. Now, for collections and bad debts, bad news for you guys. It may never report as a zero balance. We see this every day. Literally thousands of items per week that we see that have been paid off, open collections and charge-offs, they’ve been paid. Tax liens that’ve been paid, um, derogatory accounts that have never been updated, okay? The collection agencies will get your money but they’re not going to spend their time and resources to fix your credit report, to update it to show a zero balance, okay? That’s where if you haven’t seen it update for at least, or if you haven’t seen an open collection get paid off and then updated as zero a month later, 30 days later, that’s really when you want to reach out to us so we can work on getting that record removed.
02:12 Keep in mind, it could be a blessing in disguise now. Now they’re reporting an inaccurate account. That item can’t stay on your credit report. It’s inaccurate reporting that could be deemed as inaccurate by the credit agencies through the dispute process and we can use that as ammunition to get the entire record expunged, okay? We don’t want to have inaccuracies and garbage on your credit report that really shouldn’t be there, okay?
02:34 So, you guys, Nik Tsoukales with Key Credit Repair. How long does it take for the, uh, for a paid-off item to show up on my credit report as paid? Again, short summary, um, keep a 30-day window at least. If after the 30-days something hasn’t reported, check your last billing statement. If the last billing statement didn’t report it, hang tight until the next statement and it typically will, and this is for open accounts. If they’re bad debts and they’re not updated in 30 days, that’s really when you want to reach out to us and put in place a proper dispute to get the item fixes. Thanks, guys. Have a great day.
Paid Off Credit- How long does it take for paid off credit to report?
