Can I request a credit item be removed from my report as soon as it is paid in full?

Question

I live in the U.S. and have two scenarios:

1. On my credit report (doesn't matter which bureau), I have one account that I was never late on, paid on time each month, and is now finally paid off in full and "closed"; also
2. On the same report, I have another account that I was late on several times, but is now finally paid off in full and "closed" (no settlement; paid in full)

I would like to remove both of these accounts from my credit report. Is this possible to do? Why/why not? I understand its not possible to do while the account is still open/unpaid, but these are paid off in full.

Answer 1

Assuming since you paid them off that these are legitimate debts (i.e. you are not disputing the fact that you incurred them in the first place) and that you have just recently paid them off, you can't remove them. The point of a credit report is to show your history of credit usage not just the current accounts you have active. Removing accounts once they are paid off would defeat that.

Accounts should be removed from your credit report some number of years after they are closed (7-10 years). Over that time, those accounts will have less and less impact on your credit score (a late payment 5 years ago is a much smaller penalty than a late payment last month for example).

Answer 2

In general, no. Your credit report is intended to show history, not just a current status. Closed accounts will fall off of your report automatically over time.

Some people successfully negotiate a "pay for delete" scenario wherein by agreeing to pay off a delinquent account the owner of the debt deletes the account from their report. That is increasingly rare and under newest credit scoring models is mostly irrelevant. On a closed account that is paid in full there would be no reason for them to entertain the notion of deleting it.

The other context in which you'd request an account be removed is if an account that you did not own/authorize appears on your credit report.

Answer 3

You can't remove adverse marks

If you were previously late, you cannot remove that mark merely by paying off the debt. This constantly blind-sides people with old debt: they think they can pay the debt and remove the mark. That would be extortion, and that's not what credit reports are for.

However, creditors almost never report lateness less than 30 days late, and sometimes longer.

Also, the creditor can remove the adverse mark simply by not reporting it anymore. They won't do that easily! You can convince them to stop if you give them a good reason to do so, and make a written agreement to that effect. This is not easy, but I've done it. Much easier if you still owe money on the debt, because you can include "no credit reporting" as a term of settlement. I've even included "no IRS reporting (1099)" as a condition, but that was when a debt was truly disputable.

You don't need to remove non-adverse marks

There really isn't any motivation to remove an "Account closed / paid on time" mark. These are 100% routine, and may mean nothing more than that you shopped at a store which later had a PCI-DSS data breach. Obviously those are not your fault and nobody scores those against you.

In fact, past successful credit history is very valuable. Creditors want to see a lush activity of borrowing and paying on-time/in-full, not a "blank slate". Wiping out positive past credit history is like deleting relevant work history off your resumé - it would be an act of madness.

If you really feel the need to remove it, probably the best place to start would be the creditor itself - ask them to stop reporting it to the bureaus.