Public Record

[miltown81]

I have a state tax lien on my record from 6.5 years ago for not filing my taxes on time. How much longer will this stay on my credit report and are there any ways I can get this removed sooner? I was thinking of taking advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit this upcoming year but want to have the best score possible before looking at purchasing a home. My Fico score is currently 689. Any thoughts or help??

[LIGHTNIN]

That depends if paid or unpaid and what state you live in.

Paid state tax lien remain on CR for 7yrs. I check the CRA's web sites and each one is different on report of unpaid taxes.

EX- Unpaid tax liens remain on a credit report for 15 years.

TU-if the tax lien is not paid, it will remain on the file indefinitely.

EQ-if the tax lien is not paid, it will remain on the file indefinitely---unless you are a current resident of Calf 
      Unpaid or unreleased tax liens remain 10 years from the file date.

[RobertEG]

It will stay forever until paid.

Tax liens are specifically identified under FCRA 605(a)(3) as having a drop-off date of 7 years from the date of payment of the lien.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 11-21-2009 05:34 AM

[Anonymous]

If it's paid, then it probably isn't hurting your score too much.  After you pay, they age just like an other debt and have very little impact on your score.  The easiest way to manipulate your score in the short term is the control your utilization.

[haulingthescoreup]

It definitely hurts your score, even if paid. A tax lien is a public record, and so you are in that "dirty" score bucket. You'll remain in that score bucket as long as the tax lien remains.



eta: but getting your revolving util as low as possible is the best means of getting a quick score increase, as PP said. Since you're going for a mortgage, I would recommend having as many CC's as possible report $0 --in most cases, this means paying BEFORE the statements post --and a minimal amount on one or two others, paying them off as soon as they post. This will also help your debt-to-income, which is a factor in mortgage apps.

In the long run, though, you need to make paying off (and thereby eventually removing) the tax lien a priority.

Have you talked to a lender yet? They might make you pay it before mortgage apping anyway.

Be sure to read posts regarding liens over on Rebuilding Your Credit.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-21-2009 09:58 AM

[miltown81]

The debt was paid the same month it was filed so it's been nearly 7 years. I appreciate all the help. I only have 2 CC's and have them paid in full b/c of the utilization issue. So if I'm understanding everyone's response it seems that this should drop off my record in a few months?