Need help with Kohl's

[Anonymous]

Hi,

How long after a 30-day late payment can one request for it to be removed?  I have two 30-day late payments with Kohl's (one from July 2010 and one from this past November).  But the one in November is kinda odd.  It looks like I missed the October payment but did make a payment in Novermber, but 4 days after the November due date so it was reported.  Why doesn't it show up as a missed payment in October?  I think I heard that Kohl's waits 60 days before reporting a negative to the credit reporting agencies.  Could that be the reason?

I have been making regular payments, but the timeliness has been sporadic (a few days late here and there, but totally on time for teh last 3 payments).

Any ideas on how to clean that up?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

Try a GW letter

[RobertEG]

The CRA reporting manuals clearly define that a 30-late is not failure to pay after the billing due date.  It must extend another 30 days past the billing due date, which would be 60 days from the date of billing.

Being late on a payment is not basis for reporting a 30-late to the CRA.  It must remain 30 days past when it became late with the creditor.

[Anonymous]

Thanks RobertEG.  That makes sense.  Any advice on what I should do?  Or is this one of those situations where I need to just wait it out?

[RobertEG]

If they reported information inconsistent with the clear reporting guidelines of the CRAs, it is inaccurate information.

I would file a dispute. 

This is one of the rare cases where I would suggest filing your dispute with the CRA rather by filing a direct dispute with the creditor.

The CRAs have reinvestigation rights, and are obviously aware of their reporting requirements.  Based on what the credtior reports back to them, they can exercise their reinvestigation rights and delete the information.

[Anonymous]

Thanks RobertEG.

When I looked at the reports, one agency (TU) reports it for October, but Experian reports it for November.  Can I still dispute it even if I was actually late with the payment?  I guess I'm afraid that they'll do the investigation and say, "oh, you were late, so we'll just change the month you were late to refelct that accurately" and that I'll have no other recourse.  I also have a small balance on that account (I'm keeping a balance for the sole purpose of paying it on time to show them that I can pay on time).

[llecs]

OP, I would not dispute it. IME, and others have posted in the past, a dispute can diminish your odds of getting some goodwill from them.