Newbie Trying To Fix Credit Needs Help

[jramos402]

Ive been lurking and reading for a while now trying to soak all this stuff in so I can fix my credit myself without having to pay someone like Lexington Law to do it for me. Im trying to take my first step as I think I might have found something I can get dropped but am unsure on how to proceed.

I have pulled a copy of all 3 credit reports and all 3 are still reporting a student loan I had with Sallie Mae that has since been charged off. The thing is that the date opened for this account was in July 2005. From my understanding charge offs can only be reported for 7 years. Is that correct? If so, how would I go about getting this removed?? Do I contact the CRAs directly or Sallie Mae?? Also, what exactly should my grounds for deletion be? Past the statute of limitations?? Any and all input is welcome. Thanks.

[Sheisaking]

Hi! Maybe this will help. I also had two student loans with sallie mae in good standing/never late that are closed. They are still on my report and they were from 2004. I think for your charge offs, it's reported 7 years from the first deliquency or 7 years from the last date of activity. When was the first missed payment or late payment? It should be 7 years from that date. Also, on your credit reports, you may see a estimated date of removal. I see those dates on my transunion and experian reports. I hope this helps.

[ktl72455]

Welcom to the Forum!  What is the date it went into Charge Off staus? Thats the date it goes by, not the date the account was opened.

[jramos402]

Thank you guys for the replies. Unfortunately I got all 3 reports from creditreport.com so none of mine actually have an estimated date of removal on them. They only show a 24 month payment history dating back to October 2011. The Experian report shows a red KD, which is supposed to stand for Key Derragatory, for each and every single month up until September 2013. I got my report in mid November so that is why that is the last month and Im assuming it is still being reported as such. The Equifax report however is reporting a green OK, which is suppose mean current, on every month whike the Transunion report shows nothing at all. I know for a fact I have not been paying so I dont know why it is coming up as OK with one CRA. So what should be my next plan of attack??

[Sheisaking]

I have never purchased my credit report, so I don't know what those show. If you haven't already this year, I would get my official credit report from each credit bureau by going to annualcreditreport.com. It's free. These reports should have key pieces of information like the first delinquency, and expected date of deletion. TThey will also give you the entire history of the account. If you see any mistakes on your report, use the report number at the top of each credit report to go to each reporting agency to file a dispute. You will get a confirmation number and notification when they have come to some resolution.