Is a creditor required to report positive information if it reports negative information?

[Credit17]

Apologies if this has been asked before but I cannot locate it being discussed. As noted in the title, is a creditor required to report positive information if it chooses to report negative information.  

Specific example, I have a series of lates 30, 60, and a few 90s from about 6.5 years ago.  The creditor is reporting those late payments but is not reporting any information before the lates, i.e. the 3.5 years of on time payments before hand.  

From what I've read I understand that creditors are not necessarily required to report information but, if they do, they must report accurately.  To me that means not presenting a misleading payment history.  I was wondering if anyone else has dealt with this or has an answer.

I'm inclined to wait a month or two and reach out to the agencies with a dispute, noting that positive information is not being reported and seeing if I can get the negative information removed.  I understand that one agency will remove the string of lates at one time (which is only a few months away) but the others will take them away one month at a time (although possibly at the 6 year, 10 month  mark for each payment).  I'm looking to get a mortgage early next year so getting the lates off of the reports early on the ones where they are removed one month at a time would be very helpful.

Thanks for any help or thoughts you may have.

[Patient957]

I think only 7 years of payment history is reportable, even for positive accounts. 

In any event, I would absolutely not file a dispute on that account.  Those late payments are about to start falling off your reports in a matter of a few months.  Filing a dispute is far more likely to backfire than to help, IMO.

In my experience, the bureaus tend to give between 2 to 4 months early exclusion on late payments, automatically, without you doing anything.  You're almost there.  

A little patience is your best friend now. 

[TrapLine]

Credit is like a game of pinball ...

You are almost a winner. A little more patience and you will see improvements. 

Disputes have a way of biting when least expected. Be frugal on their usage!

[Horseshoez]

What @Patient957 and @TrapLine said, ignore the drivel from the spammer called @kerolina846bala.

[Credit17]

Thanks for all the insight.  

[Memyself]

WARNING! DO NOT FILE A DISPUTE for this right now.  TRUST ME I DID IT ON ALL THE ACCOUNTS I HAD WITH ERRORS ETC AND IT WAS OK BUT THE CREDIT REPORTING COMPANIES KEPT ALL THE DISPUTES ON MY RECORDS FOREVER - 3 years later there are still some on there!  HAD TO FIGHT THEM. IT WAS HELL. THE DISPUTES BECOME RED FLAGS TO CREDITORS SO THINK TO YOURSELF, IF I WAS CONSIDERING LOANING TO THIS PERSON HOW DOES IT LOOK TO HAVE 3 lates and a bunch of disputes? No offense but it looks a bit flaky and troublesome. Best to look solid as a rock. As a perfectionist it is extremely difficult but just let it go. It will drop off. And remember, every interaction with those three credit reporting companies is an opportunity for something to get effed up. FYI you may already know this but I will post it for all who do not know.... There are last time I checked about 33 credit reporting companies all selling your data to the big 3. I actually froze all of them LOL there is also another MEDICAL REPORTING SYSTEM that will post the last 2-3 years of all your medical ICD-10 medical billing codes and all your medications. That information is somewhat private and protected but it is being sold to the insurance industry. So avoid doctors and avoid medicine if you don't like that ...lol easier said than done. LOL 

[Memyself]

Some accounts POSITIVE report for 10 years unless it's another error on my account my student loans are still posting even tho paid long ago

[GigaChad_bro]

But if they do report, it has to be accurate and not misleading. So yeah, it seems kinda unfair they left out your on-time payments, but sadly it's not illegal. You can try a dispute though, especially if you're aiming for a mortgage soon.

[hdporter]

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@Credit17 wrote:

From what I've read I understand that creditors are not necessarily required to report information but, if they do, they must report accurately ...

... I understand that one agency will remove the string of lates at one time (which is only a few months away) but the others will take them away one month at a time (although possibly at the 6 year, 10 month  mark for each payment). 

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I'm posting to clarify the misperceptions represented above:

Failure to report a current or delinquent month of account activity is not inaccurate, nor is it misleading.  Credit Reporters never assure their subscribers that all activity related to an account is reflected, nor are they required to do so.

Were that the case, creditors would be restrained from ever clearing derogatory information from an account in consideration of account holders' exceptional circumstances.  (mind you, aggressive/frivolous requests by cardholders over the yeard has largely shut such courtesy down by themselves).

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CRA behavior in removing "obsolete" reported credit delinquencies is uniform and typically adheres to the restrictions placed by the FCRA.  (It isn't arbitrary.)

For an open account or one closed in "good standing", each month of delinquency is cleared 7 years after it's reporting date.  Thus, a string of delinquency months will fall off individually and sequentially as each reaches 7 years in age.  Any positive history remains for up to 10 years.

If the account was closed with an adverse status, the entire adverse account will be removed once the "DOFD" (the month in which the account became delinquent and wasn't subsequently restored to a current status) has aged 7 years.

So, for example, if an account was late a few times, each time subsequently brought back to a current status, and then entered a final delinquency status from which the account proceeded to a charge off and/or collections, the obsolescence of the delinquent entries and related removal will be determined as follow:

Delinquencies which occurred prior to DOFD will drop individually, each one removed 7 years after it's reporting date.  All remaining tradeline information will be removed 7 years after DOFD.

Again, it's not the case that different agencies vary in the broad application of the procedures above.  There are minor differences between agencies, when it comes to things like "early exclusion" policies.