why are credit updates so slow?

[Anonymous]

I paid off 90% of my balances 3 weeks ago and still NOTHING has reported to the credit bureaus. HSBC bank screws up and posts someone else's account on MY credit report and tells me it may take up to 30 days for the correction to be reflected in my report.

Yet my new landlord checks my credit so that I can get a new apartment, and the ding hits my credit report overnight.

Why does the system reflect NEGATIVE information right away, and yet takes so long to reflect POSITIVE information? Anyone else frustrated by this?

[Anonymous]

It's not the system, it's your creditors. They only report 1 time a month and it's usually when your statement is cut (with the exception of HSBC and maybe some others I am not aware of).  So, your new balances will update after your new statements cut for each individual card you paid off.