Removing late payments on a closed student loan account.

[Gmv]

Will removing late payments on a closed federal student loan remove the closed account off my credit report?

[simplynoir]

Hi and welcome to the forums, @Gmv

No, removing lates from a closed account should not close the account itself I am pretty sure. I will note it might not matter depending on what the closed status is especially if the student loan is closed due to CO. At that point there's really no benefit from removing the late payments since the CO itself is doing the most damage. If that's the case it's a waiting game depending on the DOFD before it falls off your reports

[calyx]

I would also add that removing lates from a closed loan is only legal if the account is paid (not transferred, consolidated, etc).

And most servicers will not remove lates or derogatory information due to the HEA (even when it doesn't apply - like when it's paid), but it's been known to happen with some servicers.

[Gmv]

@calyx @simplynoir 

sorry for the late response. 

the late payments are over three years old and they are on a closed account due to me  consolidating my accounts under my fed. 

My credit profile is pretty solid when my only tarnishes being the late payments. Was told my a credit company that I deem Knowledgeable that removing those late payments could remove those accounts off my aaoa history and would do more harm than good. 

just running it by the forum to see if someone had heard or seen it happen. 

[calyx]

In your case, they would likely remain, however it's not totally unknown for a few servicers to goodwill lates off.   Most of them will just respond that according to the HEA they cannot remove them. 

When I consolidated my loans, I was in a different situation (I had defaulted) - but one of my servicers was willing to delete the loans from my report, and another would not (Fedloan - no surprise), so it doesn't hurt to try, if it's important to you.     Since your tradelines were consolidated before default, removing the lates wouldn't normally remove the tradelines, but whether or not the accounts would be removed wholesale (or just the lates) might be affected by what the servicer chooses to report to the CRAS if they were to move forward with a goodwill.

[Dennis885]

I disputed a SL late payment with Experian a few weeks ago.   While I haven't received an official response from them the account was removed from my TU and EQ today according to Credit Karma.

Sort of sucks, I had only the 1 late payment vs years of on times.

[calyx]

@Dennis885 - Definitely keep an eye on your reports - sometimes accounts under dispute get temporarily removed while they're undergoing investigation and then pop back on when they're done.