The baddies on my CRs are 13 late payments from a closed auto loan paid off in 2013. Beginning this October they were due to begin falling off one by one, finishing up in February 2019.
Well, I just refreshed my EX report using Experian CreditWorks and all but the 2 most recent have disappeared -- a full year ahead of schedule. Now normally I would think it was a glitch with CreditWorks' metrics as I have seen them go haywire/be inaccurate before. BUT, I also got a 24 point score jump so it seems real. But how??? I haven't done a GW letter or anything like that. Is it possible that it is just a system glitch and the late payments will return?
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks a bunch.
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After:
@Anonymous wrote:It could be a glitch or it could be that the late payments just came off early. This could have been a mistake on the part of the lender or they may have removed them early. Definitely don't poke the sleeping bear and see what happens. Once those final 2 come off, assuming you don't have any other negatives on your credit report your scores should increase significantly.
I don't know anything about CreditWorks, but I'd check some other report sources if possible like CK, WH, etc. and see if you're seeing the same thing from them. The real thing you need to do, though, is request a copy of your real hard copy credit report and look at that to make sure all of these negatives are gone. Monitoring software can be funny at times and provide some false positives.
Does the lender even update an account once its been closed? I figured CapOne had nothing to do with this and it was some kind of Experian glitch. Besides, I just couldn't see CapOne removing an entire year of late payments in one fell swoop for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
How do you mean, poke the bear?
You think that the remaining two late payments, even given their age, are having a marked effect on my score? And no, I don't have any other baddies.
Oh yeah, I know how wonky credit monitoring software can be which is why I wrote this post -- wanted to see if anyone else had seen this kind of thing before.
Anyway, I took your good advice and went over to AnnualCreditReport for the "official paper report". I've already gotten my once-per-year but I've noticed that that system is also glitchy and will usually provide fresh reports more often than yearly. And... Bingo. TU wouldn't give me a new report but Experian and Equifax did. EX looks just like the credit monitoring software:
But EQ is all wonky and doesn't even have the table showing the correct years, so it's basically blank with some random 'on time' 3 years after the account closed. LOL.
Thanks for your input, BBS. I appreciate it. 
@Anonymous wrote:I've had lenders update my accounts after they've been closed. It isn't common, but it happens.
Oh, okay. Good to know.
My don't poke the sleeping bear I simply mean since this was obviously a favorable change, don't do anything that could switch it back to the way it was. Basically, don't contact CO and ask them what's up or anything, as you'd stand a chance of them re-reporting the negative information.
Oh no, I'm blonde but I ain't that blonde!
Good job getting your real credit report. That once a year stuff is kind BS, IMO. All you need to do is write to any of the bureaus and suggest that something is incorrect on your credit report. It could be as simple as a single character in your name or address. For example, you could live at 49 MyFico Ave and your report says 49 MyFico Av and you could write them requesting that they correct that 1 character on your credit report and then they'll send you a hard copy of your report (for free). I've done this with all 3 bureaus and have never had a problem getting a free credit report any time I've wanted it (which isn't THAT often).
I didn't know you could do that -- great tip! Because, as you know, there are times when a "real" report is valuable, even neccessary. And I've had several such situations over the last 2 or so years of Operation: Clean Up White Cleats' Credit.
In general, people seem to say that 30 day late payments don't have a significant impact after 2 years. Based on your scores though, I'd say they are still impacting your scores, as an aged file with no baddies (assuming low utilization) should be in the mid 700's no problem at all, even upper 700's.
Do you have anything else on your file that could be holding back your scores? If not, I'd say without question it's those minor delinquencies.
I'm assuming you rolled over my siggy and looked at my card details -- I guess you didn't notice how new everything was? My AAoA wasn't impressive to begin with but it took a pounding when I closed my oldest card and app'd for 3 brand new ones the same day. Then, last month, I jumped in on the SSL technique. So the AAoA of my personal accounts isn't even 6 months. My saving grace -- and frankly I have no idea how much it's really helping me -- is the Macy's card on which I'm an AU. Depending on which metric/website you're looking at it brings my AAoA to 2 years 4 months -- 5 years.
I do have 6 inquires on EX, 4 on EQ, and 2 on TU.
EQ and TU are reporting those 12/13 late auto loan payments.
My utilization is overall 7% with one card reporting at 32%.
So, considering the newness and thinness and quite a large number of late payments on that auto loan, I thought my score was kinda where I should be. Now that I've given you more details, what do you think?
P.S. I haven't gotten the SSL bump yet as the loan hasn't reported sub 9% yet (it's still at 16%) -- that will happen in September.
@Anonymous wrote:Closing your oldest CC doesn't adversely impact AAoA, as the account will remain on your report for 10 years and continue to be factored into your AAoA for those 10 years even though it's closed.
There have been plenty of reports on here recently of people with 6-8 month AAoA possessing scores in the 740-760 range, so if your AAoA is 2 years or so that's definitely not the constraint to your scores being where they are. Your utiization and inquiries seem fine to me, so that brings me back to your payment history (delinquencies) being the factor at play that's adversely impacting your ability to be in the upper 700's.
Once your SSL reports, your scores should all land in the 710-720 range, give or take.
Well **bleep**. I was humbly accepting of my late 6's, early 7's scores becauase I figured that's what I get for having screwed up my credit file and being in rebuild mode. But now you've got me thinking... and wanting better scores!
Perhaps the newly bumped EX score makes for a good window into the future as it's now at 711 pre-SSL. To be honest, I was hoping to approach 780 as the dust begins to settle -- the 'new account' hit drifts away, the new accounts age, the inquiries fall off, and the late-payments disappear. By spring of 2019 I wanted a 800 score. You think that's possible?
Great. Thanks for all your help, BBS.
