| Anyone who's working to rebuild their credit | | | | answer is "no", you need to investigate further. It could |
| understands how frustrating it can be. Your credit | | | | be possible that these were charged to you by |
| score show all of the good and bad habits of your | | | | mistake, therefore affecting your credit in a negative |
| credit history. Late payments are generally one of the | | | | way. Even worse you could be a target of identity |
| largest contributing factors of poor credit. In most | | | | theft, which is another reason to make sure someone |
| cases waiting is the only option. However there are a | | | | isn't charging things to your credit without your consent. |
| few things that can be done to help take last | | | | If you've ever declared bankruptcy it's important to |
| payments off your credit report sooner rather then | | | | understand it should only stay on your credit report for |
| latter. | | | | 7 years. If it's still showing up after the 7 year deadline, |
| Late payments will appear on your credit report as | | | | you need to send a letter to all the credit bureaus and |
| either 30, 60, 90 or 120+ days late. Make sure you | | | | make sure it's taken off. |
| focus on the 120+ payments first, since they have the | | | | While invalid late payments can be frustrating, it's |
| most negative impact on your credit score. | | | | important to understand there are ways to fix your |
| You should also look for unusual names. Can you | | | | credit score. It's important to act as soon as possible. |
| match them up to an account that you have? If the | | | | |