Credit is king in this day and age. It can seem like without good credit most things are harder to do, from renting an apartment to buying a home, purchasing or leasing a car, or even getting a job. Things aren’t going so well in the economy these days, either and many people are finding it difficult to make ends meet, let alone make every timely payment on your credit report. There are ways to legally remove late pays on your credit report; it is just a matter of finding them.

Talk to Your Creditor about Your Situation

Talking to your creditor about your financial situation is one of the most reliable ways of removing late pays on your credit report. It is important to realize that these days you are not the only person making late payments and creditors are more concerned with receiving any payment at all. They may be willing to settle on the debt for a small percentage of the original amount, or remove late payments in exchange for a payment or two. Every creditor will vary on what they are willing to do, and their flexibility is likely to depend a great deal on your payment history and the amount of the loan. Give them a call—it never hurts to try.

Pay Off the Loan

If you can find a way to pay off the loan, you can then begin the process of writing letters to the credit bureaus to have the late payment records removed. Your creditor may also aid in this process. Once you have paid off the debt, their problem with you is resolved and they may have a bit of help to offer in refuting the late payments on your credit report.

Let Them Fall Off

After a certain while, late payments fall off of your credit report. Negative items stay on your credit for a period of seven years ,and while that may seem like a long while, it often flies by. After a period of seven years, late payments will fall off. As long as you make timely payments from then on, late pays will not have to be an issue.

Dispute Negative Items 

There may also be some late payments on your credit report that are not your responsibility. This happens sometimes. If you notice items that you didn’t have anything to do with, it is your responsibility to make sure that these items are deleted. The credit bureaus are required to delete items off of your report that are false or that cannot be supported, so by writing them and informing them of such you may be able to dispute these late pays off of your credit report and have them removed.

Having good credit is important, as it is needed for just about everything these days. It can seem like one or two late payments take more of a toll on your credit than one would ever think but with the state of the economy it can be hard to stay on top of living expenses let alone make payments on one’s credit on a timely basis. There are ways to remove late pays from your credit report legally; it is just a matter of finding them.