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R9's & Credit Reports
Monday, Mar 2, 2009
Question: I recently recv'd my credit report and found some R9's on it. All of these R9\'s were settlements that I made with each company and have letters to prove this. Can I not get them removed from my credit report. It has been almost 3 - 4 yrs. and they are all saying $0 balance. What can I do?
Answer: Federal law (US Code Title 15, §1681c) controls the behavior of credit reporting agencies. This law is known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Under FCRA §605 (a) and (b), an account in collection will appear on a consumer's credit report for 7.5 years. The clock starts approximately 180 days after the date of first delinquency on the account. To learn when an account will be removed by the credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian and others), add 7.5 years to the date of first delinquency. Subsequent activity, such as resolving the debt, is irrelevant to the seven-year rule. However, if the debt is a tax lien, that can appear for seven years from the date of payment. A bankruptcy will appear for ten years from the date of the final order. Delinquent federal student loans can be reported indefinitely, i.e., for as long as they are delinquent.A R9 appears on your credit report whenever an account has been “Charged-off” - which is an accounting term used by creditors,
meaning that a creditor has transferred an account from its “accounts receivable” books to its “bad debt” ledger; credit issuers are required to do this by the federal Office of the Comptroller of Currency, in an attempt to prevent banks from inflating future earnings statements with old and defaulted accounts.
For the consumer, the only real consequence of an account charging off is that the account will report as a negative item (R9) on the consumers’ credit reports. Only time - specifically, 7 years of it - will remove a R9/charge-off from a credit report, but the $0 balance showing on your report means they are paid off, which is much better for your credit than if you still had an outstanding balance.
Be sure to save those settlement letters from those companies, because even though R9's are to be automatically dropped after 7 years, the credit bureaus sometimes make mistakes. And if they do, those
For the consumer, the only real consequence of an account charging off is that the account will report as a negative item (R9) on the consumers’ credit reports. Only time - specifically, 7 years of it - will remove a R9/charge-off from a credit report, but the $0 balance showing on your report means they are paid off, which is much better for your credit than if you still had an outstanding balance.
Be sure to save those settlement letters from those companies, because even though R9's are to be automatically dropped after 7 years, the credit bureaus sometimes make mistakes. And if they do, those
settlement letters will be extremely helpful in getting that straightened out to your benefit.
Best of luck,
Bill
www.bills.com/blog/
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Best of luck,
Bill
www.bills.com/blog/
Information provided by Bills.com is for general informational purposes only and is not be construed as legal, financial, bankruptcy, tax or other professional advice. Should you require more detailed information or specific professional advice tailored to your situation you should consult an attorney, financial planner or tax advisor. While we believe all information provided by Bills.com to be accurate as of the date of its posting, we cannot ensure its accuracy. Use of this site and any information contained on or provided through this site is provided without any representations, warranties or guarantees. Bills.com is not responsible or liable for any decisions or actions anyone may take based on the information provided. Please see Terms of Use at: http://www.bills.com/termsofuse/.
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Information provided by Bills.com is for general informational purposes only and is not be
construed as legal, financial, bankruptcy, tax or other professional advice. Should you
require more detailed information or specific professional advice tailored to your situation you
should consult an attorney, financial planner or tax advisor.
While we believe all information provided by Bills.com to be accurate as of the date of its posting, we cannot ensure its accuracy. Use of this site and any information contained on or provided through this site is provided without any representations, warranties or guarantees. Bills.com is not responsible or liable for any decisions or actions anyone may take based on the information provided. Please see Terms of Use.
While we believe all information provided by Bills.com to be accurate as of the date of its posting, we cannot ensure its accuracy. Use of this site and any information contained on or provided through this site is provided without any representations, warranties or guarantees. Bills.com is not responsible or liable for any decisions or actions anyone may take based on the information provided. Please see Terms of Use.
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1. Posted by Bob on Monday 8th June 2009 16:44
We currently have retained an attorney and are filing Chap. 7 BK. My question is if we have creditors coming up on 180 days delinquent and will be going to charge off with an R9 rating do we should we be concerned about garnished wages etc... Any input greatly appreciated!, Bob
2. Posted by Bill on Monday 8th June 2009 18:11
Bob, an R9 status is just an accounting and credit term, you would have to be sued and then receive a judgement and then lastly have that judgment enforced with a writ of garnishmnet before your wages could be garnished. Since you are filing bankruptcy, the notion of garnishment should be irrelevant... but confirm this with your attorney. Hang in there Bob. Bills.com