CREDIT » CREDIT REPAIR & REPORTS

In these trying times of reduced credit and liquidity, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of how important their credit reports are. Credit scores are often considered the gauge of your financial health - and this affects the willingness of financial institutions to provide you with a low rate loan. If you are fully invested in improving your credit score, you need to know that a negative item on your credit report can follow you around for more than seven years!

On average, negative credit information should automatically drop off your credit report after seven years time, and after you've payed off the debt. However, that is not always the case. Consumer reporting companies can a tap into:

• Chapter 7,11, and 12bankruptcies from 10 years after the filing date
• Unpaid judgments against a consumer for 10 years historically
• Accuratenegative information for seven years
• Chapter 13 bankruptcies remain for seven years from the date discharged for a maximum of 10 years
• Tax liens remain for seven years from the date filed
• Unpaid tax liens will will remain indefinitely
• Collection account remain for seven years from the filing date
• One missed payment can stay on one's credit account for seven years
• Inquiries remain on your credit report for two years but only affect your credit score for 12 months time
• Active positive information can remain on your credit report indefinitely

All the less than favorable marks are supposed to automatically drop off during the aforementioned time period, however only time will tell if that is accurate.If you have been working diligently for years to clean up your credit history and are still have bad credit problems, contacting the main credit bureaus may be able to clear up your credit history. You can also use our partner Go Look Online for credit repair services if you are unable to proceed on your own.

Have you checked your credit report recently? How long did negative credit items stay on your credit report?

While the new FICO scoring system comes with some notable improvements, there are some who believe that there may be some disadvantages. To get a better idea of both the disadvantages and advantages that could have an effect on your FICO score, lets take a closer look at both ends of the spectrum.

The Disadvantages

There is really only one major disadvantage of the new FICO scoring system that has been noted and it reflects authorized users no longer being able to benefit from piggybacking on another persons good credit. The change was made to stop individuals with bad credit from being able to benefit from someone elses good credit by simply signing on the dotted line of that other persons application.

The only problem with this change is that it can very well punish individuals who are in good standing and truly share credit with another person. For instance, if a wife and husband share a credit card and see no need to apply for separate ones, the person listed as the primary user will be the only one to benefit credit wise. So if the wife is considered an authorized user, she wont be able to take advantage of her own responsible use of the card and thus wont benefit from a higher FICO score.

Some Advantages

Despite the fact that there is a disadvantage associated with the new FICO scoring system, it was actually created to benefit borrowers. Lets look at some changes that actually have the potential to improve your FICO score:

• Your first missed payment is forgiven. If you make the honest mistake that many do by forgetting to make a payment on bill you owe, it will be forgiven the first time. However, if it occurs again, it will receive a harsher consequence.
• Small collection accounts are overlooked. Another improvement inherent in the new FICO scoring system is the fact that any collection accounts under $100 will be forgiven and will not affect your FICO score.

Many changes that affect a wide spectrum of individuals can come with a few disadvantages. But for the most part, it seems that the new FICO scoring system brings with it several advantages that can positively affect your FICO score.

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