Which Entries on Your Credit Report Count as Negative: The Full List

What is a negative item on your credit report, and where do you find it?

Negative items, also called derogatory marks, are lines in your credit history that tell a bank: “This person has had trouble paying.” Put simply, they are what hurts your credit history and pulls down your credit score. But not every strange-looking line is negative.

The three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, each have a different report: an entry can appear in one and not in the others. So check all three.

Where to look for negative items in your report:

• The summary at the top. Reports from SmartCredit, IdentityIQ and MyScoreIQ usually have a Delinquent line (accounts with late payments) and a Derogatory line (serious negative items).
• Payment history for each account. This is a month-by-month table. Where everything is fine, it says OK. Where something went wrong, you will see 30, 60, 90 or the mark CO (charge-off).
• Account status (or Pay status). One line with the main point: everything is fine, there is a late payment, the debt was charged off, or it is with a collector.
• Public records. Today, this section basically only shows bankruptcy.

At a free review at Excalibur Credit Solutions, the report is opened in the same order: the summary, then the month-by-month payment table at all three bureaus. How to read the whole report is covered in our guide “How to read a credit report”. Below is a glossary of negative items.

Late payments: what Late 30, 60, 90 and 120+ mean

A late payment is the most common negative entry. But it only goes on your report if 30 days or more have passed since the due date. If you paid on day 10 or day 25, you will get off with a late fee from the bank. The bureaus usually never hear about a late payment like that.

• Late 30 (30 days late): the payment was 30–59 days late.
• Late 60: 60–89 days. This means two payments in a row have already been missed.
• Late 90: 90–119 days.
• Late 120+: 120 days or more. The bank is about to write the debt off as a loss.
• Past due: a late payment right now, and how much it is.

Each month of late payment is a separate mark. If you didn’t pay for three months, the table will show 30, 60 and 90 in a row. Once you catch up on payments, the status changes to Current, but the old marks stay.

Denis’s late 30 on his car loan is truly negative, even though he was late only once.

Charge-off, collection and settled: what they look like in your report

If a debt goes unpaid for several months (usually 120–180 days), the bank writes it off as a loss. This is called a charge-off. But you still owe the debt.

A collection means your debt is now with a collection agency: the creditor handed it over or sold it. This kind of debt can come not only from a loan, but also from internet, phone, utilities, medical care or rent.

• Charged off: the bank wrote off the debt.
• Paid charge-off: the charged-off debt was paid later. This is better than an unpaid one, but it is still negative.
• Collection account: the debt is with a collector. It often appears in the Collections section under the agency’s name, not your bank’s.
• Settled for less than full balance (or just Settled): the debt was closed by paying less than the full amount, by agreement. For a bank, this is negative: the creditor did not get everything.

One debt often creates two lines: a charge-off from the bank and a collection from the agency. How to tell them apart is explained in our article “Charge-Off vs. Collection: The Difference”.

Denis’s $260 collection for internet service is also truly negative. But Denis is sure he returned the router and closed the contract. If he still has the receipt, the entry is worth checking, and if it is wrong, disputing.

Repossession, foreclosure, bankruptcy and eviction: what goes on your report

The most serious entries, in brief. For details, see our article “Bankruptcy, Repossession and Eviction: How They Affect Your Credit History”.

• Repossession: the bank took your car for nonpayment. Voluntary surrender: you returned the car to the bank yourself. This is also negative. It stays for up to 7 years.
• Foreclosure: the bank took your house because the mortgage was not paid. It stays for up to 7 years.
• Bankruptcy, Chapter 7: a bankruptcy in which debts are wiped out. It stays in the Public records section for up to 10 years from the filing date.
• Bankruptcy, Chapter 13: a bankruptcy with a repayment plan of 3–5 years. It stays for up to 7 years from the filing date.

An eviction itself usually does not show up on the three bureaus’ reports. What does show up is unpaid rent if it was sent to a collector. That is a regular collection. As for the eviction itself, landlords see it in tenant screening databases.

Is a hard inquiry negative or not?

A hard inquiry appears when you apply for a card or a loan and the bank looks at your history. It is not a negative item, just a small, temporary minus to your score.

• It is visible on your report for 2 years.
• The FICO score only counts it for the first 12 months.
• An inquiry you didn’t make is a reason to check whether someone opened credit in your name.

Denis’s two inquiries are his own card applications. How to spot an inquiry that isn’t yours is explained in our article “What Is a Hard Inquiry”.

What is not negative, even though it looks scary

These lines look scary, but they are not negative:

• A closed account in good standing (Closed, Paid as agreed, Closed by consumer). It usually stays on your report for up to 10 years and makes your history longer.
• Soft inquiry: pre-qualification on a bank’s website and card offers the bank sends you on its own; checks by your own bank; credit monitoring services. Other banks can’t see it.
• Checking your own report. You can look at your report every day if you want, and your score will not drop.
• A limit decrease by the bank. Not negative. But your limit is now smaller, so your utilization, the share of your limit you are using, will go up.
• Authorized user status. You were added to someone else’s card, and that is not negative. But the card owner’s late payments can affect you too.
• Old or strange addresses, name variations. Not negative. But an address that isn’t yours may mean you were mixed up with someone who has the same last name, and that line is worth fixing.

The bottom line for Denis: the truly negative items are the late 30 and the collection. The hard inquiries are a small, temporary minus. The closed card and the lower limit are not negative. But he has a $600 balance on that card, and its utilization went up from 20% to 40%. The unfamiliar address is an error, and it needs to be fixed.

How long negative items stay in your credit history

Negative items don’t last forever: once the time is up, the bureau removes the entry on its own. The clock starts from the month when the missed payments began. This date is called the date of first delinquency.

Two things people often get confused about:

• Paying does not reset the clock. A paid collection will get the status paid, but it will leave on the same schedule. You should still pay your debts.
• Selling the debt does not reset the clock. A debt can be resold to another collector, but the date of first delinquency does not change. If the date suddenly becomes more recent, that is an error.

That is why Excalibur Credit Solutions managers always check this date at all three bureaus. An entry stays for up to 7 years, but it hurts less with every year. Details are in our article “How Much Negative Items Hurt Your Credit History”.

What to do if a negative entry is inaccurate

We don’t recommend disputing an accurate entry: if the late payment really happened, it will stay for its full term. It makes sense to dispute four kinds of entries:

• Inaccurate: the wrong amount, the wrong date, the wrong status, or one debt shown twice.
• Outdated: entries that stay longer than 7 years (or 10 for Chapter 7).
• Unverified: the creditor or collector can’t back up the debt with documents.
• Not yours: accounts you never opened and addresses where you never lived.

How to check and dispute an entry like this, step by step:

1. Order a fresh report from all three bureaus. A credit monitoring service such as SmartCredit, IdentityIQ or MyScoreIQ will work.
2. For each negative line, write down the creditor, the amount, the date of first delinquency and the status.
3. Compare the entry at all three bureaus: different dates and amounts are a common sign of an error.
4. Gather proof: receipts, statements, letters.
5. File a dispute with the bureau where the error appears. The bureau is required to recheck the entry with the creditor or collector. Expect an answer in about 30–45 days.