I was asked, “What day of the month do creditors report to the credit bureaus?”
Let me shed some light on this question:
The short answer is: “It depends.” But generally, it takes about 30 days for creditor's information to register with the three big credit reporting agencies, (CRAs): Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Many lenders report your information every single day, but that doesn't mean it will show up on your account with them for a while. Different lending institutions, banks, and merchandisers report information to the credit bureaus with different frequency. Some of the larger creditors report every single month, while the smaller credit cards, installment plans, or credit lines only report quarterly.
So a purchase, balance pay down, or missed payment might be reported immediately or might take a few months – there is no easy way to predict because creditors do not disclose to the public the specific day or frequency with which they report.
The second part of that question could be: “Once you pay off a debt or close an account, how long will it take to show up on my credit report, and reflect in my score?”
It can take as long as 90 days for a debt item to show on your report. If you are waiting for a change in your credit to show up but it hasn’t at that point, contact the creditor with any written documentation of the change and request they review your account for accuracy.
Here is a list of creditors who may report to the CRA’s every month:
• Banks, credit unions, finance companies and other lenders that issue credit cards or make mortgage, personal, automobile and/or student loans.
• Non-bank credit card issuers (for example, American Express, Diners Club and Discover).
• Department stores.
• Oil and gas companies.
• Any other creditors that receive monthly installment payments.
Other creditors won’t even log information with the credit bureaus until an account is past due – 30, 60, 90, or 180 days late, or it has already been charged off or turned over to a collection agency.
These creditors may include:
• Landlords and property managers.
• Utility companies.
• Local retailers.
• Insurance companies.
• Magazines and newspapers.
• Doctors and hospitals.
• Lawyers and other professionals.
Of course, consumers are entitled by Federal law to access one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus every year. That means every quarter you could (and should) check up on your credit report, but that doesn’t include a FICO score number – just the report. But if you are in a rush to get an item on or off your credit score, because maybe you are applying for a home loan, for example, we can help with a Rapid Rescore to speed up the process.
Comments(2)