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Status line summarizes account history

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Credit Advice

Topics addressed on October 31, 2007:

Status line summarizes account history

Dear Max,

I have an Experian credit monitoring service, so I always have access to the updated information that is being reported to Experian. My question is in reference to the way a previous auto loan item (which is now paid off) is showing on my Experian credit report. The "status" field reads "Paid, Closed/Past due 30 days." How can something be paid and past due? What is the role of the status field in the Experian credit file? I plan to dispute the information but would like to be educated on how to interpret the information that I see in my file.

- STE

Dear STE,

The status field is actually a summary of the account history.

It shows the current status, whether the account is open or closed, and the most negative status during the account’s history.

Your example indicates the account is now paid and is closed but was 30 days past due at the time it was closed.

If the account were current when it was closed, it might have said, “Paid, Closed/Current, was past due 30 days.” That would indicate the account was on time when it was closed, but that it had been 30 days past due at some point in its history.

If there were no negative history, the status would show the account was paid, closed and was never late.

If the account was never late, you should dispute that. If it was not late at the time it was closed, you should identify that specific late payment as the one in dispute. When the late payment is removed, the status will be updated to indicate the account was current at the time it was closed.

Thanks for asking.

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