If you have had a vehicle repossessed, will it stay on your credit if the creditor keeps selling the papers to different creditors?
- JNB
Dear JNB,
Your credit report is your credit history, so any account that is in your name will likely be included. The status of the original car loan will be updated to show that it is a repossession, is closed or transferred and has a zero balance, since any remaining balance is now owed to the new creditor or, more likely, collection agency. The original account will remain on your report for seven years from the original delinquency date of the debt.
The account entry for the new lender typically will show that it was purchased or transferred from another lender. It will show as an open account with an outstanding balance. The new account will also remain on file for seven years from the date the original account first became delinquent.
If the debt remains unpaid and the collection agency sells the account to another creditor, that account will be updated to show it is closed or transferred as well. The new account may then also appear on the report under the new creditor's name.
By listing both the original account holder and the new debt owner(s), your credit report shows the complete history of the account from beginning to end, but only for seven years from the date the debt first became delinquent.
Thanks for asking.
The "Ask Experian" team
