Your credit report is essentially a log of all your credit transactions throughout your life. With each credit card transaction or loan repayment you make, your credit report will be reflected, which will ultimately affect your credit score.
Do you have a repossession and wondering how long does a repo stay on your credit? First, we must understand how lenders rate potential borrowers.
Your credit score and report are very important as most lenders will consult this before they grant you any credit. So, before you are able to take out a loan, a mortgage, or an additional credit card, lenders will check your credit report.
And if they don’t like what they see, the process can be more difficult.
There are some things that can really damage your credit score, including defaults and repossessions. In particular, repos can be very damaging to your credit score.
This guide will help you understand a little more about the repossession process.
What Is A Repo?
First things first, let’s take a look at what a repo is. Well, as we have just established, repo is the shortened name for a repossession. So what is a repossession?
Repossessions occur worldwide, and they are a way for parties that have been wronged financially to try to recoup the money they have lost from the individual being unable to pay the money they have borrowed.
Repos are a self-help sort of action that can be a little tricky to understand. But essentially, repossessions allow the party with the right of ownership to take the property back from the party with the right of possession without having to get the courts involved.
The right of ownership would belong to the creditor, whereas the right of possession would belong to the person who borrowed the money from the creditor.
Typically, repossessions will occur when the individual fails to make the required re-payments for the money that they borrowed. They are fairly common but do become a stain on your credit report, which can cause your score to drop.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how long a repo will stay on your credit report.
How Long Does a Repo Stay On Your Credit Report?
As we have just established, repossessions are a black mark on your credit report, and they can cause your credit score to drop significantly.
Repossessions only occur when you fail to make repayments for money that you have borrowed, so they are a sign that you aren’t really creditworthy. Essentially, repossessions are proof that you have fallen behind or failed to make payments in the past.
If you have ever checked your credit report, you will know that things that negatively impact your credit report generally stick around for quite a while.
Credit reports can be frustrating because your hard work to get a good credit score can often be ignored. It won’t always be reflected in your credit report, and it can often feel like bad things stick around forever.
For example, generally speaking, a repossession on your credit report will be reflected on your credit report for around 7 years.
This means that a financial mistake you made when you were a teenager could still be impacting your credit score when you are in your mid-late twenties, leading a completely different life.
So it is understandable that so many people get frustrated by financial things like these.
Specifically, the 7 years will usually start from when the first payment was missed, leading to the repossession.
This can actually be fairly beneficial to you if the lender is very lenient and allows you to miss multiple payments before repossession, as it means the repo may stay on your credit report for less time than you expect.
However, 7 years is still a long time to reflect this on your credit report.
Can You Remove A Repo From Your Credit?
The worst thing about credit reports is that it is very easy for one mistake you made to haunt you for many years to come. Something as simple as missing a payment can lead to a default, which can negatively impact your credit report.
So, it is understandable that you may wonder if you can remove a repo from your credit report.
If the repossession listed on your credit report is incorrect or inaccurate, it may be possible to have it removed from your credit report. However, if the repossession is valid and accurate, sadly, it isn’t this easy.
Most of the time, you will be unable to remove the repo from your credit report until the necessary 7 years have passed.
However, there is one circumstance where you may be able to get this removed from your credit report. Depending on who the lender was, there is the potential that you may be able to negotiate with them to get the repossession removed from your credit report.
The lender will have the ability to authorize this, and some lenders will do this on one condition.
That condition is that you pay off the full debt that you owe. A lot of people will be unable to do this, which is why the repo remains on their credit report.
However, if your financial circumstances have changed significantly since the repossession, and you have the money to pay off the debt, this might be a good avenue to explore if you really need that repo removed from your credit report.
Summary
In short, a repossession will typically stay on your credit report for 7 years. These 7 years will usually start from the original missed payment that led to the repossession occurring.
If the repossession is accurate and valid, it is tricky to remove this from your credit report before the end of the 7 years.
As a current Mortgage Underwriter with 15 years of experience, I have seen my fair share of money-related issues. Whether that be high levels of debt, not enough credit, or simply a lack of funds - I’ve had clients who fit into these categories.
Here I will share tips, tricks, and experiences on how you can get yourself back in control of your finances.
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