Paying Creditors Immediately and Credit Reports
Question: I had a credit card got to collections after not making any payments for three months. Once they got a hold of me, I payed off the credit card in full, by withdrawling money from a mutual fund. How was my credit score affected, and for how long will it be on my credit report?
Answer: Your credit report typically shows the payment history on your account for the past 24 months. Each month is represented by a number, between 1 and 9, indicating your payment history. For example, if your payments were current for the last six months, your credit report would show 111111. If you fell one month behind last month, your credit report would show 211111. In your case you were three months behind, and then you paid in full, so if you paid it in full two months ago, your credit report would show 114321 (the first two 1′s show that you have been current (paid in full) for the last two months; the 4 shows that you were 3 months behind, the 3 shows that four months ago you were 2 months behind, and so on.
Your credit will probably not be damaged for very long, since your payments are now up to date. More information can be found on the Equifax web site.