Any credit reporting gurus

[GoTerps]

Got a question about credit reporting... If I cosigned for a car and the original borrower went 1x 30 days late - what happens? I know it will show on both our credit reports , but what if anything can be done to try and get it removed? I was not notified the payment was appraoching 30 days late and did not know or I would have made the payment. What are the long-term consequences of this and how long will it remain on my credit report?

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Phenom]

I had an issue with a collections amount showing up on one of the three credit bureaus when we bought our current house, called the number on it because I didn't recognize the name and the company wasn't even around anymore. I wrote a letter to the credit bureau (the dispute process is on each website I believe) they did an investigation and 30 days later I got a letter back saying it was removed from my credit report... I would start there...

 

[layinwood]

GoTerps, I may be off here but I don't believe I am. As a cosigner you won't have monthly lates hit your report. If it's repo'd then yes that will show but not a monthly late payment. At some point if it gets too late they will come to you as the co signer and if you don't take care of it then, it will go on your report.

 

[Woodson]

Hardships of cosigning. My advice would be not to do it in the future (stating the obvious). As for the late payment record on the credit report, it will cause a points deduction but usually after 2 years (24 months) it will not carry any weight in the FICO formula. It can push a positive account into negative status for the life of the account on the report. (7 years after last account update.)