What are derogatory marks on your credit report, and how can you fix them?
October 30, 2025
A derogatory mark is a negative item that appears on your credit report and hurts your credit. A derogatory mark can potentially be removed if you challenge it, but if it does not get removed, you can try building positive credit activity to overcome it.
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice. See Lexington Law’s editorial disclosure for more information.
Having a few derogatory marks, or negative items, on your credit report dragging down your score can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you have a good financial record otherwise.
Negative items on your credit report tell lenders to be careful when lending money to you, which affects your credit health, your ability to be approved for credit and the interest rates and terms a lender might offer you. However, there may be inaccurate or unfair derogatory marks on your credit report that don’t actually belong there, so it’s important for you to know what’s on your credit report and what you can do about it.
The different types of negative items include late payments, charge-offs, collection accounts, foreclosures, repossessions and bankruptcies. Each of these items can stay on your credit report for up to seven to ten years, depending on the item. This article addresses what a derogatory mark is, how it can impact your credit and how you might be able to address it.
How do derogatory marks impact my credit score?
The impact that one or multiple derogatory marks might have on your credit depends on what kind of mark it is and how high your credit score was before the mark was added to your report. For instance, declaring bankruptcy would be worse than missing a payment or settling a debt. And unfortunately, a derogatory mark can have a more significant impact on a high credit score than a low credit score.
In addition, more recent negative items typically carry more weight than older ones. This means that as time goes on, your older negative items will have less and less of an effect on your credit.
Take a look at this chart to get an idea of how long a specific derogatory mark might be on your credit report.
| Type of derogatory mark | What is it? | How long does this stay on a credit report? |
|---|---|---|
| Late payment | Late payments are payments made 30 days or more after the payment due date. | Typically, this can remain on your report for seven years from the date you made a late payment. |
| An account in collections or a charge-off | Creditors may send your account to collections or charge them off if there’s been no payment for 90 to 180 days. | Typically, this can remain on your report for seven years from the date you made a late payment. |
| Debt settlement | Debt settlement is when you and your creditor agree that you will pay less than the full amount owed. | A typical time period is seven years, starting from when the debt was settled or the date of the first delinquent payment if there were missed payments. |
| Repossession | A repossession is when your assets are seized, such as a vehicle that was used as collateral. | A repossession can remain on your report for seven years from the first date of the missed payment. |
| Foreclosure | Foreclosure is when you fail to pay your mortgage and you forfeit the right to the property. | Typically, seven years from the foreclosure filing date. |
| Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy is a court proceeding to discharge your debt and sell your assets. | Chapter 13 bankruptcy can remain on your report for seven years. Chapter 7 bankruptcy can remain on your report for 10 years. |
Tax liens and judgments used to show up on credit reports but no longer do, so these items shouldn’t affect your credit for any amount of time.
How long can a derogatory mark impact my credit?
Depending on the derogatory mark on your credit report, it can affect your credit for anywhere from seven to 10 years. The most common derogatory marks are missed payments and collections, and these can stay on your credit report for seven years. Some of the other items that stay for seven years include:
- Charge-offs
- Repossessions
- Student loan payment default or delinquency
- Chapter 13 bankruptcy
- Foreclosure
Chapter 7 bankruptcy, also known as a liquidation bankruptcy can stay on your report for up to 10 years.
Types of derogatory marks
Late payments
Late payments occur when you’ve paid an account at least 30 days late. Although late payments aren’t the worst negative item to earn, you want to avoid making frequent late payments and making late payments on multiple accounts.
Even one late payment has the potential to hurt your credit a sizeable amount, and payments that are 60, 90 or 120 days late could do even more damage. Late payments can typically stay on your credit report for up to seven years.
Charge-offs
A charge-off is when a creditor writes off your unpaid debt. This can happen when you haven’t made a payment for anywhere from 90 to 180 days past its due date. Charge-offs have a severely negative impact on your credit, and like most other negative items, they can stay on your credit reports for seven years. When an account is charged off, your creditor can sell it to collection agencies, which can also impact your credit.
Creditors see a charge-off as an indication that you can’t be depended on to fulfill your financial obligations. When creditors see a charge-off on your credit reports, they are more likely to deny any new applications for loans or lines of credit because they see you as a financial risk. If you do get approved, it could come with higher interest rates and less favorable terms. Current creditors can even respond by raising your interest rates on your existing balances.
Collections
About 4.7 percent of Americans had at least one collection account on their credit reports in Q4 2024. Unpaid accounts like, credit cards and loans, utilities and parking tickets can all be sold to collections.
Collections arise from debts that are sold to third parties by the original creditor if a bill goes unpaid for too long. They usually have a serious negative impact on your credit and can stay on your reports for up to seven years. When potential creditors see collections on your credit reports, it can raise red flags and lead them to think that you’re not responsible with your bills.
Repossessions
A repossession is a loss of property on a secured loan. Secured loans are loans backed by collateral, such as a car or a house, and if you can’t make your payments, the lender can take the collateral as payment instead. Usually, when this occurs, the lender will auction off the collateral to make up for the remaining balance, although it doesn’t usually cover the remaining balance. When there is a remaining balance, the creditor may choose to sell it off to collections.
A repossession has a severe negative effect on a person’s credit because it shows their inability to pay back a loan, and it can remain on their report for seven years from the first date of the missed payment.
Foreclosures
A foreclosure is a legal proceeding that is initiated by a mortgage lender when a homeowner has been unable to make payments. Usually, a lender will file a foreclosure when a homeowner has been three months late or more on mortgage payments.
If a foreclosure goes through and a homeowner can’t catch up on payments, then they are evicted from their home, and the foreclosure is reported to the credit bureaus. Foreclosures can dramatically impact your credit score and can stay on your report for seven years from the foreclosure filing date.
Bankruptcies
Filing bankruptcy is extremely damaging to a person’s credit. Individuals who file for bankruptcy are usually those who have too much debt and not enough money to pay it. They likely have had overdue accounts for a long period of time, and in some cases, they have experienced a loss of income that prevented them from being able to pay many of their bills.
Deciding whether or not to file for bankruptcy can be difficult, because there are many advantages and disadvantages to consider. Bankruptcy can impact your credit for up to either seven or ten years, depending on the type of bankruptcy you file for (Chapter 13 or Chapter 7, respectively).
When a bankruptcy is filed, debts are usually discharged and the individual filing is released from most of their previously incurred debts (with some exceptions). This option can give people a “clean slate” from debt, but creditors don’t like to see it on credit reports because it can imply that an individual can’t pay their debts.
How can I improve my credit score with derogatory marks on my credit report?
If you have derogatory marks, you can improve your credit score by taking steps to rebuild your credit. And if your credit looks healthier, you’re more likely to get approved for loans and credit cards, and you’re more likely to be offered favorable terms that help you save money.
Here’s how to try to improve your credit based on each type of derogatory mark:
| Derogatory mark | What to do to improve your credit score |
|---|---|
| Late payment | Pay off the full debt as soon as possible. If there are late fees, ask the creditor to drop the fee (they often do if it’s your first time being late).
Stay on top of your payments with other lenders to show that you’re responsible, reducing the impact of a late payment. |
| Account in collections or a charge-off | Pay off the debt or negotiate a settlement where you pay less than the full amount owed—and ask the creditor if they will remove the item in exchange. Making a payment doesn’t automatically remove the negative mark from your report, but it does prevent you from being sued over the debt. |
| Debt settlement | Pay the full settled amount to prevent your account from going to collections or being charged off. |
| Repossession | Ask your lender if they will remove the item if you pay your debt in full. Continue to pay other bills on time to gradually rebuild your credit. |
| Foreclosure | Keep other credit accounts and loans open and make timely payments to build up positive credit activity. |
| Bankruptcy | Rebuild your credit with credit builder loans and credit cards for those with lower credit. Make timely payments to reestablish that you’re a responsible borrower. |
These tips apply primarily to accurate negative items. You have the right to a credit report that fairly represents your credit use, so if you notice a derogatory mark that’s inaccurately or unfairly reported, there are other options available to you, such as filing a credit dispute. Addressing the error like this could lead to its removal from your credit report.
How do I remove derogatory marks from my credit report?
You can potentially get inaccurate derogatory marks removed from your credit report by filing a dispute. Here’s how to dispute errors on your credit report.
Request and review your credit report
TransUnion, Equifax and Experian typically provide one free credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com each week. Request your credit reports and review them closely for errors.
Look through both “closed” and “open” derogatory marks. Check for things like accounts you don’t recognize, incorrect personal information and inaccurate account balances, credit limits and payment dates. Take note of any discrepancies you see.
Dispute any errors
If you notice incorrect information, especially regarding a negative item, you need to file a dispute with the appropriate credit bureaus. This process involves sending a letter detailing all of the necessary information, such as your identity, a list of the items that are incorrect and any relevant documentation that supports your claim.
Depending on your situation, you may also want to contact the entity that provided the bureau with the information, generally the original creditor of the account. You can file a dispute yourself or get professional help from a credit repair company. The credit bureaus must respond to your dispute within 30 to 45 days.
Follow up on the dispute
You may have to provide additional information or proof to refute something on your credit report. Be sure to respond to any inquiries by the specified time.
If the derogatory marks in question are proven to be unfair, inaccurate or unsubstantiated, they should be removed. This is likely to have a positive effect on your credit, although just how much is hard to predict.
If you’re unable to see a removal of a derogatory mark from your credit report by disputing it or negotiating with your creditor, you’ll likely need to wait until it falls off on its own, usually within seven to 10 years. In the meantime, you can work on rebuilding your credit by doing things like lowering your credit utilization ratio, making payments on time and in full and only applying for credit when necessary.
How can I get help with derogatory marks?
You can work to address derogatory marks from your credit report by yourself, but getting help from a credit repair company may make the process easier.
Professional help could save you time, energy and resources. If you’re interested in learning more about credit repair services, get started with a free credit assessment. See your FICO score, a short summary of your credit report and receive a credit repair recommendation.
Note: The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, reviewers, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective agents or employers.
