If you use a credit monitoring app to track changes to your credit reports and credit score, then at some point you may get the alert “remark removed from account.” But what does this mean, and how will it affect your credit?
To find out, you’ll need to understand what a remark on your credit report is and what might cause it to appear in the first place.
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What is a remark on your credit report?
A remark is a note that you or one of your lenders has added to your credit report to provide additional information about one of your credit accounts.
A remark isn’t necessarily bad—it can be a positive, negative, or neutral description of the account.
Common reasons that remarks are added to credit accounts
A remark might be added to an acount on your credit report if you:
- Settled a debt for less money than you owed
- Rehabilitated a student loan in default
- Negotiated with your creditor to remove the negative payment history on a credit account
- Informed your creditor that your payment on an account was affected by extreme circumstances, such as a natural disaster
- Filed a report that the account was compromised by hackers or identity thieves
- Disputed the accuracy of the information being reported
What is a dispute comment?
A dispute comment, also known as a dispute remark, dispute notation, or dispute statement, is a particularly common type of remark on your credit report that shows that you’ve disputed the accuracy of an item.
When you dispute an item on your credit report, the lender or debt collection agency furnishing your account information to the credit reporting agencies may add a dispute comment on their own. This mark may read “account in dispute” or something similar.
You also have the option to add a dispute comment to your credit report yourself. This is known as a consumer statement, and it can apply to a specific account or to your entire credit report. 1 This is typically your option of last resort if your credit dispute was rejected and you at least want your report to show you believe the information is inaccurate.
You can add a dispute comment by visiting the websites of the three main credit bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.
Why a remark was removed from your account
If you’re using a credit-monitoring service or a score-monitoring app like the one offered by Credit Karma, you may receive the notification “remark removed from account.”
If this has happened to you, don’t panic—there are a few possible explanations for why a remark was removed from your account, which we’ve listed below.
Your payment status changed
Your lender may have added a remark to your credit report if you previously approached them, told them you were having trouble paying, and asked for special accommodations (such as temporary forbearance or reduced payments).
If you recently began making your usual payments again, then it’s likely that your creditor removed the remark from your account.
Here are examples of payment changes that can appear as a remark on your account: 2 3
- Forbearance
- Deferment
- Reduced payment
You completed a debt management plan
If you were struggling to cope with your debts and decided to enroll in a debt management plan (DMP) with a credit counseling agency, then your creditors probably added remarks to your accounts to show that they were included in the debt management program.
Your creditors also probably removed these remarks once you completed the program and successfully got out of debt. This isn’t a bad thing. It just means that your credit account will show up the same way it did before you started working with a credit counselor.
You filed a credit dispute that was later resolved
As mentioned, a statement of dispute may be added if you formally dispute an account with your creditor, a debt collector contacting you, or the credit bureaus.
If your creditor is the one that added the dispute to your credit report, then they’ll probably remove it once they consider the dispute to be resolved. 4 Credit disputes generally last no more than 30–45 days because this is how much time the credit bureaus are legally given to conduct their investigation. 5
If your creditor removes the dispute remark from your account but you’re unsatisfied with the results of the bureau’s investigation, then you can dispute the account again or have a consumer dispute statement reinserted onto your credit reports.
Note that if you’re the one who added the dispute remark, then it’ll only be removed once you’ve asked the credit bureau to do so. Only remarks added by your creditors can be removed without your say-so.
Your credit account was deleted
Remarks are often attached to specific accounts. If the account is removed from your credit report, the associated remark will be deleted. 1
There are several possible reasons for why an account may have been removed from your credit report. For example, if the account was closed for a long time, it may have naturally fallen off your report after 7–10 years. Alternatively, if the account was originally reported due to an error, the credit bureaus might have corrected it by deleting it.
Do remarks affect your credit score?
No, remarks, statements, and comments added to your credit reports do not directly affect your credit score. 6
Remarks are just notes that give context about your accounts to lenders and other people looking at your credit reports. They’re not one of the factors that affect your credit, and they’re not involved in the calculation of your credit score.
With that said, remarks often accompany other things that do affect your score. For instance, if you miss a payment on a loan or credit card and you add a statement to your credit report explaining your circumstances, the statement itself won’t cause a decrease in your credit score. However, the late payment on your credit report certainly will.
How long can remarks remain on your credit report?
The amount of time that a remark can stay on your credit report depends on what type of remark it is, why it’s there, and who put it there.
For example, if your lender added the remark, it can stay on your credit report for as long they see fit, as long as the relevant account is still on your credit report.
If you added the remark yourself, you can ask the credit bureau to delete it at any time. If you don’t, it will generally remain on your credit report for several years, but not indefinitely. For example, a consumer statement on your Experian credit report will fall off automatically after 2 years if it’s a general statement, or whenever the account is deleted if it’s account-specific. 1
How to remove remarks from your credit report
It’s possible to remove remarks from your credit report, although the steps you’ll need to take depend on who added the remark in the first place. To remove a consumer statement that you added yourself, all you need to do is contact the credit bureau publishing the remark and ask them to remove it.
To get other remarks deleted, you’ll need to contact the creditor or debt collector that added them. They’re under no obligation to remove the remark, but you might be able to convince them.
Companies are usually more willing to remove negative remarks (related to delinquent accounts) if there were extenuating circumstances behind the delinquency, such as loss of employment, a medical emergency, or the COVID-19 pandemic.
Is it worth trying to remove remarks from your credit report?
Whether or not you should remove a remark from your credit report depends on how it’s affecting your life. Consumer statements may be worth removing if your circumstances have changed or if they’re working against you by tipping off potential lenders to credit troubles you’ve had in the past.
