What Does “Remark Added To Account” Mean On My Credit Report? (2023)

A remark such as “remark added to account” or “remark added to this account” is a note or comment to added clarification to your credit report.

They are added to your credit report by a financial institution with which you own a credit account.

Similarly, you can have remarks such as “remark removed from account” or “remark removed from this account” added to coincide with accounts or derogatory lines being removed, such as when a dispute has been resolved.

Associated with one of your credit accounts, remarks are not inherently good or bad, but they typically provide contextual information surrounding events that occur with regards to your credit accounts including

Remarks can be beneficial to your credit report if they are associated with fixing negative situations, such as resolving unpaid debts.

However, they can also accompany events harmful to your credit, including discharged debt and bankruptcy.

You can view remarks by pulling your credit report, keeping in mind that they can remain on your credit for as long as the associated account is present on the report also.

But you can dispute inaccurate remarks or ask to have them removed early.

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What are account dispute remarks?

Dispute remarks are comments added to your credit file during and after a formal dispute process, purely for the purpose of:

  • tracking the current status
  • providing additional insight, and
  • explaining the dispute resolution.

Formal disputes are an effective way to correct inaccuracies on your credit report.

The process can have a positive effect on your credit score since the results of disputes can change specific details of your credit file, including payment dates and amounts borrowed or repaid.

However, a remark is merely a comment providing additional information and has no direct impact on your credit score.

Are remarks good on credit?

Some remarks can be beneficial to have on your credit report, especially if they can help creditors understand how you fixed a negative situation. But a remark alone will not increase your credit score.

Examples of remarks that can coincide with a credit score increase are:

In these scenarios, you may notice your score increase in association with certain remarks being added or removed.

But the change to your score comes from a part of the credit score calculation, not from the remark itself.

One other common situation where remarks coincide with a credit score increase is in the event of a disaster.

When you notify creditors of a disaster-related situation, they will often place a remark on your credit file describing the situation and how it impacts your credit account.

Certain credit score calculations, such as VantageScore used by CreditKarma and other credit monitoring services, will exclude accounts impacted by disasters.

Most lenders, however, use FICO scores, and they typically include such accounts. The FICO report will still show the remark, but the associated credit score will most likely differ from VantageScore.

Can your grade go down after a remark?

Remarks alone do not decrease your credit score, even if they are associated with a problematic situation like past-due payments.

Creditors however, can add remarks when harmful events occur, causing people to think that they influence your credit score.

Rather, many situations genuinely cause your credit score to decrease which are often accompanied by a remark on your credit file, including:

Additionally, if a potential creditor, landlord, or employer reviews your credit file and finds undesirable remarks, they may not look at them favorably and therefore it decreases your chances of approval.

For example, if you have multiple remarks related to unsuccessful credit disputes, it may be an indication that you have a tendency to abuse the dispute resolution process and thus present a higher risk than your credit score alone shows.

Rather, it is recommended that you do your best to live up to your end of any credit agreement.

Mind you, it’s important that the dispute process exists but it should be used appropriately to fix any items you genuinely believe to be inaccurate. It can then be worthwhile to ask for flexibility in limited situations. 

Remember that abusive tendencies can be tracked and become part of your credit file through remarks.

How to view remarks on credit report

Credit monitoring services and soft credit checks typically show when remarks are added or removed. To see the full details of remarks on your credit report, you will need to pull your full credit report from the credit bureaus or other consumer reporting agencies.

You have a legal right to obtain one free credit report per year from each of the main three credit bureaus through these methods:

  1. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com
  2. Call 1-877-322-8228
  3. Complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

You can also obtain a free credit report under specific circumstances such as:

If these don’t apply, you can order additional credit reports for a fee, legally capped at $14.50.

In addition to the main credit bureaus, you can also review reports from other consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) to view remarks.

These specialized entities provide reports for specific purposes, such as employment screening or opening a bank account. Many CRAs provide a free annual report.

How long does a remark stay on your credit report?

Remarks can stay on your credit report as long as the associated account remain on your report, typically 7 years from the date the account closed.

This is on the condition that the account was in bad standing, such as accounts sent to collections or discharged debts.

Otherwise, they will remain for 10 years after closing accounts that are in good standing or related to Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.

A remark can be removed earlier if the creditor chooses to delete it and in limited situations if you request removal.

How do I remove a remark from my credit report?

To have a specific remark removed from your credit report, you can either:

  • dispute inaccurate remarks
  • ask for a goodwill removal, or
  • request an early exclusion

You will have a higher likelihood of success if the situation has been resolved and the remark no longer provides meaningful information about your creditworthiness.

  • Formal Dispute: This process exists to have inaccurate items taken off your credit report. If there is a false remark on your credit report, you can file a dispute with the credit bureaus directly. It can also help to speak with the organization that originally placed the remark on your file to see if they will delete it.
  • Goodwill Request: If the remark is accurate, you can still ask the creditor or organization who placed the remark on your file to delete it. It can help to write a goodwill letter that specifies how the remark impacts you, how your situation has changed, and why the remark is no longer needed.
  • Early Exclusion: This technique has the possibility of removing the remark shortly before it automatically falls off your report after the 7 or 10-year period. It involves reaching out directly to the credit bureaus up to six months before the automatic falloff date and asking to remove the item earlier.

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