Did you know? Most student loan companies will remove the late payments on a student loan account after you have established 9 months of paying on time.
This is for federal student loans, not private money student loans, although you can still ask.
When you call to request the deletion of the previous late payments, there is a “magic word” you must say, and it is not please. The magic words are, “I have completed the 9-month rehab program of paying on time.”
9-month rehab is the magic code. Use it even if you were not officially pre-enrolled in a student loan rehab program. If you paid on time for 9 months, then that is good enough.
This is a one-time goodwill gesture for federal student loans. You cannot have late payments, then 9 months of on-time payments, then be late again. You need to show perfect payments after your time of financial hardship that caused the lates.
Ask the loan company to report this to the credit bureaus and to give you a copy (just in case you need to send it to the credit bureaus yourself). Most companies are happy to do this.
You can make the request by letter, but why not save time and postage by placing a phone call?
For more tips and strategies about getting late payments removed, see Repair Your Credit Like the Pros here.

Thank you. As soon as I get off work I am calling Navient. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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You might want to read this about the Navient Lawsuit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2020/10/20/navient-lawsuit-what-it-means-for-your-student-loans/?sh=5db0ee2061d5
I searched for years to no avail to find a way to remove my student loan late payments. When I called and wrote to my government loan servicer navient I was told they can’t remove them due to some federal regulation. I consulted credit help companies specializing in student loan help but they only advised consolidating all my loans into one loan which I determined was a terrible idea. After reading your email I have hope again because you have provided an actionable solution to the largest loan on my credit report. If I can get the government to delete said late payments it would relieve a lot of worry and anxiety regarding my credit .
I wanted to say thank you again. I bought your book maybe two yrs ago and subscribed to your email subscription. You have not minced your advice. I’ve done a lot of research and you have the best uncommonly known info! so I save all of your emails. You have been extremely helpful to me on my credit clean up journey!
Sincerely
Jean Gales
On Thu, Jun 3, 2021 at 1:05 PM Ask Carolyn Warren wrote:
> askcarolynwarren posted: ” Did you know? Most student loan companies will > remove the late payments on a student loan account after you have > established 9 months of paying on time. This is for federal student loans, > not private money student loans, although you can still ask. ” >
Jean, thank you for your kind compliment. I am blessed to know how much the book and blog have helped you.
I sent my letter to Navient but no response.
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There are directions in Repair Your Credit Like the Pros for how to handle a situation where the creditor does not respond.
Hi, would this strategy work if the loans have been in Covid forbearance (so showing as positive payments for the last 23 months) since the initial missed payments? I had 4 missed payments, but each semester’s loan shows as a separate account so across 9 federal loans = 36 missed payments 🙁
Anne, I don’t know how this shows on your credit report, what the dates are, or what agreement you have with the student loan companies. I also don’t know if Navient is one of the companies and if the lawsuit against them might apply to you. (Google search Navient lawsuit.) I suggest you review your Agreement and/or call and ask.