Credit record removal checker

This checker tells you when an entry on your credit record must come off, and what makes it come off sooner. A judgment that has been paid must be removed within days, not years, and most people do not know that. An unpaid judgment falls off after five years whether or not it was paid. An adverse listing such as "default" or "handed over" comes off after a year, or once the account is settled. An enquiry comes off after a year. Payment history stays for five years and does not come off on settlement. The checker works out the dates for your entry and tells you what to do if a deadline has passed.

It is for anyone who has been refused credit, a lease or a job because of a listing, for people who paid a judgment debt years ago and still see it on their report, and for anyone who wants to know whether waiting or paying is the faster way to a clean record.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

You choose the kind of entry: a court judgment, an adverse listing, an enquiry or payment history. You enter the date of the entry, the date you paid or settled if you have, and optionally a date to work from. The checker returns the date the entry falls off under the retention rules, and, where you have paid, the dates by which the credit provider must report the payment and the bureau must remove the entry. It tells you when a deadline has already passed and what to do about it, and it reminds you that removal from the bureau is not the same as setting a judgment aside in court.

It is for the ordinary entries on a consumer credit report. Debt review flags, administration orders, sequestration and debt intervention listings have their own rules and are not modelled.

How the calculation works

For a judgment, the checker adds five years to the judgment date to find the latest date it may be displayed. If you have paid, it adds seven days to the payment date for the credit provider to report the payment to the bureaus, and seven days more for the bureaus to remove the judgment, and reports both dates. If the removal date has passed and you are working from today, it tells you the judgment should already be gone and how to force the issue.

For an adverse listing, it adds one year to the listing date. If you have settled, it adds the same seven plus seven days to the settlement date, because section 71A of the National Credit Act applies the same duty to adverse listings as to judgments.

For an enquiry, it adds one year. For payment history, it adds five years and explains that settlement does not remove history.

All of the periods come from a rate table that records the regulation and the date it was confirmed, so a change to the regulations is applied in one place.

The law behind the numbers

Regulation 17 of the National Credit Regulations, made under the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 and amended in 2006, sets the maximum period for which each category of consumer credit information may be displayed and used. Civil court judgments, including default judgments, may be displayed for the earlier of five years or until the judgment is rescinded by a court or abandoned by the credit provider under section 86 of the Magistrates' Courts Act. Adverse classifications of consumer behaviour, such as "delinquent", "default", "slow paying", "absconded" or "not contactable", and adverse classifications of enforcement action, such as "handed over" or "written off", may be displayed for one year, or for the period in section 71A where that applies. Enquiries may be displayed for one year. Factual payment profile information may be displayed for five years. A debt restructuring order may be displayed until a clearance certificate is issued.

The Removal of Adverse Consumer Credit Information and Information Relating to Paid Up Judgments Regulations of 2014, published as Government Notice R144 in Gazette 37386 of 26 February 2014 and in force from 1 April 2014, did two things. They required a once-off removal of adverse information and paid-up judgments within two months of coming into force, the so-called credit amnesty. And they imposed an ongoing duty: a credit provider must submit all information relating to a paid-up judgment to every registered credit bureau within seven days of receiving payment, and a bureau must remove a paid-up judgment within seven days of receiving proof of payment. A bureau that removes an entry must notify the other bureaus within three days, and they must remove it within three days of the notice.

Section 71A of the National Credit Act, inserted by amendment, extends the principle to adverse listings generally. Where a consumer has settled an obligation that carried an adverse classification of behaviour or enforcement, an adverse listing on the payment profile, or a judgment, the credit provider must submit the settlement information to all registered bureaus within seven days, and the bureau must remove the adverse listing within seven days of receiving it. Payment profile history is not removed; it is factual and stays for five years, with the account shown as settled.

Section 72 of the Act gives every consumer the right to one free credit report from each bureau every twelve months, the right to be told when adverse information is about to be listed, and the right to challenge any information. A bureau that receives a dispute has twenty business days to investigate and must remove information it cannot verify. Complaints about a bureau that does not comply go to the Credit Ombud or the National Credit Regulator.

Removal from a credit record does not extinguish the debt. A judgment debt prescribes thirty years after the judgment. A judgment can be removed from the court record by rescission under section 36 of the Magistrates' Courts Act, which is a short application where the creditor consents in writing after payment, or a contested one where the judgment was granted in error, without proper service, or on a debt that had prescribed.

Worked example

Palesa had a default judgment granted against her on 10 May 2024 for an unpaid clothing account. She paid the debt in full on 1 October 2026. Two weeks later, on 15 October, the judgment is still on her credit report and a lease application has just been declined.

The checker tells her the judgment would have fallen off without payment on 10 May 2029. Because she paid, the credit provider had until 8 October 2026 to report the payment to the bureaus, and the bureaus have until 15 October 2026 to remove it. The headline is that the paid-up judgment should be off her record by 15 October 2026, and the warning tells her what to do if it is not: send proof of payment directly to each bureau, which must then remove the judgment within seven days of receiving it, lodge a dispute if it does not, and remember that removal from one bureau obliges it to notify the others.

Palesa sends the clothing retailer's paid-up letter to the bureau the same day. The judgment is gone within the week, and she reapplies for the lease. Separately, the checker reminds her that the judgment still exists in court until rescinded; with the retailer's written consent, a rescission application removes it from the court record too, which matters for the thoroughness of some employer and landlord checks.

Had Palesa not paid, and had the judgment been granted in January 2020, the checker would tell her it should already have dropped off, and that a bureau still displaying it is in breach and should be disputed.

What the calculator does not include

It does not deal with debt review flags, which stay until a clearance certificate is issued under section 71 and have their own removal process, or with debt intervention listings under the 2019 amendments.

It does not deal with administration orders, sequestration or rehabilitation, which have their own retention rules.

It does not check what is actually on your record. Get your free annual report from each bureau and use the dates on it.

It does not assess whether a judgment can be rescinded on the merits. That depends on how it was granted and is a question for an attorney or a legal aid clinic.

It does not deal with the data protection remedies under POPIA for inaccurate personal information, which overlap with the National Credit Act route and are sometimes faster.

When to get advice

If a paid-up judgment or settled adverse listing is still showing after the deadlines, you do not need a lawyer: send the proof of payment to the bureau, dispute the entry, and if nothing happens within twenty business days, complain to the Credit Ombud, which is free. Get advice if you want the judgment rescinded from the court record, especially where the creditor will not consent; if the judgment was granted without your knowledge or on a debt you believe had prescribed; if a bureau refuses to remove information it cannot verify; or if an incorrect listing has cost you a job or a home and you are considering a claim for the loss. Beware of "credit repair" services that charge for what the Act lets you do yourself for nothing.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a judgment stay on my credit record? Five years from the date of judgment, or until it is rescinded or abandoned, whichever comes first. If you pay it, it must be removed within seven days of the bureau receiving proof of payment.

I paid my judgment. When must it come off? The credit provider must report the payment to all bureaus within seven days, and each bureau must remove the judgment within seven days of receiving the proof. You can send the proof to the bureaus yourself to start the clock.

How long does a default listing stay? One year, or until the account is settled, when section 71A requires the credit provider to report the settlement and the bureau to remove the adverse listing within seven days. The payment history on the account stays for five years.

Do enquiries affect my record? They are visible for one year. Enquiries you did not authorise can be disputed.

Does paying remove my payment history? No. Payment profile information is factual and stays for five years. A settled account shows as settled; late payments remain visible and age out month by month.

Does removal from the credit bureau cancel the debt or the judgment? No. The debt remains owing until paid or prescribed, and the judgment remains on the court record until rescinded. Rescission with the creditor's consent after payment is a short application.

How do I dispute an entry? Lodge a dispute with the bureau, which has twenty business days to investigate and must remove what it cannot verify. If it does not, complain to the Credit Ombud or the National Credit Regulator, both free.