You probably know that every time you make a credit card or loan payment – or don’t – this information likely appears in your credit report and helps to determine your credit score. But you may not be aware that long after you close a credit account or pay off a loan, your borrowing history may remain on your credit report.

That means the closed account can continue to affect your score, for better or worse, possibly for many years. The good news is that you may be able to remove the closed account from your credit report.

“Anyone can issue a request to have a closed account permanently removed from their credit files,” says Bruce McClary, senior vice president of membership and communications at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

Unfortunately, your request is not guaranteed to be granted. Here is what you need to know about removing closed accounts from your credit report.

These are the ways to try to remove a closed account from your credit report:

“If a credit account listed on your credit report is inaccurate or the result of fraud, you can request it be removed by submitting a dispute,” says Margaret Poe, head of corsumer credit education at the credit bureau TransUnion.

You must file a dispute in writing with each of the three bureaus separately and include supporting documents. The credit bureau will investigate, and the negative item must either be confirmed or corrected. Note that an item may be updated but not entirely removed from your credit report.

Send a written request to remove the account from your credit report directly to the creditor that reported the information to the credit bureau, McClary says. Ask politely if the creditor will remove the account now that it is no longer active. “There is no need to send the request to the credit bureau unless the validity of the account is in question,” he says.

This option isn’t always successful because the credit bureaus aren’t obligated to remove closed accounts. But you might ask if you have a positive credit history and a long relationship with the creditor.

If your request is unsuccessful, know that with time, the account will disappear for good from your credit report, Poe says. “Accounts will age off credit reports after seven or 10 years, depending on the status of the account,” she says.

Accounts closed in good standing may stay on your credit report for up to 10 years, which generally helps your credit score. Those with adverse information may remain on your credit report for up to seven years.

A closed account that remains on your credit report can affect your credit in different ways based on your financial habits, says Tom Quinn, vice president of scores at FICO.

Even after an account is closed, a solid history of paying on time can help your credit score.

The positive effect will not be the same as an open account, but it can still bolster your credit score, according to the credit bureau Experian. On the other hand, a delinquent account could continue hurting your credit after it is closed, Quinn says.

“Late payments will continue to impact your account, and that impact can be significant, as payment history makes up 35% of your score,” he says.

Quinn notes that the precise effect on your score will depend on your credit behavior before the late payments, plus your credit profile and other factors.

Damage to your credit score can linger for years, McClary adds. Late payments can remain on your credit report for up to seven years, he says. If you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you might have to wait even longer: up to 10 years from the date the bankruptcy was filed.

You may want to remove a closed account from your credit report if the account has a negative payment history that is hurting your credit score. Otherwise, aim to leave accounts closed in good standing on your credit report for as long as possible.

“Accounts with a positive history of on-time payments reflect a healthy credit report,” Poe says. “That, in turn, can benefit your credit score. This is true whether the account is open or closed.”

How you managed the closed account, combined with other information in your credit report, will determine the effect of removing the account on your credit score, Quinn says. “Removing a closed account could cause a score increase, decrease or have no impact,” he says.

If you paid as agreed, McClary says, “It doesn’t make much sense to request removal of an account.”

Removing an account in good standing from your credit report can backfire in other ways, Quinn adds. It can hurt important factors that determine your credit score, such as your credit utilization ratio.

“By closing the card, you are essentially wiping away some of your available credit and potentially increasing your credit utilization ratio,” Quinn says.

That can cause your credit score to dip. Closing a card can also hurt the length of your credit history and your credit mix, two other factors that affect your score.

A closed account in good standing will remain on your credit report for up to 10 years.

Remember, the presence of this type of account on your credit report is a positive. As TransUnion and Experian note, a closed account that shows a positive history of payments is likely to help your credit score.

Generally, a closed account with negative history can continue to hurt your credit score for seven years. McClary says that this can be frustrating for the borrower but adds that the damage will eventually fade.

“The combination of continued timely payments for open accounts and the passage of time can help reduce the negative impact of a closed account,” he says.

You can practice good credit habits to keep accounts in good standing, which will help your credit score if the accounts are closed. That means paying bills on time, keeping credit utilization low, checking your credit score regularly and applying for new credit only when you need it.

If you haven’t already, find out your credit score, and consider the factors that might be keeping it lower than it should be, Quinn says. For example, using too much of your available credit likely will weigh down your score.

“A focus on reducing credit card balances would make sense,” Quinn says.

Next, create an action plan based on the factors that can help you increase your credit score over time, he says.

Simple, consistent actions, such as paying your credit card and loan bills on time every time, should boost your credit score. “Your payment record is the largest factor in determining your credit score, so prioritizing timely payments can make a big difference,” McClary says.

Also, check your credit reports regularly to catch any inaccurate reporting that may hurt your credit score. “If you see incorrect information, you can file a dispute directly with the credit bureau,” McClary says.

Finally, take a proactive approach to accounts that are causing you to fall behind on payments, he says.

“Don’t wait to get help,” McClary says. “Reach out to a nonprofit credit counseling agency for an affordable repayment plan as well as guidance to get your budget back on track.”