You have a number of rights when it comes to your credit report, including what's on it and who can see it. One of those rights is the ability to add a statement to your credit reports explaining one or more of your credit report entries. This statement is commonly referred to as a "consumer statement," and it's sometimes used to provide context or explanation on late payments and other negative entries.
Your Rights
Consumer statements can be added to your credit report through each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). These statements are generally limited to pre-written options or up to 100 words you write yourself.
Why would you add a Consumer Statement?
To explain your side of the story as it pertains to entries (typically negative) on your credit reports. Potential lenders will see the statement when reviewing your credit report, and it may help them better understand the circumstances that led to late or missed payments. They could take these statements into account when deciding whether to extend credit to you. (The COVID-19 pandemic is a potentially valid reason a consumer's credit may be impacted, due to unemployment, lower wages, etc)
The Process
To add a consumer statement yourself, the first step is to contact the credit reporting agencies and get copies of your credit reports. Once you have your credit reports, review them to decide if you feel the need to add a statement and, if so, which type.
The process for adding a consumer statement differs at each bureau.
As an example, with Experian, you can access their Dispute Center and either choose a statement from a list of pre-written options - OR - write your own statement of up to 100 words.
What is a Disaster Code, and how can I add it to my report?
This code, which has been a part of credit reporting for many years, will display "affected by natural or declared disaster" when added to an account on your credit reports. However, that code can ONLY be added by your lender to specific accounts that appear on your credit reports, rather than a general statement meant to encompass all the accounts in your report.
When this code is added, any lender that accesses your credit reports will see that you've been impacted by a disaster as it pertains to a specific account. However, a disaster code does not directly affect credit scores.
Does my Consumer Statement stay in my credit report forever?
Account statements will be on your credit report as long as the account it's attached to remains on your report, even if the negative information in question has since fallen off.