Credit Report: How To Remove Negative Items

Knowing how to delete negative things from your credit report is important, especially if you plan to apply for a mortgage or vehicle loan soon. In fact, before seven years have passed, you can delete something from your credit history. Whether you're dealing with late payments, collections, charge-offs, or foreclosures, the tactics listed below can help you swiftly repair your credit.

Here’s How To Remove Negative Items From Your Credit Report

Check For Inaccuracies

Before you do anything else, double-check that the negative record on your credit report does not contain any incorrect information. In actuality, most people's credit reports have some mistakes on them. The trick is to check each negative entry for any problems. Just because the entry is correct in and of itself does not guarantee the information regarding the record on your credit report is.

In fact, if you look closely enough, you'll probably notice a mistake or two. The first step is to obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit agencies and carefully review each entry, comparing it to your records.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS SHOULD BE CHECKED:

• Account number
• Balance
• Date opened
• Account status (e.g., Closed)
• Payment status (e.g., Collection)
• High Balance
• Credit Limit
• Any other information that looks to be incorrect

Make a note of the incorrect information and how the entry should be changed every time you locate one. Your credit dispute letters will be based on this information.

Submit a Credit Dispute Letter

You should create a detailed disagreement letter outlining all of the inconsistencies you've discovered. This letter will be sent to the credit bureaus, requesting that they repair the errors or remove the negative information entirely. Credit bureaus are required by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to report only factual information on your credit report.

When credit bureaus are unable to verify every detail of a negative entry, it must be erased. If the bad information shows on all three of your credit reports, you must send the identical dispute letter to all three main credit agencies – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

Write A Goodwill Letter

If disputing the negative item fails because you couldn't uncover any inaccuracies or the credit bureaus corrected them, you should request a goodwill adjustment. As a gesture of goodwill, write a letter to the original creditor or collection agency and request that the negative item is removed from your credit history.

When you're looking to get rid of late payments, paid collections, or paid charge-offs, this method works best. It is really simple to write a goodwill letter. As a beginning point, you might use my goodwill letter template. To the creditor or collection agency, you will essentially describe your predicament. Explain how you're attempting to obtain a mortgage and the negative entry indicates that you're having difficulty being authorized.

While this may appear to be a long shot, creditors frequently make goodwill adjustments. Because the creditor wants to keep your business, this is especially true if you're a current customer. If you have a history of holding past due balances, this technique won't work as well. It works best if your negative entry is an exception and you've already paid off the outstanding balance.

Negotiate a “Pay For Delete” Deal

If you have unpaid collection accounts or charge-offs on your credit report, you should consider a pay-for-delete agreement to have the bad entry deleted. Prepare to negotiate with the creditor or collection agency over the phone in order for this to work. If the creditor agrees to remove the negative notation from your credit report totally, offer to settle the unpaid bill.

This is especially successful with collection agencies, as they profit directly when you settle an old debt. However, before you make the money, you must acquire your pay-for-delete agreement in writing.

If it's more convenient, negotiate over the phone, but don't pay anything until you have a formal agreement in hand. Collection agencies are notorious for having short memories (unless you still owe them money). Your written agreement may be required to prove that you had a bargain in place when you paid.

Remove the negative items with the help of a credit repair professional

You might always engage a credit repair business to undertake this work for you if you don't want to send dispute letters, goodwill letters, or negotiate pay-for-delete agreements.

I recommend that you look into Lexington Law, one of the nation's most reputable credit repair firms. Every day, the attorneys at Lexington Law deal with credit reporting agencies. They are well-versed in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Lexington Law, for example, charges a monthly subscription fee plus an upfront first-work cost.

They can frequently remove incorrect information much more quickly than you could. Professional credit repair takes two to three months on average. You may pay between $400 and $500. If you were able to reestablish your excellent status with lenders in time to receive a low-interest loan, this would be money well spent.