How To Get Negative Items Removed From Credit Report?

Negative items can be defined as any items listed in your credit report that are unfavorable to your credit scores.

Even if one has several negative items that appear on their credit report, the scores can drop significantly, and it also becomes challenging to acquire credit facilities such as loans, mortgages, credit cards, and other credit facilities. However, there is sometimes an option to request certain items be removed from the credit report if they are inaccurate. Please find below a guide on how to follow when trying to dispute negative items and possibly have your credit score enhanced.

Check Your Credit Reports The initial process is to go to AnnualCreditReport. com, which is the official site designated by the government to request your FREE credit reports. Every consumer is entitled to one report per year from each of the three major bureaus of consumer credit, namely Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Read through all three reports carefully and highlight items that have a negative impact such as; payment records, collections accounts, bankruptcies, and repossesses, among others Look for errors that may include accounts that belong to another person.

Common Disputable Negative Items Some kinds of negative information are far easier to dispute and get removed from credit reports than others if the credit reporting agency can not affirm them as one hundred percent precise. These include:

• Late payments – if the credit report has the number indicating that you had several late payments, but you were not late with your payments, it is possible to contest this. There is a further requirement on the part of the creditor to validate such details with the credit bureau. If they can not, then it should be removed.
• Collection Accounts – Just like with credit accounts, collection accounts that you are not familiar with or which are, in your opinion, incorrect, can also be challenged and have to be removed. Another key study finding is the fact that debt collectors rarely reply to consumer complaints.
• Bankruptcies – Discharged bankruptcies including those filed at a wrong date can be removed from the report if they are older than 10 years.
• Repossessions - In case you or someone else no longer owned the item you provided as a security or the wrong item was taken by the lender, then you may object.
• Inaccuracies – There could be errors such as the address, employer, or account number that are not your own and these must be addressed immediately.

Draft Dispute Letters In your case, for every negative item that you wish to challenge, or every inaccuracy that you would like to contest, it is advisable to write a separate letter of dispute to each of the credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. In the heading section, write your full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, etc. You should refer to the date of the credit report where you came across the disputed item. Provide the account name and number, quantity if it is a case of a few dollars or any other amount of money, if there is one, and the specific reason why you are disputing the account. Be specific and assertive to say that you would like them to reconsider the reviewed information. If possible, attach copies of documents like receipts, and a copy of legal papers, among others When sending the letters, ensure that they are sent through the post office, with the return receipt requested.

Wait for the Reinvestigation Period After the credit reporting agencies have received your dispute letters, the Fair Credit Reporting Act mandates that the agencies reinvestigate the information within 30 to 45 days as a rule. This may involve getting in touch with the creditors or debt collection agencies who provided the information to the credit reference agency to check the authenticity of the information submitted. If the original furnisher cannot verify the item provide requested documents or be contacted, the disputed item should be deleted per federal law from your credit file.

Review Results Carefully The credit bureaus must give you the documents relating to the reinvestigation after the reinvestigation period. Go through the newly generated credit reports and look at the list of negative items that we disputed. Perhaps the item did not disappear as such, but maybe the current status updates reflect the change in status. For instance, a record that was originally labeled as ‘overdue payment’ may change to ‘payment made as agreed. ’ If there is an item that one feels was wrongly reported, going through the appeals process or seeking the services of a consumer credit attorney may help.

Continue Monitoring Reports You should get new copies of your reports every few months to see if any wrong information has appeared. You may also sign up for credit monitoring to receive notifications when something big transpires. To maintain your credit report for it to be clean, you can still use the dispute process again if you detect new errors. Be alert – as much as possible, avoid having things that are detrimental to your credit reputation in your credit report, for it can improve over time.

These are not easy to remove from one’s credit history but the effort put in towards the removal does positively affect credit scores. So just continue with such activities as verifying reports and addressing any factual discrepancies and, if need be, filing a legal complaint. The negative information that one accumulates on a credit report is not permanent and can be erased with time and consistent efforts. It is important not to be discouraged if items aren’t deleted the right way as the process will continue. What you need to do is learn to be your champion in this entire process.

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