How to Erase Bad Credit Reports

Your credit score has become one of the most important numbers that will affect the rest of your life. From buying or renting a home to even getting that job you have always wanted, your credit score can play a huge part in an acceptance or a rejection. Bad items on your credit report can happen quite easily, but getting them erased can be quite a trial. Here are a couple ways to try to erase the bad information on your credit report.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A copy of your credit report.

How to Erase Bad Credit Reports

1. Obtain a free credit report. You are legally entitled to a free credit report from all 3 of the major credit bureaus at least once every year. You also are legally entitled to a credit report if you are denied credit for any reason, or if a company takes an adverse reaction against you. Without knowing what's in your credit report you will not be able to clean it up.

2. Dispute anything that doesn't look right. Look over your credit report carefully. Are there any new accounts that you didn't open? Are there any debts that you have paid off that are not shown as paid in full? Companies are notorious for only reporting your credit status with them when you owe them money. They quite often forget to take the time to report to the credit bureaus that you have paid them off. Most of the credit bureaus offer both online and over the phone methods to dispute an item on your credit report.

3. Check the statute of limitations. Collectors are given a certain amount of years to report a debt. If they stop reporting to the bureaus and its been past the statute of limitations, you can then ask for the item to be removed from you credit report. The amount of years varies from state to state, but it's usually around seven. A word of caution. Just because the debt is not on your credit report, does not mean that you no longer have to pay it. All it takes is a single phone call from your debt company (or a new collector who may have bought your debt) to the credit bureau and your debt will be back on your report.

4. Check the time passed on your debt. After you have paid a debt off the item can still remain on your credit report. This is especially true with judgments and bankruptcies. Sometimes they will still remain on your credit report even after the time is up. Disputing this item usually will cause the credit bureau to remove the item from your report. For judgments and bankruptcies most of the bureaus have the date the action will fall of your credit report listed next to the judgment.

5. Set up a payment plan. The tried and true way to fix your bad credit is to pay it off and treat your credit well from that point on. It's pretty easy to settle a debt or at least make a payment plan by calling the company that owns your debt. Most credit reports will at least give a name, if not the phone number as well, to the company that is in charge of your debt. Even after the debt is paid the item can still remain on your credit report for a certain amount of years, but at least it can't come back to bite you once those years have passed.

Tips & Warnings

• The best way to fix bad credit is to not have bad credit in the first place. Save up and pay cash for the items that you want instead depending on credit cards or loans that you will eventually have to pay back later.

Who Can Help Sponsored

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[nicklfdjfdbn]

on 11/22/2009 Great articles 5 stars for that information

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http://www.EliteCreditreport.Info

[chris200orbust]

on 12/22/2008 I disagree! This is a great post. You hit all the important parts such as correcting mistakes on your credit report and then setting up payment plans for your accounts to get them paid off. What is he supposed to do, tell people to get a bankruptcy? Great Article! Real advice instead of crackpot ways to go about it.