How to Clear Experian Credit Report
Experian is one of the three major credit bureaus. It maintains credit reports for individual consumers. Each consumer's report lists open and closed credit accounts, payment history and any court activity such as bankruptcies or civil judgments. Prospective lenders, insurers and employers rely on these reports to make decisions about opening accounts, issuing policies or hiring you. You can't clear your Experian credit report completely, but you can clear up any outdated or erroneous information.
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Instructions
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Get a copy of your current Experian credit report. Under the law, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus on a yearly basis. You can request this report online through the official Free Annual Credit Report website by providing some personal details and answering questions about your accounts to confirm your identity.
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Go through your Experian credit report, identifying information that can be cleared off because it is incorrect or out of date. Start with the demographic information, noting whether your current and previous addresses and phone numbers are correct. Go through your credit accounts, paying special attention to your payment history and noting any information about bankruptcies, liens and other legal matters. Look for errors or information that is beyond the legal reporting time. According to One Stop Credit Report, this varies between seven and 10 years, depending on the type of information.
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Make a list of all the information that can be cleared off of your Experian credit report due to error or age, and file a dispute. This can be done using the form on Experian's website. List all of the items that need to be cleared from your credit report and the specific reasons. Experian has 60 days to investigate the items, and if it cannot confirm them as valid, it must remove them.
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Get another copy of your Experian credit report after the 60-day period and make sure that the information has been cleared. Even if Experian notifies you that it has determined your dispute to be valid, you should always make sure that it has done the removal.
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If Experian refuses to clear your credit report of any of the disputed items, add a consumer statement to your report. This is a statement that explains your side of the issue. Potential lenders will be able to review the statement when they pull your Experian report.
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Continue to check your Experian credit report on an annual basis to look for any items that should be cleared. You are entitled to a free copy of your report every 12 months, so order it as soon as you are eligible each year.
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Tips & Warnings
If you find items that should be cleared from your Experian credit report, it's a good idea to order your free annual reports from the other two bureaus (Transunion and Equifax) as well. If an error appears on one report, it might well be on the others. Follow the same process to identify information that should be cleared and to file a dispute with each bureau.
Because an item must be removed from your Experian credit report if they bureau cannot verify it, some consumers will dispute valid items in the hope that the creditor will not give a validation. This is illegal, and you can face penalties if you are caught doing it.
