How to Remove Negative Credit After 7 Years

These days, it would seem like the term 7 years bad luck pertains to nothing but credit. As much as bad credit can be like a plague, we need credit to survive in this world. Without it, major purchases such as home, cars, and even education are impossible without cash. If you have negative items on your report that are over 7 years, there are ways to have them removed. With time and patience, bad credit can be a thing of the past.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Updated credit report
• Contact information of creditors
• Removal Request Letters

1. Get a copy of your credit report. By law, everyone is entitled to a free copy of their credit report annually. This can be pulled from any of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion or Experian) or from sites such as annualcreditreport.com

2. Look for all negative items on the credit report that are more than seven years old. These are the items that should automatically come off whether they have been paid or not. These items could include
   collection accounts, bankruptcies, foreclosures, late pays, defaults and bad debt write-offs, judgments.
   
   
   Because of their negative affect on FICO Scores, these are the items that would be the ideal candidates for removal from a report.

3. Find the contact information for each of these creditors provided on the report. Send them a letter to request that the item be removed promptly from the report. Be sure to note that the item is over seven years old and by law, should be removed.

4. Dispute the items over seven years online with the credit reporting agencies. Each has an easy method of disputing items with a simple click. Follow-up with a letter.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep copies of all correspondence with the creditors.
• Do not try to dispute the items before they are seven years old.
• Make sure the last reporting dates was seven years ago and not the date the account was opened.
• Do not remove positive items more than seven years old. They help build your credit score.

Resources

• Free Credit Assistance
• FICO
• Get Your Free Credit Report

[sherryahhing]

on 9/24/2009 YOU MENTIONED THAT I SHOULDN'T REMOVE POSITIVE ITEMS THAT ARE MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS...SO IF IT STATES A ZERO BALANCE MY REPORT, I SHOULD JUST LEAVE IT?