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Advice on credit report cleanup - The Bills.com Blog
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Advice on credit report cleanup
Question: I am trying to clean up my credit report. I have obtained a copy of my credit report and there are several items listed that have been paid off in the last few years.I know that items stay on your credit report for up to 7 yrs. Can these items be taken off the credit report if paid in full by request prior to 7 yrs? If so, canyou recommend a site that gives proper examples of request letter to send? Thank you so much for any help that you can suggest.
Answer: Answer: Thank you for visiting Bills.com. Here is the answer to your question.
All items remain on your credit report for up to 7 years. A bankruptcy may remain on your credit report for up to 10 years. If something has had no activity for over seven years, you can contact the bureaus to request the item be removed. As such, there is no way to guarantee removal of information that is accurate (even if the account is paid and closed).
If the accounts are recent however, you will have a long time to wait. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, all trade lines can be reported on each of the credit bureaus.
However, the reporting agencies must update and keep accurate data in their credit files. If there is erroneous information (like your collection account, that you believe is inaccurate), you must notify them (typically through a certified letter) and then wait one reporting cycle (90 days) for the errors to be removed.
There are three major credit bureaus that offer credit reports, if there is something that you want added or removed, you should contact them directly:
Equifax
1-800-685-1111
www.equifax.com
Experian
1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com
Trans Union
1-800-916-8800
www.transunion.com
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Your credit rating is calculated based on several variables, including: your payment history (do you have any late payments, charge-offs, etc.), the amount and type of debt that you owe, if you have maxed out any of your trade lines, and then several other secondary factors like the length of your credit history and how many recent inquiries have been made to look at your credit history.
If you would like more information, please visit our credit resource page at: http://www.bills.com/credit-report-errors-articlebills/
We hope that this helped you to Find, Learn, and Save!
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com
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