Can I delete bad credit items from my credit history?
10 August 2006If they are accurate, no. This is a common claim to watch out for if you’re looking for a credit repair agency. Many will tell you that they have a special computer program that can delete bad information from your credit file. Others claim that you’ll be able to dispute even items that are correct on your credit report.
The reality is that there is no simple way to delete bad credit history. The credit agencies are only under an obligation to remove information that is factually inaccurate. There is a dispute procedure, and if you see anything inaccurate on your credit report you should be using it. However, they will conduct an investigation and will want you to submit any materials you have proving that the file has an error. They’ll also get in touch with the company that reported you - and if the file is accurate, you’re not going to get it removed.
A related scam is for the credit repair agency to tell you that they will dispute everything, hopefully getting some of the items removed in the process. Often this works - temporarily. There is a 30 day limit on the investigation process, and credit repair agencies that use this strategy hope to force the credit bureaus to investigate everything, meaning that some of the items on your credit report won’t get checked out in time. When it works, the credit agencies have to delete those items from the file. BUT - it’s only temporary. If they confirm the information after the 30 day period, they can put it back in. So what usually happens is that the credit repair company gets you what looks like a big improvement, and a month or two later you find out that your credit is back where it was. The credit repair company, however, is nowhere to be found or will point to a fine print clause saying it’s not their problem.
Discuss this on the Free the Drones Credit Forums here.
No comments yet