Source: http://www.bills.com/removing-old-items-from-credit-reports/
Timestamp: 2014-10-02 06:23:23
Document Index: 399217146

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1681', '§605', '§1681', '§1087', '§1080', '§1087']

How to Remove Old Items From Credit Reports
28 0 0 3 Remove Old Item From Credit Report
How do you go about getting items removed that are over the 7-year grace period?
By Daniel Cohen Published: Jan 1, 2008 Updated: Sep 23, 2014 My answer here explains the rules for credit reports and how long certain items can appear on a report, and the rules for removing old items from a credit report. If you find charged-off accounts appearing on your credit report after seven years, you may want to dispute the incorrect listings with the credit bureaus. We describe how to do this below. We begin with a brief look at the federal rules that control the credit bureaus. Credit Report Rules at a Glance Federal law (US Code Title 15, §1681c) controls the behavior of credit reporting agencies (CRAs). The specific federal law is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Under FCRA §605 (a) and (b), an account in collection will appear on a consumer’s credit report for up to 7½ years. To determine when an account will be removed by the CRAs (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian and others), add 7 years to the date of first delinquency. The date of first delinquency is shown in credit reports. Subsequent activity, such as resolving the debt or one debt collector selling the debt to another collector, is irrelevant to the 7-year rule. Some debts have a reporting period longer than 7 years, including: Tax liens: 10 years if unpaid, or 7 years from the payment date Bankruptcy: 10 years from the date of filing (15 U.S.C. §1681c) Perkins student loans: Until paid in full (20 U.S.C. §1087cc(c)(3)) Direct and FFEL loans: 7 years from default or rehabilitation date (20 U.S.C. §1080a(f)(1) and 20 U.S.C. §1087e(a)(1)) Judgments: 7 years or the debtor’s state statute of limitations on judgments, whichever is longer The FCRA 7-year rule is separate from state statutes of limitations for debt issues. Learn the lifespan of a judgment in your state at the Bills.com Statute of Limitations Laws by State page. The start of the seven-year period begins at the date of first delinquency, or if no payments are made, when the first payment was due. Review your credit report carefully to make certain the dates of first delinquency are reported correctly. Unscrupulous collection agents reset the date of first delinquency to stretch out how long a derogatory account appears on consumer’s credit report. This is illegal under the FCRA. Just because a debt does not appear on a credit report does not mean the statute of limitations for the debt has passed. The opposite is also true: The passing of a state statute of limitations on a debt does not mean the debt may not appear on a credit report. The federal FCRA and state statutes of limitations are separate and independent of each other. Whether a debt appears on a credit report does not establish legal liability for the debt. The opposite is also true: You may have legal liability for a debt not reported to the credit reporting agencies. Credit reports are not legal records of every debt a person owes.	Quick Tip	Get a no-cost, no obligation analysis of your debt options from a pre-screened debt relief provider.	How Debt Collectors Break These Rules Some creditors, especially debt purchasing firms, will report inaccurate charge-off dates to extend the amount of time an old account appears on your credit report. If you find any inaccurate information, you should dispute the credit report listing with the bureau in question. See the Federal Trade Commission document FTC Facts for Consumers: How to Dispute Credit Report Errors for more information. The 7-year rule only applies to derogatory items, not to accounts that you are keeping current, or which you closed in good standing. As long as an account is not considered derogatory, it can remain on your credit report indefinitely. In fact, even accounts that are no longer reporting to the credit bureaus may continue to appear on your report as long as the account is not a derogatory item. It is common to see positive items that are more than 20 years old appearing on a credit report.	Quick Tip	The steps described here should correct false information appearing in a credit report. However, if the consumer credit reporting agency does not delete or correct the false information, see the Bills.com method of verification article describing the next steps you can take to fix your credit report.	If an account is active and still open, it will remain on your credit report (including the entire history of positive payment history). No one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report. The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete. There is no charge for this. How to Correct Errors on a Credit Report Following up with the credit bureaus might be a time consuming proposition, depending on how many items you have that need to be removed. To get these items removed from your credit report you have two options: 1. Pay for the services of a credit repair firm. There are many firms that specialize in the area of credit repair. Be careful about the firm that you choose and make sure that it is a reputable firm. You can check with the Better Business Bureau to learn about the performance of a particular company. You need to do proper research on the firm that you will eventually do business with. By law, credit repair organizations must give you a copy of the Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law before you sign a contract. They also must give you a written contract that spells out your rights and obligations. Read these documents before you sign anything. The law contains specific protections for you. For example, a credit repair company cannot: Make false claims about their services Charge you until they have completed the promised services Perform any services until they have your signature on a written contract, and Have completed a three-day waiting period. Your contract must specify: The payment terms for services, including their total cost A detailed description of the services to be performed How long it will take to achieve the results Any guarantees they offer The company's name and business address 2. Do it yourself. The Federal Trade Commission provides extensive credit-related information and self help resources. You will first need to obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through AnnualCreditReport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the companies one at a time. Check your reports for the action items. Keep in mind all the bureaus now have provisions to dispute items online, but in most cases you will need a copy of the respective report and other information to do so. Once you are ready, you can contact each of the three bureaus at the contact information provided below:	Equifax Experian TransUnion 800-685-1111 888-397-3742 800-916-8800 Equifax.com Experian.com TransUnion.com File a credit dispute online at Equifax File a credit dispute online at Experian File a credit dispute online at TransUnion Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you think is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Your letter may look something like:	FTC Sample Letter of Deletion Date Your Name Your Address Your City, State, Zip Code Complaint Department Name of Company Address City, State, Zip Code Dear Sir or Madam: I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. The items I dispute also are encircled on the attached copy of the report I received. This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be deleted (or request another specific change) to correct the information. Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please investigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible. Sincerely, Your name Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing) Once you resolve the issue with the credit bureaus, tell the creditor or other information provider, in writing, that you dispute an item. Be sure to include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company, it must include a notice of your dispute. And if you are correct, that is, if the information is found to be inaccurate, the information provider may not report it again. I hope this information helps you Find. 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Jim I have a home mortgage that I recently paid off through refinance. It has some derogatory information in years past, of which some is beyond 7 years. The payoff should be good for my credit but the lates are bad. Can I request that just the derogs are not reportable and have the payoff report as good?
Second question. I had several properties through the recession, some of the accounts were sold or transferred and have multiple bad marks against my credit. The original date of the original loan delinquency was more than 7 years ago. Are the other creditors obligated to follow the original delinquency date? Not their date of account origination? 0 Votes
You cannot pick and choose which accurate information appears on your credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers have the right to dispute inaccurate information.Under the FCRA, most derogatory information can appear on a credit report for 7 years. The FCRA 7-year clock starts at the date of first delinquency. The date of first delinquency never changes, and is not reset if the original creditor sells the account to collection agent No. 1, who sells it to collection agent No. 2, and so on. The chain of custody (OC to CA 1 to CA 2) is recorded and appears in your credit reports. However, each appearance of a collection account does not cause additional harm to your credit score. 0 Votes
My situation is different than not making timely payments. I moved out of my apartment after 8 years and left it "clean." A month later I get a bill for over $1,200 for "more than usual wear & tear" like the stove top was worn, the bath vanity was worn, the carpet had to be replaced, and the apartment had to be painted! How do I dispute what is normal wear & tear vs. them telling me it had to be replaced? 0 Votes
Talk to a tenants' rights organization in your area to learn the exact definition your state's courts use when deciding when something is wear-and-tear vs. damage. Assuming you did not paint the apartment during your occupancy, I would call repainting an apartment after 8 years of use a normal wear and tear item. Carpet doesn't last forever, either, and that's another iffy item to charge a tenant after 8 years. The other items you mentioned — the stove top and the vanity — could be damage or wear-and-tear depending how old they were and the amount of wear or the extent of damage. As I mentioned at the start of my reply, you need to learn how your state courts define wear and tear. 0 Votes
i have an auto loan listed on my account as negative/failed to pay. the car this loan is for was in an accident and totaled. It was a leased car and GAP insurance covered the remainder of the cars total. There was a few past due payments that were later paid. This still remains on my report after being paid back in 2008. Is there anyway to get this removed. 0 Votes
Is the derogatory information in your credit report accurate or inaccurate? If it is inaccurate, then file a dispute with each of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies that are publishing the incorrect information.If the derogatory information is accurate, then it will be removed 7 years after the date of first delinquency. See the Bills.com article describing the Fair Credit Reporting Act to learn more about the rules consumer credit reporting agencies must follow. 0 Votes
How do i find out when my 180 days after charge of date is?? I have something that says opened in 2004 but there is no other date or information. I would like to know when to expect my stuff to roll off. 0 Votes
In your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, look for the date of first delinquency on the account. Then add 7½ years to that date. Seven and a half years is when most, but not all derogatories must be removed from a credit report. See the section "Credit Report Rules at a Glance" above for a list of the exceptions to the 7½-year rule. 0 Votes
So, I was in a car accident in Oct 2008. I have four bills that went to collections because they were not immediately paid by the auto insurance company. Although these accounts are now paid in full, on my report, they still show negative at one point and my credit report has a low score because of them. Is there any way this information can be removed or corrected so the accounts can show positively on my report? This was something way out of my control. 0 Votes
File a dispute with each of the credit reporting agencies that are publishing this derogatory. 0 Votes
I have filed disputes already. but because they are now paid, they say there is nothing they can do. My report shows "paid after went to collection" 0 Votes