Whenever your credit report is altered because of a dispute lodged by you or a credit repair service, the credit bureau must inform you in writing. You are then entitled to a fresh copy of your credit report from the bureau. Many credit cards offer free alerts that inform you whenever your credit score changes. Thus, if an item deletion results in a change to your score, your credit card company may be the first to inform you of the good news. You also may get a free fraud alert service. You should see your credit score improve when negative items are removed from your reports. How much it improves, however, depends on the type of item that is removed and its age. The credit bureau must send you written results about your dispute, which usually arrive within the initial 30-day window. If the results are favorable, you can instruct the bureau to notify anyone who received your report in the past six months. It can take several months for an item to be removed from your credit report as the result of a dispute settled in your favor. When you register a dispute, the credit bureau and creditor have 30 days to respond. If the response is favorable, it can take another two months or more for the item to disappear from your report.