How to Remove Old Items From a Credit Report

Your credit report is one of the most important reflections of who you are as far as most businesses are concerned. The three major credit bureaus keep track of your reliability as a borrower, and this information is used by credit lenders and businesses such as your electric company so they can determine whether you are a good credit risk. If your credit report contains old information that negatively affects your score, you have a serious problem on your hands.

Instructions

1

Request a credit report from each of the three credit bureaus from AnnualCreditReport.com. Once a year, you may obtain a current credit report showing exactly what lenders see when they request your report.

2

Check all three reports for errors and old information that should have been removed. Though the reports will be similar, it is possible that they will have slightly different information on them. For this reason, all three reports must be checked for old items that should no longer be listed.

3

Contact the institution that is listed in the old information. Ask them to contact the credit bureaus and update your information. However, if you have a negative credit with this institution such as a charge off, or if the institution is a collection agency or you have filed for bankruptcy, the institution may choose to keep the negative information on your file for seven to 10 years.

4

Contact the credit bureau that has the old items on your credit report. If you believe this information is wrong, you may initiate a dispute online with all three credit bureaus through the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of AnnualCreditReport.com.