How to Clear Your Bad Credit History

You can clear bad history from your credit report by writing letters to the credit bureaus. However, don't expect to completely wipe the slate clean. According to the Federal Trade Commission, only incorrect or outdated information can be cleared from your report. That means that most bad credit information will remain on your report for at least seven years under the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. But cleaning outdated or inaccurate information is an important start as you recover from past credit troubles.

Instructions

1

Order a copy of your credit report. Reports are available for free from the website Annual Credit Report (see Resources), which was established by the nationwide credit bureaus to offer reports as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. View and print the report from the homepage or follow instructions on the page to order by telephone or mail.

2

Review your credit report for accounts that are outdated, according to federal guidelines. Information that is positive can be reported forever, but negative information must be removed after seven years--10 for bankruptcies. Write a letter challenging any outdated information and mail it to the credit bureau. Request that the information be removed from your report within 30 days. Send the letter to the credit bureau at its address, which you'll find on the credit report.

3

Find information on the report that is inaccurate. By law, this information also must be removed within about 30 days of you contacting the credit bureau. Send a letter challenging the inaccurate information and state why the information is wrong. Wait 30 days for the credit bureau to respond to your letters as it clears the information.