How to Remove Negative Marks From Credit

You have limited options for removing negative information from your credit report. You can have the information removed if it is inaccurate or outdated. Credit repair firms may insist that there are other options, but the Federal Trade Commission or FTC says that just isn't so. The FTC says credit repair agencies use misleading advertising when they say that late payments, foreclosures, bankruptcies and other information can be removed. Only the passage of time can cause accurate, negative information to be removed from your report, the FTC says.

Instructions

1

Get a copy of your credit report from Annual Credit Report. The website was created by the nationwide credit bureaus to offer free reports under the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Annual Credit Report is the only website authorized to offer completely free reports under the act, according to the FTC.

2

Review your credit report for negative information that is inaccurate or outdated. By law, the credit bureaus must correct information that is inaccurate within about 30 days after receiving notice from you. Most negative information becomes outdated after seven years and is automatically removed from credit reports after that. Bankruptcies remain for 10 years.

3

Write the credit bureau to dispute inaccurate or outdated information. Send your request to the credit bureau at its address on the credit report. Follow up in writing a second time if you do not receive a response after about 30 days. The FTC says the credit bureau must offer you another free credit report -- through Annual Credit Report -- if it makes changes based on your correspondence. You're entitled to three free reports a year through the site, but a reorder because of a change by the credit bureau won't count toward your total.

4

Order another free copy of your credit report to confirm that the changes you requested were made.