How to Legally Remove Late Pays on Your Credit Report

When you have a history of late payments on your credit report, it can affect your ability to get new credit cards and loans. It can also count against you when you apply for a job or try to get an insurance policy. While it is illegal to remove correct information from your credit report, you can legally remove negative information that you believe is incorrect. You just need to follow some simple steps with each of the three credit bureaus.

Instructions

1

Get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three main credit agencies. Under the law, Transunion, Experian, and Equifax must all provide you with a free copy of your report once a year.

2

Carefully go over each of the three credit reports, looking for any erroneous late payment information. Each report will have instructions on how to interpret your payment history for that particular report.

3

When you locate late payment information that is in error, file a dispute with each of the credit bureaus that is listing the incorrect information. Each bureau has its own procedure for doing this. Typically the dispute can be done online or through postal mail. Let each bureau know which information is incorrect and why you believe that it's wrong.

4

Follow up with each bureau in 8 weeks to make sure they have removed the incorrect information about late payments. The bureaus have 30 days to investigate a dispute, so 8 weeks gives them time to do their investigation and correct the error.

5

If any of the credit bureaus refuse to remove the incorrect late payment information, file a consumer statement. This is a statement that explains why you believe there is an error. It will be provided to prospective lenders and others who request your credit report.