How to Remove a Tax Lien From Your Credit

If you do not pay your federal or state taxes, the government may place a lien against any property that you own. While state tax liens and what they encumber vary depending on your state of residence, a federal tax lien attaches to all property you own -- in addition to appearing on your credit report. Tax liens that appear on your credit report will damage your credit score. You can appeal to the credit bureaus to remove some old tax liens.

Instructions

1

Locate your formal Certificate of Lien Release. Unpaid tax liens can remain on your credit report indefinitely. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, however, restricts the credit bureaus to reporting paid tax liens for no longer than seven years.

2

Pull your credit reports and check the date on the tax lien. Compare the date to the date on your Certificate of Lien Release. If the date on the Certificate of Lien Release precedes the current date by seven years or more, you can dispute the tax lien on your credit report as obsolete.

3

Make a copy of your Certificate of Lien Release.

4

Write a letter to the credit bureaus whose credit reports still contain evidence of the tax lien. Notify them of the date you originally paid off the tax lien and note that you have included a copy of your Certificate of Lien Release as proof that the credit report entry in question is obsolete and must be removed.

5

Send the copy of your Certificate of Lien Release and your dispute letter to the credit bureaus via registered mail. This ensures that the credit bureaus receive your dispute for immediate processing.