How to Remove Negative Items From Credit

The Federal Trade Commission gives you the legal right to dispute any item on your credit report that you believe contains inaccurate information. A study in 2004 found that 79 percent of credit reports contained errors. (See Resources) Negative accounts cannot be legally removed unless the account has incorrect details or is not your account. Common errors include date account opened, balance, payment amount, late payment, type of account, status of account or any other information shown on your credit report that is not correct.

Instructions

1

Look over your credit report very carefully. List each negative account that has an error. You do not need to have proof to dispute an error nor do you have to be certain an error exists. You can dispute the item if you believe there is an error but are not positive the error exists.

2

Begin your dispute letter to the credit bureau by writing the date. Go down a couple of lines and begin the body of your letter by providing your name and address and stating you are writing to dispute incorrect entries on your credit report.

3

List each incorrect entry you discovered while reviewing your credit report. You can choose to give a brief reason why you are disputing the entry, but it is not a requirement.

4

Mail the letter to the credit bureau. The dispute address will be shown on your credit report.

5

Wait for an investigation response to arrive from the credit bureau. This should arrive approximately 40 days after you mailed your letter. If a disputed entry was not deleted or corrected, you may dispute the entry again. If you have proof of the error, send a copy with the second dispute.