Feed: Credit Legal Repair Service - AggScore: 34.3
Can Bad Credit be Deleted?
Yes, it can. Despite the fervent proclamations of bureaucrats and credit bureaus everywhere, a simple fact remains: negative credit listings are deleted from peoples' credit reports by the thousands each and every day.
A few years ago, an attorney from Lexington Law. visited with a regulatory agency for a casual conversation with two agents. The Agency's office, as a matter of course, believed the credit bureaus' claim that bad credit couldn't be deleted. The visiting Lexington attorney asked, "How many negative listings would you have to see deleted from consumer credit reports before you would believe that bad credit can be deleted: ten? fifty? a hundred? one thousand?" The agents responded with only blank stares.
"How about 50,000 deleted listings, would that convince you?" continued the Lexington attorney. From his briefcase he pulled a stack of papers six inches high.
"In these pages, we have listed the permanent deletion of over 50,000. listings from our clients' files in the last two years alone," he explained. The agents pulled the stack across the conference table and began to pick through the pages, taking in the massive list.
"But have you deleted any bankruptcies?" shot back one of the agents, "we know that bankruptcies can't be deleted." The Lexington attorney leaned across the table and ran his finger down the first page.
"There's one deleted bankruptcy... and, there's another,... and another,... and another. Should I go on?" asked the Lexington attorney.
The agents sat back in their chairs. "You know," began the junior agent, "I have this one listing on my credit report that simply must belong to somebody else..."
How is it possible?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows a consumer to challenge the information on his credit report on the basis of "completeness and accuracy." When a consumer files a dispute, the credit bureaus must contact the source of the credit information (the creditor) and confirm that the information is accurate, verifiable, and not obsolete. In some circumstances, the credit bureau is required to go beyond a simple verification of the creditor's own computer record. If, within 30 days, the credit bureau has not received verification from the creditor, then the credit bureau must promptly delete the credit listing.
Legal Credit Repair Methods:
To better understand what legal credit repair is, it would be helpful to understand a few types of illegal credit repair:
Illegal: Changing your social security number to obtain a clean bill of credit. If any company should suggest this type of credit repair, report them to the authorities.
Illegal: Disputing every item on your credit report, regardless of nature. The Fair Credit Reporting Act specifically states that only items that are unverifiable, inaccurate or misleading should be disputed. Items that are clearly yours, and reflect your credit history should not be disputed.
Illegal: Charging for services that have not yet been completed. This is to protect the consumer from fraudulent companies that charge for services that never get completed (charging to "repair your credit", then hitting the road...)
So, what exactly is Legal Credit Repair?
Legal Credit Repair consists of removing the negative items on a credit report. There are a few different methods of going about this, the most common and effective are:
"Goodwill" Negotiation
Negotiating directly with creditors and asking them to "please" remove negative items from your credit reports is a viable method of credit repair for mild late-pay accounts. There are no laws that require that negative items stay on your reports for any amount of time, and creditors have the ability to simply remove these items if they see that it could somehow work to their benefit, even if that simply means a pleased customer.
Credit Disputation
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to contact credit bureaus directly and dispute items on your credit reports. Just as in a court of law, you have the right to plead "not guilty" to negative information on your credit reports, and leave the burden of proof to the credit bureaus. You can dispute any and all items on your credit reports that you feel classify as inaccurate, unverifiable, or misleading. If the bureaus can not verify that the information on your reports is indeed correct, then those items must be deleted.
