Erase Bad Credit
Can You Erase Bad Credit?
Consumers' legal rights regarding the content of their credit reports are detailed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), available online from many credit-related sources. Remember that changing an accurate credit history is legally impossible. However, your legal rights provide opportunity for removing negative credit from your credit report.
First, if you are denied credit in any form, based on your credit report from the credit bureaus, you have the right to a copy of that report, if you request it within the specified time. Scrutinize your report. Errors are frequent. Make sure the items are up-to-date. Bankruptcies are kept on your record for 10 years, generally. Other negative public record items, such as liens and judgments, remain for seven years.
Credit Repair
In addition to out-of-date or mistaken items, it is possible for you to get negative information removed from your credit report. In this sense, you can erase bad credit. FCRA gives you the right to dispute any item in your report. The credit bureau must investigate and verify this item; if the bureau cannot verify it, the item must be removed. You may dispute each negative item in your report any number of times, regardless of its truth.
Of course, the creditor may not re-verify the item, or the credit bureau may not be able to process your dispute within the legally allotted time. If so, the information must be deleted. This is one method used to, in a sense, erase bad credit. You have the right to do your own credit repair, but it may take a great deal of time. The process certainly requires patience and persistence. For those who do not wish to commit themselves to such a project to erase bad credit, there are credit repair seminars, attorneys, and software.
