The Fair Credit Reporting Act, FCRA, gives you two legal reasons to delete items from a credit report. You have the right to challenge mistaken items, which must be deleted if the lenders cannot prove their accuracy. Most items can only stay on your report for seven years, so you can demand deletion of older information. Both types of data are deleted through the FCRA-mandated dispute process.
Step 1
Make a copy or printout of your credit report and mark the items that should be deleted. Circle them or mark them with a highlighter and number them sequentially. Concentrate on negative items that are harming your credit history, including late payments and collection accounts.
Step 2
Compose a letter to the credit bureau cross referencing the marked items and giving a reason for each one's removal. Credit Infocenter explains any mistake is grounds for a challenge. Look carefully at dates, account numbers, payment amounts, credit limits and high balances. Only put one reason for each item even if it has multiple errors. You can use the other mistakes if your first dispute is denied.
Step 3
Photocopy any paperwork that backs up your deletion requests. This could include canceled checks, money order receipts, bank or credit card printouts, or loan contracts. Attach this to your credit bureau letter.
Step 4
Mail your letter and supporting information to the credit bureau at the current address on its website or on your report copy. The Federal Trade Commission, FTC recommends certified mail and advises getting proof of delivery. The FCRA allows the credit bureau to take up to 30 days to research your claims. This period starts when your letter arrives.
Step 5
Go through the credit bureau's response, which should arrive within about a month. It will tell you which items were deleted from your report, and it may also state it left some intact because the creditors proved their accuracy.
Step 6
Send another dispute for any items the credit bureau did not remove from your report if you have other grounds on which to challenge them. You can dispute an item as many times as you wish, according to Credit Infocenter, but you must have a separate reason. Otherwise the FCRA gives the bureau the right to deem it frivolous and disregard it.
Tips and Warnings
- You should review one of your credit reports every four months to find items that may need deleting. The FTC explains you may get a free report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion annually by following the instructions on AnnualCreditReport.com.
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