Can Collections Be Deleted from Your Credit Report?
http://www.articleus.com/articles/11665/1/Can-Collections-Be-Deleted-from-Your-Credit-Report/Page1.html
Stuart Hunter
Providing <a href="http://www.lexingtonlaw.com">credit repair services</a> since 1991, Lexington Law has helped over 500,000 clients legally take on their credit. Last year alone, Lexington Law helped clients remove over 600,000 negative items from their credit reports. By Stuart Hunter
Published on 11/30/2009
Collections accounts can take a serious toll on your creditrating, with higher collection amounts taking a large toll than smaller amounts. If you're looking to improve your credit score, it is worth it to look into the steps you can take in an attempt to <a href="http://www.lexingtonlaw.com/credit-education/collections.html">delete collection accounts</a> from your credit file.
Can Collections Be Removed from a Credit Report?
Depending on how much a credit claims you owe, even a single collections on your credit reports can do serious damage to your credit score.
Collections for smaller dollar amounts don't affect a credit score as much, but if you have multiple delinquencies listed on your credit reports, don't be surprised when your credit isn't as good as you would prefer it to be.
Whether a is reported for $100, $500, $1,000 or more, your credit rating would probably be better if it did not appear on your credit reports at all. Almost everyone would prefer to have this damaging credit listing erased, but few realize there is something they can do about it. What they are not aware of is that there are steps you can take in an effort to remove collection accounts from your credit reports. In fact, Lexington Law, a consumer advocacy law firm with 18 years of experience helping over 1/2 million Americans work to improve their credit, reports that their clients had over 250,000 collection accounts removed from their credit reports in 2008.
You have a number of options when it comes to clearing up your credit. For starters, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can request the credit bureaus verify any items in your credit reports you feel may be inaccurate, untimely, misleading, incomplete, ambiguous, unverifiable, biased or unclear (known as "questionable" items). Essentially, as the name of the act implies, you are able to to question any items you feel give others an unfair or inaccurate impression of your credit worthiness; including collection accounts.
If your credit bureau dispute doesn't result in a removal or if the reported collection account doesn't qualify as a questionable negative item, there are still options available to you. Your creditors and collections agencies have the ability to remove the items they have added to your credit reports. On occasion, simply as a result of you asking nicely, they will agree to stop reporting a negative item. If this doesn't do the job, there are a number of more confrontational things you can do based on your rights under consumer protection acts such as the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
It isn't necessarily easy, but with time, effort, and proper knowledge, you may be able to remove collection accounts from your credit reports. Of course, if you do not have the time or the desire to attempt repairing your own credit, there are a number of reputable credit repair companies who can use their knowledge and experience to assist you in working towards achieving your credit goals.
Collections for smaller dollar amounts don't affect a credit score as much, but if you have multiple delinquencies listed on your credit reports, don't be surprised when your credit isn't as good as you would prefer it to be.
Whether a is reported for $100, $500, $1,000 or more, your credit rating would probably be better if it did not appear on your credit reports at all. Almost everyone would prefer to have this damaging credit listing erased, but few realize there is something they can do about it. What they are not aware of is that there are steps you can take in an effort to remove collection accounts from your credit reports. In fact, Lexington Law, a consumer advocacy law firm with 18 years of experience helping over 1/2 million Americans work to improve their credit, reports that their clients had over 250,000 collection accounts removed from their credit reports in 2008.
You have a number of options when it comes to clearing up your credit. For starters, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can request the credit bureaus verify any items in your credit reports you feel may be inaccurate, untimely, misleading, incomplete, ambiguous, unverifiable, biased or unclear (known as "questionable" items). Essentially, as the name of the act implies, you are able to to question any items you feel give others an unfair or inaccurate impression of your credit worthiness; including collection accounts.
If your credit bureau dispute doesn't result in a removal or if the reported collection account doesn't qualify as a questionable negative item, there are still options available to you. Your creditors and collections agencies have the ability to remove the items they have added to your credit reports. On occasion, simply as a result of you asking nicely, they will agree to stop reporting a negative item. If this doesn't do the job, there are a number of more confrontational things you can do based on your rights under consumer protection acts such as the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
It isn't necessarily easy, but with time, effort, and proper knowledge, you may be able to remove collection accounts from your credit reports. Of course, if you do not have the time or the desire to attempt repairing your own credit, there are a number of reputable credit repair companies who can use their knowledge and experience to assist you in working towards achieving your credit goals.