How To Remove Collections From Your Credit Report

Collection accounts are typically seriously past due accounts that have been assigned to an attorney or collection agency. A collection agency is usually hired after a company has made multiple attempts to collect money that they believe is owed to them. Collection accounts can remain on your credit report for 7 years from the date of the initial missed payment that led to the collection (the original delinquency date). The following techniques will teach you how to remove collections from your credit reports.

What the Credit Bureaus Don't Want You to Know:


1. A study released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in June 2004 found that 79% of the consumer credit reports surveyed contained some kind of error or mistake.

2. Once you dispute an account, it must be proven or it cannot remain on your report. If the credit bureau cannot verify the item when investigated, it must be removed from your file whether or not it's true.

3. Every negative item on your report can be denied or challenged at any time. The credit bureau must re-investigate every time it is challenged and if the item cannot be verified within a "reasonable amount of time", it must be removed from the file.

4. Many times the creditor does not re-verify in time or the credit bureau is busy and does not handle your dispute properly. It must then be deleted.

5. The older an item, the more difficult it is to verify. Creditors seldom keep records for longer than a couple years.

Steps to Repair Your Credit:

1. Obtain your three credit reports.

2. Review the reports and locate the collection accounts.

3. Dispute the collection accounts with the credit bureaus.

By: Chane Steiner

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

For more information on how to remove collections and other negative items from your credit reports, visit the Credit Repair authority site!

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Getting Your Free Credit Report

Easily get your free credit score

You can get your credit score from any number of resources. One place you can get it from is from credit bureaus themselves. You can pay for the service, but you qualify for one free credit report a year or qualify for a free credit report if you have recently been turned down for credit or if you think you may have been the victim of identity theft.

If you can, get a copy of your free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus. If you can’t get a free credit report, you should still try to get one, even if costs a few dollars. The savings you will enjoy on your loan rates when you improve your credit score will more than pay for the cost of the reports.

There are a number of online companies that offer free online credit reports. These offers are very attractive because you get an online report without having to wait for a report to be sent to you, and you often can get several reports from the different credit bureaus at once, which can save you time.

However, these online companies vary widely, so you will want to compare a few different firms before choosing one. You will also need to read the online company’s agreement very carefully - some promise free credit reports only with the purchase of a credit repair program or some other kit. In some cases, you can decline the offer and still get the report but in other cases you cannot.

Buyer beware.

Also, some companies will offer you free credit reports that are really a combination of reportsfrom the three major credit bureaus. This is not useful, since you will want to compare each of the three credit bureau reports and fix each credit score separately. You will want to look out for online companies that offer credit reports that are very condensed and you will want to avoid companies that will spam you (send you unsolicited emails) trying to get you to subscribe to some service. Always read carefully to see whether the free credit report offer is legitimate.

That said, there are a number of online companies that offer credit reports and credit scores at no charge and these can be a useful way for you to start your credit repair, especially if you are comfortable around computers.

If you don’t qualify for a free credit report from the credit bureaus, a legitimate online company may be your best bet of getting your credit information so that you can start repairing your credit risk rating.

You do qualify for one free credit report per year. You can get this credit report through email at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877_322_8228.

You can also ask for your free credit report by mail by sending a letter to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348_5281 or by filling out the form available at the Federal Trade Commission's Web site at:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/docs/fact_act_request_form.pdf
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2007 Tim Watson