How to Take Paid Items Off Your Credit Report

Your credit score can affect everything from your car insurance rates to your ability to rent an apartment. If you have had poor credit in the past, some of those old accounts can still linger on your credit report, dragging down your score. While most negative accounts stay on your account for seven to 10 years, you can occasionally get them removed earlier.

Instructions

1

Request your free credit report annually. You are entitled to one free credit report every year from each of the three credit reporting agencies: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com to get your reports, or order them directly from each of the company's websites for a fee.

2

Dispute inaccuracies. If there are negative items on your account that are incorrect, you can dispute them and sometimes have them removed. If you are viewing your credit report online, it's easy to dispute an item by clicking the "Dispute" button next to any entry. If the investigation proves that the item is inaccurate it may be removed.

3

Contact your creditors and negotiate. If you have open collections accounts, you can negotiate with the creditor to have your negative account removed if you pay the account. You absolutely must get this in writing from the collection agency before you make your payment, so that if it does not remove it, you can provide documentation to the credit reporting agency. Once your account is paid, collection agents have no motivation to remove the account from your report.

4

Write the collection agency and request that it remove the account. If it is a very old account and will drop off your report soon anyway, the agency may do it.