How to Remove Negative Credit Older Than 7 Years

The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) gives you the right, as a consumer, to ensure that the information on your credit report is correct and not outdated. There is a portion of the FCRA that is referred to as the Statue Of Limitations. Under the Statue Of Limitations, any accounts on your credit report that has been charged off or sent to collections and has been inactive for more than seven years has to be removed. The credit reporting bureau does not always automatically remove these outdated negative items from your report. In that case, you can take action to get the negative items removed.

Instructions

1

Order a copy of your credit report from all three of the credit reporting bureaus. You can do this for free via the Annual Credit Report website. If you have already received a free annual report you will have to order your report directly through the credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

2

Look through your credit report to locate all of the negative items. Look at the date of Last Activity for each negative item that is found. The date the account was opened is insignificant in this matter.

3

Mark each negative item that has not had any activity for seven or more years. By marking the items, you can easily reference them later.

4

Log a dispute with the credit reporting bureau that is showing the outdated information. You can log a dispute directly through the credit bureau's website, by sending a dispute letter via postal mail, or by telephoning the credit bureau directly.

5

In your dispute you need to indicate your credit report number which can be found at the top of your credit report. You must also list the item number or the account information that is being disputed, and why it is being disputed. In your case, you will advise the credit bureau that the item is being disputed because the information is outdated. In your dispute, request that the credit bureau remove the outdated information from your report.

6

Allow 30 days to pass. This is the amount of time the credit bureau has to investigate your dispute and remove the outdated information from your report. If you submitted your dispute online, you can also check the status of your dispute through the credit bureau's website.

7

Order another copy of your credit report to ensure that the information has been removed. As a consumer, you have a right to a free copy of your credit report after you have logged a dispute to ensure that your dispute was resolved.