How to Dispute Government Debt

The government takes debt collection very seriously. Whereas a debt owed to a private creditor may potentially have no consequences other than a tarnished credit record, government debts operate by a different set of rules. The government has the authority to withhold tax returns, garnish Social Security payments and levy your bank accounts in an effort to recover a debt. In addition, if your government debt is a tax debt, it will have no set reporting period on your credit report and can appear as a negative entry on your file indefinitely. If you discover a government debt reporting inaccurately on your credit report, it is imperative that you take immediate action to remedy the problem and have the debt removed before the government initiates aggressive collection efforts against you for a debt that you do not owe.

Instructions

1

Contact the branch of government that is reporting the debt and request the name of the individual or department that handles credit reporting.

2

Call the appropriate person or department and explain the error. Ask what documentation you need to provide to have the entry removed. Different government agencies will require different forms of documentation to exonerate you.

3

Send a copy of your credit report, along with copies of any paperwork that was requested, to the department. Include a short letter explaining that the debt is not yours, is damaging your credit score, and must be removed.

4

Check your credit reports in 30 days to ensure that the debt was removed.

5

Send another request to the agency to remove the government debt from your credit record. Point out that you have already provided the necessary documentation to prove that you never accrued the debt.

6

Dispute the debt with the credit bureaus if the government agency refuses to remove it from your credit report. The credit bureaus then each have 30 days to attempt to validate the debt. If the debt cannot be proven to be yours, it will be removed from your file.

7

Hire an attorney and file a lawsuit against the government agency that is reporting the debt if the credit bureau investigation comes back "verified."