Can Bad Credit be Deleted?
Yes, it can. Despite the fervent
proclamations
of bureaucrats and credit bureaus everywhere, a simple fact remains:
negative credit listings are deleted from peoples' credit reports by
the thousands each and every day.
A few years ago, an attorney from
Lexington Law.
visited with a regulatory agency for a casual conversation with two
agents. The Agency's office, as a matter of course, believed the credit
bureaus' claim that bad credit couldn't be deleted. The visiting
Lexington attorney asked, "How many negative listings would you have to
see deleted from consumer credit reports before you would believe that
bad credit can be deleted: ten? fifty? a hundred? one thousand?" The
agents responded with only blank stares.
"How about 50,000 deleted listings,
would that convince you?" continued
the Lexington attorney. From his briefcase he pulled a stack of papers
six inches high.
"In these pages, we have listed the
permanent deletion of over
50,000.
listings from our clients' files in the last two years alone," he
explained. The agents pulled the stack across the conference table and
began to pick through the pages, taking in the massive list.
"But have you deleted any
bankruptcies?" shot back one of the agents,
"we know that bankruptcies can't be deleted." The Lexington attorney
leaned across the table and ran his finger down the first page.
"There's one deleted bankruptcy...
and, there's another,... and
another,... and another. Should I go on?" asked the Lexington attorney.
The agents sat back in their chairs.
"You know," began the junior
agent, "I have this one listing on my credit report that simply must
belong to somebody else..."
How is credit repair possible?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
allows a
consumer to challenge the information on his credit report on the basis
of "completeness and accuracy." When a consumer files a dispute, the
credit bureaus must contact the source of the credit information (the
creditor) and confirm that the information is accurate, verifiable, and
not obsolete. In some circumstances, the credit bureau is required to
go beyond a simple verification of the creditor's own computer record.
If, within 30 days, the credit bureau has not received verification
from the creditor, then the credit bureau must promptly delete the
credit listing.