How To Remove Public Records From Your Credit Report
Believe it or not, it is possible to remove public records, such as bankruptcy, tax liens, and judgments from your credit report! Not only is it possible, but sometimes it’s not any more difficult to get rid of than any other derogatory item on a credit report. You’ll find out why later in this article.
If you want to remove a bankruptcy from your credit report, the first thing you should do is dispute any listings on your report that say “included in bankruptcy”. Then dispute the bankruptcy itself. The goal is to remove all traces of the bankruptcy from your credit report if possible. Instructions for disputing items on your credit report are outlined here.
Now let’s go back to what I said in the first paragraph–that a public record doesn’t have to be any more difficult to get deleted from your credit reports than other types of derogatory listings. You might be skeptical of that statement since public records listed on credit reports are generally very serious items that are absolutely devastating to your credit score. It seems like they should be harder to get rid of than less damaging listings, right? Not necessarily so, and here’s why:
Remember how the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires the credit bureaus to investigate your disputes, and delete any items that cannot be verified? Well, the credit bureaus usually don’t investigate disputes properly anyway, but in the case of disputed public records, it’s almost impossible for them to obtain proper verification of these items, even if they wanted to. This is because a public record must be verified through the courts, and the courts will only verify this information in person; they do not verify over the phone or through the mail. Now you know as well as I do that when a consumer disputes a public record listing, it’s highly unlikely that the credit bureaus send someone to the courthouse to verify that listing in person!
However, there is a good chance that your dispute will come back “verified” anyway. This is an FCRA violation on the part of the credit bureau if they did not investigate properly. If/when the public record is “verified” by the credit bureau, your next step will be to send them a letter requesting their method of verification. As with all correspondence you send to the credit bureaus, send the letter certified mail and keep a copy for your records.
The credit bureau will likely claim that the courts verified the listing, but you will know better than that! At that point, you’ll need to contact the courts and ask them how they verified the item. When they tell you they didn’t provide verification to the credit bureau, ask them to make that statement in writing. Mail a copy of that statement to the credit bureau, along with a letter pointing out to them that they have violated the FCRA by failing to properly investigate your dispute. That should be enough to prompt them to remove the public record from your credit report, but if it doesn’t, you should complain to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and contact a lawyer.
Related posts:
- How to Dispute a Listing on Your Credit Report
- How To Repair Your Own Credit Report – Part 3
- Inquiries On Your Credit Report
Filed Under bankruptcy, child support, credit repair, disputes, judgments, public records, tax liens | Leave a Comment
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