Having a bad credit history is one of the worst things that you have to live with. It can seriously harm your prospects of obtaining finance for important things in life, such as buying a car, or getting a mortgage.
So can you erase bad credit? If so how can you do it?
The first thing that you have to realize is that despite the many advertisements making claims to be able to get rid of your bad credit, you cannot literally “erase” it. You can, however, make legitimate efforts in repairing your history.
The first thing you should do is to get copies of your credit reports from the three main credit reporting agencies: Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. Pour over each of the reports with a fine tooth comb to see if you can find anything you can query.
Once you’ve found any anomalies, write to the agencies to tell them what pieces of information you disagree with and explain in detail the reasons for your misgivings. If you have any documentation that supports your case, send them as well but make sure your send copies, not the originals.
Once the agency has received your letter they have, by law, to carry out an investigation into each of your items within 30 days of receipt of the letter. If they think it is trivial they may refuse, but the bottom line is that your credit reports are not allowed to carry inaccurate or misleading information.
When the investigation is complete the agency will send you a report outlying their results and what information has been deleted or revised. You can then ask the agency to inform anyone who has received your report about the changes made to your report.
If the agency makes findings that you are not happy with, you can write a letter describing what items are in dispute and a detailed explanation of why you disagree. This statement will then be placed inside your credit report so that anyone wanting to see your report also gets to see this letter and help to alleviate any black marks on your record. You can also ask for this to be sent to those who have recently received your report.
The remaining accurate negative marks on your report can only be removed by waiting. Generally they will stay on your record for seven years from the date of the event. Details of any bankruptcies will stay for ten years. Criminal convictions have no time limit.
In the meantime you will need to find ways that you can help the healing process. The first thing you should consider is to work on repaying all outstanding debt. If you are having problems, then you may need to contact a debt counselor. These are generally non-profit organizations that are there to help you help solve your financial problems, although you may have to pay.
As has been pointed out, you can’t actually erase bad credit, but you can make the effort to repair the history. All you need to do is a little knowledge, perseverance and a lot of patience.