You do know you have the right to repair your credit don't you? Well, the bureaus and many creditors would love for you to believe that what is put on your report has to stay there for 7-10 years. That is absolutely not true! In fact, there are tons of laws written to protect YOU, not them!
You have the right to challenge and dispute Anything on your credit reports that you don't agree with. It doesn't matter if it is basically true or not, you have that right. Just because you once signed a contract with a creditor, doesn't mean you can't dispute that item, especially if it has been sold to a 3rd party collection agency. Further, if anything is not correct, and I mean ANYTHING, that they put on your credit report, you can get it removed. The law says that they have to report Only 100% Accurate information. I have seen enough credit reports over the last 2 decades to know that if you have negative credit, then you have some mistakes on your credit report.
Think bad credit has to stay for 7-10 years? Nope, it doesn't. What the law actually says is that it cannot stay on longer than 7-10 years. It does not say anything Has to be reported at all. The limit is for the provider of the information and the credit bureaus, not you! But, all states have statutes of limitations. Your state may be less than the 7-10 years. Mine is. Mine is 4 years. What is significant about that is collectors/creditors cannot report you after the statute of limitations because it is time barred and one of the actions considered as collection activity, which is prohibited after it is time barred, is reporting on your credit report. If you dispute a time barred credit line and the reporting party verifies with the bureaus, that is also considered collection activity and it is not allowed, by law!
You have a right to a free credit report from every bureau every single year. You can use these free reports to start cleaning your credit. You can challenge bad credit based on wrong dates, wrong amounts, wrong types of accounts, heck, many times what you need to dispute is with a collector or collection agency. You had better dispute those. You never signed a contract with them, you signed with an original creditor. You by law, don't owe them a dime!
3rd party collectors are considered "strangers to the transaction" and the law goes on to say that they are mere volunteers who paid an alleged debt, but not with your permission or a request from you to do so. AmJur states that "the right of subrogation [the right to substitute] does not exist for a stranger to the transaction. This means not only do they not have the right to collect from you, they really don't have the right to report on you. They have NO CONTRACT with you.
Start cleaning your credit - its Your Right! Start by getting your credit reports from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Send letters to every collector demanding validation and make sure you remind them that they have no contract with you. Make sure you keep a copy and make sure you mail it certified with return receipt. That is important because it is your proof that you have put them on notice. When you do, you further protect yourself from them because the law says that until they validate the alleged debt, they must cease all collection activity. Remember, verifying with credit bureaus is considered collection activity, so it is against the law if they do it.
Once you get your green cards [return receipts from the post office] back, send off letters to the bureaus disputing the validity and accuracy of each of the collectors you just sent the validation demands to. Warn the bureaus that you have demanded validation from each one and none have provided validation. Let them know that if any of them verify and they update the report to show anything was verified, they are now liable for damages as well. They knowingly let information that is barred by law onto your credit report.
You can improve your credit. You can remove negative entries from your report. You don't have to wait 7-10 years, so don't. Do it now or get someone to help you do it. It does take commitment and consistent effort, but it is your right and so much better than paying off alleged debts to some grimy collection companies that have no legal right to demand anything from you. Play the game and beat them - that's your right too!
