How You Can Remove a Foreclosure from Your Credit Report

Posted by mortgageadviser

November 21, 2008

Enter Your Loan & Zip Now For A Free Mortgage Quote Comparison

by John Cooper

The maximum amount of time a Foreclosure can be on your credit report is seven years. There are false reports that say a minimum of seven years.

This information is wrong; the truth is credit reporting is entirely voluntary on behalf of the lenders. A lender can remove a negative mark from your credit at any point in time and do not have to report the negative mark in the first place.

However I suggest you first try and dispute the Foreclosure with the credit bureau. This is done by writing a dispute letter and sending it to each credit bureau.

In this letter you are challenging the accuracy or validity of the foreclosure. You must include the reason the mark is wrong for example; item is out of date, amount is wrong, not my account and etc.

Credit bureaus will often deem your first dispute letter invalid. They will respond by requesting more information about the dispute. This is a stall tactic; it costs the bureaus potential profits to hold an investigation.

You will have to send your dispute letter again; if you are persistent you can submit a valid dispute letter. The bureaus will then conduct an investigation into your negative mark.

If they are unable to verify the foreclosure then it must be removed from your credit report. Since the housing crisis many lending institutions have gone under or are unwilling to spend money verifying debt. With some luck your listing will be unverifiable.

If you are having trouble submitting a valid dispute or the foreclosure is verified then I recommend a credit repair service. They often have credit lawyers on their staffs that have an expert understanding of credit laws. These lawyers can use advanced dispute tactics or if necessary even take your case to court.

We expect some new case precedents with the increasing number of individuals going through foreclosure. Thus it may be in your interest to hire a service, especially if the foreclosure is not your only negative mark.

You do however have one more option. You can negotiate a settlement agreement with the lender. In exchange for your payment get the lender to agree to remove the foreclosure from your credit report.

In sum, you do not have to just live with bad credit. You can have inaccurate or invalid negative marks removed from your credit report.

About the Author:

For more credit repair tips or for a free dispute letter or to learn how you can remove judgment from your credit report visit us.

Next Post: Tips For Stopping Forclosure