Getting a collection off your credit report: the ways that work

A collection comes off a credit report in only a few ways, and which one fits turns on one question: is the entry accurate? The CFPB says you generally cannot have negative information removed if it is accurate. You can have it corrected or removed if it is not. Start by pulling your reports: you can see each of the three nationwide bureaus' reports free once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Which route fits

Route 1: it is wrong, so dispute it

Dispute with each bureau that shows the error, and with the collector that reported it. The bureau must finish a reasonable investigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute, and it must delete or correct any item it finds inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable. The CFPB adds that you can dispute even accurate information when it appears more than once, and that you do not need to pay anyone to dispute for you. The letter builder writes the letter. If the collection came from identity theft, the identity theft recovery steps include a faster block.

Route 2: you are unsure, so make the collector prove it

If a collector contacted you and you dispute the debt in writing within the 30 days its validation notice gives you, it must stop collecting until it mails you verification. That pause covers collection rather than your report, but what comes back tells you whether Route 1 applies. See how to make a debt collector prove the debt.

Route 3: it is accurate, so time is the route

An account placed for collection may be reported for seven years, and the seven years start 180 days after the delinquency that led to the collection began. That start date belongs to the original delinquency. Check it on each report: a date that looks too recent is an error you can dispute under Route 1. The CFPB says most negative information stays seven years.

Paying, settling, and asking

• Paying does not remove it by itself. The CFPB says a paid collection should generally show a zero balance on your reports.
• Pay for delete is a request. No law makes a collector agree to stop reporting an accurate account. If you ask, get the agreement in writing before you pay, as the CFPB advises for any settlement. See pay for delete, and settled debt and taxes if the collector takes less than the balance.
• A goodwill letter is the same kind of request, made to a lender about a late payment; see late payments.
• Mind the other clock. A payment on an old debt may restart the time a collector has to sue, even though it does not restart the reporting period. Read the statute of limitations first.

Medical collections

The CFPB says unpaid medical debt more than 365 days delinquent from the date of service and over $500 could appear on your reports. For veterans, federal law bars the nationwide bureaus from reporting a veteran's medical debt for one year, and from reporting one that has been paid or settled, when the bureau knows it is a veteran's medical debt. See medical bills and your credit report.

What does not work

Paying a company that says it can remove accurate, current negative information. The CFPB warns that such a claim probably means a credit repair scam. See what federal law forbids credit repair companies.