[mica]

I have a poor credit report. I am able at this time to pay off what I owe. Is it possible to make arrangements with a credit company to remove bad credit if payment is made in full? If so, what type of letter would best work?
Thanks for you time
mica

[viking]

Yes you can significantly improve your cerdit score by calling your creditors and paying off what you owe. In addition you need to contact the major credit agencies (experian, equifax, transunion) and ask for copies of your credit reports. You need all three to address all issues regarding your credit. Your creditors and the credit agencies should help improve your credit

[mica]

Thanks Viking, I have another question. Once I pay off a creditor, do I need to send a letter to all three credit agencies reporting the payment or do I need to make a request with the creditor to do so? If not, how long should I expect it to take for the payment to be reflected on my report? Ooops that's two.
Thanks again
Mica

[zylstra]

The fact that you have paid off a creditor does not have much to do with your credit score.  The fact that you may have made payments late (30 days, 90 days, or 120 days+) does.  Your payoff of any creditor (or any balance with a creditor for that matter) is automatically reflected in your report at the 3 credit agencies within a month.

If you have adverse information on your report you may 1) call the creditor and ask to have them removed, 2) dispute the adverse marks by contacting each of the 3 credit agencies, or 3) dispute the adverse marks through a third party credit repair agency.  The third option will make it easier to dispute and keep track of many adverse marks.  Most credit repair agencies will also attempt multiple times to remove adverse marks if they do not disappear at the first request.  When a mark is disputed the creditor has 30 days to respond to the credit agency with proof that the adverse mark is correct.  If the creditor does not respond the credit agency must remove it.

The three credit agencies as mentioned above are www.equifax.com, www.experian.com, and www.transunion.com, and a good credit repair agency is www.lexingtonlaw.com.

[gazelleintense]

The only thing that can be removed from your credit report are errors. And you can do that yourself. Never pay someone to do this, it's a scam.

[excon]

Hello mica:

A paid collection isn't much better for your fico score than a non paid collection. So, before you pay, demand they remove the negative item from your credit report. They'll say they can't remove it. Tell them that they will be receiving an inquiry from the credit bureaus and you're asking him to remain mute, or don't answer.

IF he does this, after you challenge the item with the credit bureaus, the item will come off your credit report. He'll DO this, because he won't get paid if he doesn't, and he's paid on a commission. Get it in writing.

excon