Is it true that I can clean my credit report in 30 days? Do dispute letters work? Any suggestions?

Is it legal to freeze my credit report, or can I change my SS number in order to start a new credit report file? I would really like to know what my options are. Thanks for your help!

Public Comments

1. the letters can work. illegal to change ss #
2. Disputing the entries will help, but it won't clear the properly reported items. As for getting a new SSN, the credit bureaus will all catch up to that within a month anyway. A freeze it for identity theft and fraud, not just because you don't like what's in your file.
3. NO! no one is able to clean your credit report but yourself, and the only thing to do is no fail again with any creditor you still have, if you don't miss any payment, it may take even a year before your score is going up, however, it depends how bad your credit is already. Yes dispute letters work, only if you have the right to dispute and you are indeed innocent. By my experience, do not contact any CCS, (credit counseling services and not file for bankruptcy. Talk to your creditors and find new options if you can't keep on your payments.
4. There is no quick fix to credit problems. Even correcting erroneous data can be time consuming. The first step is decreasing your spending and possibly increasing your income, so that you have a surplus. Start paying down your debts. Start with debts that are the most recent.
5. DISPUTE LETTERS ONLY WORK IF THERE IS A LEGITIMATE DISPUTE. AND IF IT IS COLLECTION ACCOUNTS, YOU MUST DISPUTE THEM WITHIN THE FIRST 30DAYS OF THE ACCOUNT BEING TURNED TO A COLLECTION AGENCY. HERE IS A NOVEL IDEA TO CLEAR UP YOUR CREDIT..... PAY YOUR BILLS!!!! STOP TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO SCREW THE PEOPLE THAT YOU HAVE NO STOLEN THINGS FROM AND LIVE UP TO YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES IN LIFE! I THINK THAT PEOPLE THAT CHARGE THINGS AND DON'T PAY FOR THEM SHOULD BE HELD LIABLE FOR THIS ACTION AND BE CHARGED WITH THEFT AND BE MADE TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS! STEP UP AND BE A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF SOCIETY AND PAY YOUR BILLS!
6. Dispute letters will only work some of the times. You need to understand how the game is played. Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA's) only report what creditors tell them to report. And they can not remove any item unless the creditor tells them to delete it, or they fail to respond back to the CRA during an investigation. Therefore, your first letter should be to the CRA to dispute an entry. The CRA will contact the creditor and "verify" the debt. All that means is they ask if the debt is legitimate. If the creditor says yet, the report stays, but you are allowed to place a notice that you dispute the report (big deal!). Note that the CRA does not do any "real" investigation. If the debt is old, or the creditor has moved or gone out of business, or they lost your records, then the debt will not be validated and it will be removed from your records. This is now most of them can be removed. Your next step is to send a demand letter to the creditor to "VALIDATE" the debt. Note that this is completely different then "VERIFY", and you need to make sure you state that you want it Validated! That means the creditor must supply you with copies of contracts, bills, receipts, and everything used to prove you have a legal obligation to pay this bill. By law, the CRA is not allowed to post "non-validated" information on your report. Doing so is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and they can be sued. Again, if the creditor has lost your records and can't product this legal evidence, he will have to delete your record. If he ignores your letter, does not supply you with any valid evidence, then send another letter to the CRA, along with copies of your letters to the creditor, and demand that the listing be removed from your records due to "lack of validation". They will remove it, because it would be a simple matter for you to sue them. In most cases, you will get your debt validated by the creditor. Those records are not going to be removed unless you can prove they are not accurate. So examine the papers the creditor sent you and look for errors. Like I said, this will not remove all of the entries from your history. But it will remove some. And it does work, I've done it myself and have helped many others do it. This is the same method those credit repair agencies use, but they charge you hundreds of dollars. You can do this yourself.