Question: What is the most effective way to clean up your credit? Please give me specific ideas.  Also references if you have them!

Answer: There is no guarantee that you can completely fix your credit report.  You can get some negative items removed.\n\nFor those items that can't be removed, you will have to try and negotiate a payment plan with the credit..but be sure to get IN WRITING an agreement that they will remove the listing from your credit report.  Once they have your money you lose all leverage with them.\n\nThe links below go into the general process of what you have to do.  Here is a quick outline of the process.\n\n-Don't even start until you understand the laws.  Read the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair and Accurate Reporting Act, and the Fair Debt Collections act. The link to this inforamtion is in the links below.  \n\n-Get a copy of your credit reports from http://www.annualcreditreport.com.  Go over it very carefully.  You are looking for inaccurate information such as balance, reporting dates, or what status is being reported.  You are looking for any error that will justify an investigation.  \n\nFor example, one of the favorite tricks of collection agencies is to "bump" up the reporting date to extend the time it stays on your report.  By law, the reporting time begins on the day you defaulted on the loan.  Sometimes a collector gets the account and does not know the default date, so he will use the date he received it, or the last transaction date.  If you can prove this date is wrong, you can get the entry removed from your credit report.\n\n-Send a letter to each of the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA) and protest the entries you believe are not accurate.  By law the CRA must "VERIFY" the report.  All this means is he will contact the creditor and ask if the report is correct.  There is no real "investigation".  If the creditor responds back that it's legit, the listing will say on your report, but you are allowed to place a comment to say you are protesting the entry.  They have 30 days to respond back to you on this.\n\n-If the CRA says it's been "verified", your next step is to "VALIDATE" the debt.  That means the creditor must prove you have a legitimate debt, and you have a legal obligation to pay it.  He MUST supply you with copies of all contracts, bills, receipts, and everything they used to calculate what they claim you owe them. \n\nTo get this, send them a letter (I have a sample letter in the links below), demanding that they VALIDATE the debt.  If they don't respond back with this information within 30 days, send a copy of the validation request, plus another letter to the CRA demanding they remove the entry due to "lack of validation".  The CRA will have to again investigate this report, and if the entry is still not removed you have grounds to sue both the CRA and Creditor for violation of the FCRA.  That is a simple small claims process, and you can get $1000 from each of them.  \n\n-If the credit does send you a copy of the validation information, study it carefully.  This is the information they will use in court if you bring a suit against them.  If it's pretty cut and dry, you will not be able to remove the entry.\n\nIf you have any questions contact me.\nI've helped many people do this, and I'm currently suing a creditor in small claims right now.  It can be done, it's not hard.  \n\nYou just have to understand the law!
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