Bad Credit Can be Fixed

5 Methods Available to Remove Adverse Credit Report Entries

(1) Wait until the statute of limitations expires—not a good option at all;
(2) Use credit bureau disputes and hope that the furnisher of the information fails to affirm it within the time required by law. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires 30 days, or 45 days if the credit report was acquired for free. As such, never get a free credit report!
(3) File a dispute with the furnisher (e.g. creditor or collection agency). This is useful for inaccurate information, but for accurate information, it’s only useful for the purpose of putting a flag on the entry within a credit report, tagging it as “in dispute.” Such a tag will negate an entry from being computed in a FICO credit score! It can also create a legal cause of action against a furnisher that fails to comply with this requirement.
(4) Get the furnisher/creditor to agree to remove/change it using effective negotiating strategies; and
(5) In cases where money isn’t owed, use the courts (declaratory judgment lawsuits).

When sending letters to the credit reporting agencies which dispute the validity of bad credit entries in your credit file, those entries may or may not be technically accurate. This can sometimes be useful in obtaining deletion of adverse information, particularly of one knows how to properly craft a letter. However, many aspects of correspondence comes into play, such as how a credit report was obtained in the first place, the content and context of the dispute letter, and the manner in which it is delivered. Furthermore, follow up letters can be just as important, and they also must be carefully crafted to increases the chances of a favorable outcome.

Is credit repair legal? Can bad credit be removed or restored?

You bet it is! The FTC says, "The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete." They’re referring to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC also says, "There is no requirement that reporting agencies report information for the full seven years—they can delete adverse information whenever they choose before the seven year period." (FTC Official Staff Commentary §605 item 4.) You can fix credit in this way, as has been done many times over by BestCredit students.