A bankruptcy listing can significantly impact your credit and ability to get approved for loans or lines of credit. If you file a dispute that can prove a bankruptcy listing is wrong, then you have a chance to get it removed from your credit report sooner. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait the full 7 or 10 years before it’s removed from your credit report.
Fixing errors in a bankruptcy filing
If a bankruptcy was misreported or contains errors, you may be able to have it removed by challenging it. If you choose to file a dispute, you'll need a few pieces of information. First, you'll need proof that the bankruptcy was misreported or contains errors. Once you have that, you'll need to send it and a written letter explaining the mistakes to the credit bureau that reported the incident. You may also need supporting documents to prove that the information is inaccurate.
The process may vary depending on the credit bureau you’re filing with. Generally, they will review your challenge and the supporting evidence and decide whether the information should be removed or modified.
If you don't need to file a challenge, you'll need to wait until the bankruptcy leaves your report on its own—after seven years for Chapter 13 bankruptcy or ten years for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Two ways to remove a bankruptcy from a credit report
There are only two ways to remove bankruptcy from your credit report: challenge the accuracy with the credit bureaus or wait for the bankruptcy to leave the report after seven to 10 years. A legitimate bankruptcy cannot be challenged, so you’ll need to wait for it to leave the report unless you can prove that some aspect of the bankruptcy is listed incorrectly in your credit report.
Can bankruptcy be removed without a challenge?
Unfortunately, no. A bankruptcy listing can only be removed from your credit report with a challenge if there are errors. If the bankruptcy is accurate, it will remain on your credit report for 7 - 10 years—depending on which type of bankruptcy was filed—before it’s removed.
How to challenge a bankruptcy on your credit report
A legitimate bankruptcy cannot be challenged, but it can come off your credit report if it must be correctly entered or corrected. In the case of bankruptcies—mainly because they remain on the credit report for so many years—it’s not uncommon for errors to creep in.
If any of these or other errors appear on your credit report, you have the right to challenge those errors. The reporting agency must remove or correct them if it cannot substantiate the item.
See how Lexington Law can help you.
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