Can a bankruptcy really be removed from your credit report?

I have never researched it for myself, but I have heard from other people (who may or may not have known what they were talking about) that those places are basically a scam. Your credit score follows your social security number, and I heard those places (the ones that do anything at all) somehow issue you a new social security number (???) and therefore when a creditor does a credit check on your new social security number, none of the old debts (or the bankruptcy) show up. It seems to me, though, that no creditor is going to give you credit if you have NO credit history. Also, this sounds potentially like fraud to me and I would be very hesitant about sending $400 out of state to some suspect company, who I may or may not ever hear from again, hoping they come through in committing fraud on my behalf (potentially subjecting me to a PRISON term) just to MAYBE make my credit score go up 60 points. Of course this is just my opinion. Please note that nothing in this posting or in any other posting constitutes legal advice; this is simply my understanding of the facts, which I do not warrant, and I am not suggesting any course of action or inaction to any person. Visit RossLawOffice.com for more information about bankruptcy.

Answer

A bankruptcy can be removed from your credit report. I know two people who have done it.

Basically how credit repair like this works is you, or attorneys you hire, challenge negative marks on your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act - - gives you the right to dispute anything on your credit report. Once the credit reporting agency contacts the creditor to verify the account they have 30 days to respond with verification. If they do not respond the mark is removed. If they do respond you can challenge again and ask for real proof. I don't know the details of what is required but it can get to the point where they have to provide signed contracts, a list of all payments and bills, etc. What usually happens is the creditor does not respond and it is removed. The same is true of a bankruptcy, often the court does not get the information to the credit reporting agency so the bankruptcy is removed.

That doesn't mean they can definately remove a bankruptcy, or anything else. They may or may not. Obviously if the mark on your credit is not accurate it is a lot easier to have taken care of. I had credit issues caused by id theft that I was unable to do much about, but a credit repair agency quickly removed all the negative items and increased my score over 200 points. I know others who had legitimate bad marks, they seem to be able to get most of them removed but not all.

Of course, this doesn't remove the actual bankruptcy, or any debts owed. It just removes them from your credit reports.

First answer by Susan Minor. Last edit by Amyfico911. Contributor trust: 16 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 324 [recommend question]