Removing Public Records From Your Credit File

Removing Public Records from your credit report

A few months ago, someone commented that I was wrong about a particular fact about foreclosure proceedings.  I said that they didn’t appear on your credit file if the foreclosure never closed  and the commenter argued that I was incorrect.  It turns out I was wrong — sort of.  Sometimes a foreclosure proceeding is reported as soon as the proceedings start and that’s what appears on your file.   You can dispute this by doing the normal credit report dispute process — right away.

Public access records will indicate any civil and or criminal litigation. As the bank started proceedings, it was set on the court calendar for hearing, assigned a case number which opens a record file under your name regardless of the out come, verdict or settlement prior to the hearing.

The natural way to dispute this is via the credit report dispute process.    Here are other things you can think about, which will help fortify your chances of getting the item removed from your credit report.

Getting the record dismissed.

Go to your county courthouse and get a copy of your cases dismissal. If one was not filed by your old mortgage company, get them to file it. (They are obligated to dismiss the case after they’ve received payment).  If you get the case dismissed, then you have a high probability that when you file a dispute, the bank will have have to verify that the case has been dismissed.

Getting the record sealed

You are eligible to have your records sealed only if:

• You were not charged
• The case against you was completely dismissed
• You were acquitted of all charges
• FYI, no criminal justice information involving a conviction may be sealed

You may want to enlist a lawyer with any of this, but often times you can do this on your own.