How to Remove Public Records From Your Credit Report

iEditorial Note: These blog posts represent the opinion of DoNotPay’s Writers, but each person’s situation and circumstances vary greatly. As a result, you should make sure to do your own independent research. Because everyone is unique, our self-help tools are never guaranteed to help with any specific situation. DoNotPay is not a law firm and is not licensed to practice law. DoNotPay provides a platform for legal information and self-help.

How to Remove Public Records From Your Credit Report

Your credit report is a scorecard that tells lenders how well you handle your finances. Unfortunately, it's not always perfect, and you may have to dispute some of the entries once in a while to get a good credit score. While other entries like late payments may be easy to remove from your credit report, public records are extremely difficult to get rid of.

You can from your credit report in two ways. First, you can attempt to have the court erase the public record, but it will not be easy. An easier option is to contact the three major credit reporting agencies and dispute the entry. This method will work if the entry is inaccurate and unverifiable.

When it's time to dispute a public record entry record on your credit report, you may not know how to get started. Not to worry, because DoNotPay has a that helps you approach your situation in an easy and fast way to get your public records off your credit report.

Which Public Records Show Up on Your Credit Report?

Public records include any court judgment against you and are listed in the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER). Anyone can access these records by searching them on PACER.

The only public records that will appear on your credit report include those that pertain to outstanding debt or a charge imposed by the court. Some of these records include:

  • Foreclosures
  • Bankruptcies
  • Tax Liens
  • Lawsuit judgments

How to Remove Public Records From Credit Report

As mentioned earlier, it's not easy to unless they are inaccurate or entered there incorrectly. Worse still, these public records chunk out about 200 points from your credit report and can remain there for up to 10 years.

If you notice a public record entry on your credit report, check to confirm if you recognize it. If you do, you can check for any inaccuracies you can use to base your dispute and have the bureaus remove it. On the other hand, if you don't recognize it, it could be a case of identity theft or fraud, so you much have it investigated right away.

Here's how to approach the different public records on your credit report to have them removed.

BankruptcyAccording to Chapter 13, a bankruptcy record should remain on your credit report for seven years, while Chapter 7 keeps it there for ten years. If the entry on your credit report is correct, you cannot remove it until the period allocated to it expires.

On the other hand, if there is an error in the entry, write to the credit bureau agencies and request for correct information or complete removal of the entry from your credit report.

ForeclosuresJust like in bankruptcies, foreclosures cannot be removed from your credit report unless they are inaccurate or a case of identity theft. If you notice any errors in the entry, you can reach out to the credit reporting agencies for verification.
Tax LienIf you fall behind on your taxes and get a lien on your property from the tax authority, this record becomes public and may appear on your credit report. Fortunately, you can get the tax fully paid and apply for an IRS withdrawal.

The lien withdrawal program may also allow you to sign up for a payment plan and complete your payments within a specified period. In addition, once the tax lien is lifted, you can have it removed from your credit report within no time.

Lawsuit JudgmentIf the judge made a ruling against you in court and you require to make monetary payments, this record may appear on your credit report. You must ensure that the judgment is marked as satisfied to have it removed. If the entry is an error, you can have the judgment vacated, and the record will go away.

Here's how to remove inaccurate public records from your credit report.

  1. Write a dispute letter to the three major credit bureaus indicating your concerns.
  2. Provide any proof you may have to support your claims.
  3. Send in the documents to the bureau's mailing address.
  4. The bureaus will verify the entry, and if the records are unverifiable, they will be deleted from your credit report.

How to Remove Public Records From Credit Report With the Help of DoNotPay

Here is how DoNotPay works.

  1. Search Clean Credit Report on DoNotPay.

  2. Prepare a recent copy of your credit report that you can use as reference.

  3. Let us guide you through the 4 potential options:
  • If you've already paid off your debt, we'll help you file a Goodwill Removal Request to get it removed.

  • If you notice any errors in your report (we have a list of common errors you can use!), we'll help you file a credit dispute to the creditor or major credit bureaus.

  • If there are no errors, we'll check if you're still eligible to file a debt validation request. If they can't validate your debt, they're required to remove it from your report and they can't collect it!

  • Lastly, if none of the above options work, we'll help you file a pay-to-delete negotiation letter. You can customize the amount you are willing to pay in exchange for getting the item removed.

And that's it! DoNotPay will file the appropriate letter on your behalf (mailing is more effective in these cases since it's traceable). You should hear back from the creditor/credit bureau within a few weeks with a response.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

DoNotPay can help you learn the following.

  1. How to improve credit score
  2. Dispute credit report
  3. Debt validation letter
  4. How to remove collections from credit report
  5. Credit dispute letter
  6. How to remove late payments from credit report
  7. How to fix credit score
  8. How to remove inquiries from credit report

DoNotPay can also help you with other services like:

Check out product to get started.

Want your issue solved now?