If I wanted to try to get a Paid but derogatory remark off my credit report?

Question

It I wanted to get a paid but derogatory medical bill off my credit report what could I say in the dispute letter?

Answer 1

There are only two ways that you can get negative information removed from your credit report.

1) The creditor must delete it
2) The creditor fails to respond to a dispute investigation from the credit bureau.

So here is your problem. The creditor is not going to delete this unless you pay the debt. As Bdancer stated, you should negotiate with them to delete it once you have paid them off.

But you did not do this. Now the creditor has your money. The only legal requirement he has is to show a zero balance on your report, but all other negative information will remain. It is not likely he will delete it since you no longer have any leverage to negotiate with, since they now have your money. At this point, all you can do is call and politely ask them to help you fix your bad credit by deleting the information. Not very likely.

Your best bet now is to file a dispute with the credit bureau. Say that the dates are wrong, or some other nonsense. By law, they must contact the creditor and verify the information. If they do not get a response back, they must erase the report within 30 days.

This is how "credit repair" agencies do it. You can do it yourself and save the ridiculous fees they charge.

Answer 2

Once you paid the bill you acknowledged the debt. It should however, no longer be listed as a derogatory remark.
You didn't mention what kind of derogatory entry it was, was it a "charge off" or "collections" type of account.
Both are different in the way they appear on report.
If this debt is indeed still showing as derogatory entry, then you will have to contact the credit reporting agency in writing to request it be removed as derogatory entry.

Step One
Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you think is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Send your letter by certified mail, “return receipt requested,” so you can document what the consumer reporting company received. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.


I have enclosed links to guide you through the process. These are from the FTC and unlike others, not promotional links.

Answer 3

If you owed the money but paid, it stays on file for 7 years. You can always dispute it and if there is no reply from the medical bill in question, it has to be removed after 30 days. If you're current with your other bills, I wouldn't worry about a medical or hospital bill. I was a retail credit manager for 10 years and I would not deny someone credit because of a medical bill.

Answer 4

Actually, the best way is to get the creditor to remove it. If you can't do that, then state facts that show the creditor is wrong about reporting you past due or unpaid. All potential creditors care about is facts. Do a timeline on the debt and how you paid it back (installments as agreed or paid off, but late).

** Note: This is a general discussion of the subject matter of your question and not legal advice. Local laws or your particular situation may change the general rules. For a specific answer to your question you should consult legal counsel with whom you can discuss all the facts of your case. **

Answer 5

Go to the website below and read it all. Credit repair is what their information is all about and I used this site and a couple of the links to get negative items off of my credit report and boosted my score from 486 to 729 in a little over a year!

If you don't have one yet, enroll in a credit monitoring service like Equifax 3 in 1 gold and check your credit often!

Trying to get negative items removed without credit monitoring isn't wise and a little like driving while blind!

Lexington Law Firm has a link here and they worked really hard for me after I tried to remove items myself and got hit with every legal maneuver there was. Lexington plowed right through it and they are really affordable!

Get the RSS feed to since they constanly update and add new information, services and links. I bookmarked it too since I come back here a lot and now that I know more about how credit and credit scoring works, I can keep my score high!

Answer 6

You should have negotiated to have the negative removed for payment before you paid. You can try asking the creditor to remove it now but it's not likely.

You could just dispute it with the credit bureau as being an error and hope the creditor doesn't bother to verify the item.

Answer 7

Go to this website http://www.easy-credit-repair.org