You will have to dispute the collection to have the credit bureaus remove it from your credit report. You must file a dispute directly with the bureaus.

You file a dispute by creating a dispute letter. In this letter you must identify the mark being disputed and provide a reason as to why it is inaccurate and should be removed.

You will have to send a copy of this letter to each credit bureau. Upon receipt of your letter the bureaus will conduct an investigation into the dispute.

It is common for investigations to result in the deletion of a mark. This is because most lenders and collection agencies are unwilling to spend the resources verifying uncollectible debts.

If your dispute is verified then having a credit repair service can be very beneficial. They can use advanced dispute techniques to remove a bad credit item. These techniques include; debt validation, escalated dispute information requests, and creditor direct intervention.

What is a collection?

A collection will occur approximately after 6 months of delinquency. It is a lenders last resort to recover payment.

Many lenders have an in house collection agency. In addition it is common for them to outsource their collection efforts or to outright sell your account to an agency.

Collection agencies will either buy your debt for a fraction of the balance or they will collect on a commission basis. Meaning they will be paid a percentage of every dollar collected.

You should know that if you just pay a collection then the mark will remain on your credit report. It will change the status of the mark but it will still be seen as a negative item by potential lenders.

In sum you can remove collections and bad credit marks on your credit report. You do not have to wait 7 years for the mark to expire.