To remove negative marks on your credit report you must dispute the credit bureaus. You have two methods to do this.

1. Create a dispute letter

This option will require you to write a dispute letter. In this letter you will need to identify the negative mark and provide and explanation as to why it is inaccurate.

Reasons typically include; item is out of date, information is wrong, not my account, account paid in full and etcetera. This letter will need to be sent to each credit bureau.

2. Hire a professional credit repair company.

If you choose this option the firm will create a dispute letter for you and send it to the bureaus. The benefit of a firm is they have advanced dispute techniques such as; creditor direct intervention, escalated dispute information requests, and debt validation.

I would suggest hiring a company if you have multiple negative listings on your credit history. However if you only have one or two negative listings you can remove them yourself.

Once the bureaus get your dispute letter and deem it valid they will conduct an investigation. If the item can not be verified then it must be deleted from you credit.

You should know that it is common for credit bureaus to use stall tactics to avoid conducting an investigation. This is because the bureaus spend potential profits when they conduct an investigation.

However the Fair Credit Reporting Act states that the bureaus must investigate disputes and if found unverifiable the listing must be removed. The hard part is getting the bureaus to deem you dispute letter valid.

If you have trouble I suggest a credit repair firm, however if you are persistent then the bureaus will eventually deem your dispute valid and conduct an investigation.

Often an investigation will result in the negative listing being removed. This is a result of lenders being unwilling to spend the time and money verifying debts.

Which ever method you choose negative credit can be removed from your credit report. You do not have to wait the full seven years.