Is a fact actually wrong?
Name the account, field, date, status, balance, or ownership problem.
Claim-by-claim checker · no report upload
Can this really be removed from your credit report?
Choose the item behind a credit-sweep claim. The checker separates a real dispute or identity-theft route from a promise no service can legitimately make.
Check the claim
Use this tool when: an ad, influencer, or credit-repair service says a negative credit-report item can be deleted.
What record proves it?
A focused document is stronger than a legal-sounding slogan or form affidavit.
What is being promised?
No one controls a bureau result, score change, lender decision, or instant deletion.
Choose one claim
What does someone say can be removed?
Pick the entry that most closely matches the credit report. You do not need to enter a name, account number, balance, or other personal information.
Claim checked
: what the facts change
Claim being checked
Accurate late payment
“Any late payment can be swept because the bureau has to prove it.”
Claim-check result
Not disputable merely because it is negative
If the late payment is accurate, complete, belongs to you, and is still within the reporting period, a dispute is not a legitimate deletion shortcut.
Bottom line
Confirm the facts before acting. If every reported detail is right, the honest options are time, stronger current payment history, and, if you choose, a truthful goodwill request that the creditor may decline.
When it may be disputable
- The report marks the wrong month or severity, such as 60 days late when records show 30.
- The payment was on time, covered by an agreed accommodation, or posted incorrectly.
- The account is not yours, appears more than once in error, or the late-payment history is too old to report.
Evidence that matters
- Statements covering the due date and payment-posting date
- Bank confirmations, canceled checks, or payment receipts
- A written due-date change, deferment, hardship plan, or servicer correction
- The credit report page with the exact late-payment month marked
What cannot legitimately be promised
- Deletion of an accurate, current late payment
- That a “609 letter,” affidavit, or repeated dispute creates a deletion right
- A score increase, approval, or result by a particular date
- That a goodwill request will be granted
Fields to compare before sending anything
Reported month30/60/90-day severityPayment posting recordReporting age
Claim being checked
Duplicate collection
“Two lines about one debt are always illegal duplicates, so both must disappear.”
Claim-check result
Potentially disputable after matching the records
A true duplicate may be disputed. But an original creditor’s charged-off account and a collector’s separate collection account can both relate to one debt without being duplicate tradelines.
Bottom line
Match the original creditor, account fragments, balance, dates, and current owner. Ask for the inaccurate duplicate to be corrected or deleted; do not assume every related pair must both vanish.
When it may be disputable
- The same collector reports the same account twice with matching identifiers and overlapping balances.
- A sold or transferred collection remains attributed to two current owners or shows two balances owed at once.
- A renamed collector entry recreates the same collection instead of accurately reflecting a transfer.
Evidence that matters
- All three reports with both entries marked
- Collection validation notices and account-number fragments
- Original creditor statements and transfer or sale letters
- Payment, settlement, recall, or closure records showing the correct owner and balance
What cannot legitimately be promised
- Deletion of both the original creditor account and the collection account
- Deletion merely because two companies are named
- Cancellation of the underlying debt
- A particular score change after one entry is corrected
Fields to compare before sending anything
Same debtSame furnisherCurrent ownerBalance owedOverlapping reporting dates
Claim being checked
Identity-theft account
“Call every negative account identity theft—even if it is yours—and the bureau must delete it.”
Claim-check result
Eligible for a documented identity-theft block
Federal law provides a separate blocking process for information that actually resulted from identity theft. It is not a workaround for debts or transactions that are yours.
Bottom line
Start with IdentityTheft.gov. A bureau generally must block identified identity-theft information within four business days after it receives the required identity proof, identity-theft report, item identification, and statement.
When it may be disputable
- You did not open, authorize, use, or benefit from the account or transactions.
- A mixed file placed another person’s account in your report; this is an accuracy dispute even if identity theft is not confirmed.
- The bureau failed to block documented identity-theft information or the information reappeared.
Evidence that matters
- An FTC Identity Theft Report and recovery plan
- Proof of identity that meets the bureau’s current requirements
- The credit report with every identity-theft item clearly identified
- Records showing you did not make the transactions, plus police or business records when available
What cannot legitimately be promised
- A lawful block for an account or transaction that is actually yours
- That a false identity-theft affidavit is harmless or reversible
- That blocking one report item completes the broader recovery process
- A score increase or instant approval
Fields to compare before sending anything
Did you open it?Did you authorize it?FTC reportEach fraudulent itemBureau requirements
Claim being checked
Obsolete information
“Anything seven years old comes off from the date the account was sold or updated.”
Claim-check result
Potentially disputable if the applicable reporting period has expired
Most negative information generally has a seven-year limit, while bankruptcy information can be reported for up to ten years. The starting rule depends on the item; a collector’s open date is not a reset button.
Bottom line
Use the underlying event and the FCRA rule for that item, not a social-media date formula. For collections and charge-offs, compare the date of first delinquency that immediately preceded the collection or charge-off.
When it may be disputable
- The item remains after the applicable federal reporting period.
- A collection or charge-off was re-aged with a later delinquency date after sale or transfer.
- A bankruptcy, judgment, or other public-record item is matched to the wrong person or uses the wrong filing or disposition date.
Evidence that matters
- Older credit reports showing the original payment history and delinquency
- Creditor statements, charge-off records, collection notices, and account histories
- Bankruptcy docket, filing, dismissal, or discharge records when relevant
- The current report’s estimated removal date and the furnisher’s reported dates
What cannot legitimately be promised
- That every item uses the same seven-year calculation
- Deletion based only on the collector’s account-open date
- That removal from a report cancels the debt or changes a lawsuit deadline
- That older information can never appear in a report covered by a statutory exception
Fields to compare before sending anything
Type of itemUnderlying event dateDate of first delinquencyEstimated removal dateCourt record
Claim being checked
Paid collection
“Once you pay, the collector has to delete the account.”
Claim-check result
Payment alone does not create a deletion right
An accurate paid or settled collection can remain during the applicable reporting period. It should accurately show the payment outcome, balance, dates, and ownership.
Bottom line
Check whether the report updated to the correct zero balance or settlement status. Treat any deletion promise as a written-agreement issue, not as a universal rule that payment erases history.
When it may be disputable
- The balance is not updated, the status is wrong, or payments are missing after a reasonable reporting cycle.
- The collection is duplicated, belongs to someone else, or uses inaccurate dates or ownership.
- The item remains after the applicable reporting period or contradicts the written settlement terms.
Evidence that matters
- The signed payment or settlement agreement
- Receipts, cleared-payment records, and a final confirmation
- Reports from before and after payment
- Messages identifying what the collector said it would report
What cannot legitimately be promised
- Automatic deletion because the account is paid
- That a verbal “pay for delete” statement will be honored
- How a particular lender or scoring model will treat the paid collection
- A guaranteed score increase or mortgage approval
Fields to compare before sending anything
BalancePaid or settled statusWritten agreementPayment dateReporting age
Claim being checked
Charge-off
“A charge-off is income or a tax write-off, so the creditor has to delete it and stop collecting.”
Claim-check result
Charge-off status alone is not a deletion ground
A charge-off is an accounting status, not automatic debt forgiveness. Accurate charge-off information can remain during the reporting period even if the account is later paid, settled, sold, or placed for collection.
Bottom line
Check the balance, ownership, payment history, and date of first delinquency. If an original creditor and collector both report, determine whether their roles and balances are accurate instead of assuming one debt permits only one line.
When it may be disputable
- The account is not yours or the balance, status, payment history, ownership, or dates are wrong.
- The original creditor reports an amount still owed after selling the debt in a way that makes the balance or ownership inaccurate.
- The item is duplicated or remains after the applicable reporting period.
Evidence that matters
- Creditor statements and payment history before charge-off
- Sale, transfer, collection, settlement, or cancellation records
- Older reports showing the date of first delinquency
- Current reports showing balances, owner, status, and remarks for related entries
What cannot legitimately be promised
- Deletion because the creditor took a tax or accounting charge-off
- That a charge-off means no balance is legally owed
- Deletion of both an accurate original-creditor entry and related collection entry
- A guaranteed score result after payment or correction
Fields to compare before sending anything
Original creditorCurrent ownerBalancePayment historyDate of first delinquency
Across every claim
Stop when the pitch asks you to change the facts
Paying for help does not by itself prove a scam. A seller’s promise or instruction is a red flag when it conflicts with truthful, item-specific information.
Guaranteed deletion or score increase
No service controls a bureau investigation, furnisher response, scoring model, or lender decision.
“Instant,” “24-hour,” or permanent sweep
A slogan is not an FCRA process. Legitimate correction routes require item-specific facts and can produce different results.
A false identity-theft story
Never sign an affidavit or file an FTC or police report saying a real account is identity theft.
Dispute everything, including facts you know are true
A mass dispute does not convert accurate information into an error and may weaken the clarity of a real dispute.
Pay before any promised work is performed
Federal credit-repair law restricts advance payment and requires specific written disclosures and contract terms.
A “new credit identity,” CPN, or substitute number
Using a number that is not legally yours to apply for credit can expose you to fraud and identity-theft consequences.
A neutral test
Judge the claim by the facts, not the seller’s label
“Credit repair” can mean lawful help or a deceptive pitch. Check the proposed action itself: it should be truthful, tied to a specific item, supported by evidence, and clear about what the seller cannot control.
Legitimate correction
Identifies an inaccurate, incomplete, duplicate, obsolete, unverifiable, or identity-theft item and uses the process that fits it.
Evidence-led request
Marks the exact report entry, explains the requested change, attaches supporting copies, and keeps submission and response records.
Deceptive shortcut
Relies on blanket disputes, a false affidavit, a “secret” FCRA phrase, or a guarantee that accurate current history will disappear.
Score promise
Predicts points or approval without controlling the report version, scoring model, lender criteria, timing, or the rest of the file.
Short answers
Questions broad sweep claims leave out
Can accurate negative information be removed with an FCRA dispute?
Generally, no. A dispute is for a specific accuracy, completeness, duplication, age, identity-theft, or verification problem. Accurate information can still be disputed if it appears multiple times, but a negative effect by itself does not make the information inaccurate.
Does a credit bureau have to delete an item if a furnisher does not answer?
A bureau generally must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation. If disputed information is inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified, it generally must be deleted or modified. That does not mean every letter creates automatic or permanent deletion, and deleted information has separate reinsertion rules.
Can someone remove a real debt by reporting identity theft?
No. The identity-theft block is for information that actually resulted from identity theft. Federal law allows a bureau to decline or rescind a block based on a material misrepresentation, and the FTC warns that knowingly filing a false identity-theft report can carry criminal consequences.
Are medical bills automatically excluded from credit reports?
No blanket federal medical-debt deletion rule is currently in effect; a federal court vacated the CFPB’s 2025 rule on July 11, 2025. The nationwide bureaus’ voluntary policies generally exclude paid medical collections, collections less than one year old, and medical collections with an initial reported balance under $500. Check the current report and the bureau’s current policy, and dispute invalid or inaccurate medical debt.
Can bankruptcy be swept from a credit report?
Not if the bankruptcy information is accurate, belongs to you, and is within the applicable period merely because it is negative. Bankruptcy information can generally be reported for up to ten years. Wrong-person, wrong-date, wrong-disposition, duplicate, or obsolete information may be disputed with court records.
Is all credit repair a scam?
No. This checker evaluates claims, not labels. A company can offer lawful help reviewing reports or preparing disputes, but it cannot honestly guarantee deletion of accurate current information or a particular score increase. Advance fees, false identity-theft instructions, blanket disputes, and a new credit identity are major warning signs.