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This post will cover a last resort to remove a “Hard to Get Off” negative item from your credit report. It’s based on two previous posts that are important to read first. If you’re serious about cleaning up your credit report, I’d recommend starting at the beginning.

Click Here to read the first post on fixing your credit report.

Remember, this is just me throwing my thoughts out there and shouldn’t be confused with financial advice.

Moving along and continuing with our hypothetical situation. Shade was having difficultly removing one last negative item from his credit report. After writing nearly countless letters to the credit bureau’s as well as directly to XYZ credit card he finally gets a break.

He’d sent a letter on June 10 via certified mail and come July 10 hadn’t received a reply from them. Thankfully Shade had been keeping good records including copies of all letters mailed and receipts from the certified mail. He sent XYZ both the initial dispute and the copy of the certified mail requesting that under the Fair Credit Reporting Act they remove the item from your report for not replying within the 30 day period.

They wrote back saying they won’t remove the item or something similar. Perhaps they don’t write back at all! Here’s what Shade’s gonna do to take it to the next level and get this negative item off his report. (It’s not for the faint-hearted.)

Shade decides he’s going to take XYZ credit card company to small claims court. Yes. Small claims court. Nobody’s encouraging frivolous lawsuits but the courts are there to settle disputes that two parties can’t on their own. He walks into the local courthouse and asks for help in filing a claim. (He’s careful to take in all the evidence you have in case he needs it.) The clerk helps Shade set a court date and answers any further questions he has.

In small claims court both parties meet in the court on an arranged date and have a judge look at the evidence. If your evidence is sufficient, they rule in your favor and provide you with a court mandate stating the three credit unions must remove the negative item from your report.

Here’s the great catch that works in Shade’s favor. Both Shade AND a representative from XYZ credit card company must be present on the court date. If one of the parties fails to show up, the judge automatically rules in favor of the party that’s actually there! Now think about it, what’re the chances that XYZ credit card company has someone they’re actually going to send to places all over the country for hundreds upon hundreds of these lawsuits. Especially when they know you’ve got damning evidence and it’s really only over a small amount in their eyes. Well it’s not very likely so if you’re lucky, and it’s pretty likely depending on the situation, nobody will show up and you’ll win by default. If they do show up, well you’ve got a copy of the dated letter you wrote AND a certified mail receipt. There’s not much to argue about.

The kicker is that Shade knows in small claims court you can sue up to $5,000 dollars in damages. And by his estimates the time he spent disputing the inaccurate item and costs he paid for in higher interest rates on a loan he applied for came to about $1,500 dollars. The end result is Shade now has $1,500 in his pocket and the “Hard to Get Off” negative item is off his report.

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