Getting divorced is stressful enough but the effects on your credit reports can literally ruin you- financially. The good news is however that you can clean up your credit after a nasty divorce using some pointers below along with a lot of patience.

Determining your credit issues

First of all it is absolutely necessary to evaluate your credit as it stands now. Are there major issues like a pending foreclosure, unpaid credit card debts or even back child support hindering your credit? If so you need to approach each issue separate and use any documentation you have to prove that the item doesn't belong there. Of course in a marriage both partners are usually responsible for debts incurred during the marriage but if the debts were incurred while you were separated or without your knowledge then you may not be liable for those debts. Sitting down and reviewing all three credit reports is a must.

One item may not be on all three credit reports so before you can begin disputing the entry to a credit bureau you have to determine which bureau is picking up the item and then write your dispute to that particular bureau. In your dispute be concise and include any documentation you have such as a copy of your separation agreement and who is to pay the debt and or your divorce papers to prove the debt was incurred after the divorce and without your knowledge.

Please note however that even a court ordered agreement of who pays what from the marriage does not overrule a contract that was created during the marriage. The creditor doesn't care who the judge ordered to pay the debts and if one person defaults they have the right to go after either or both.

Contacting the credit bureaus

Once you have determined which debts you are going to challenge you then need to draft your dispute letters to the credit bureaus. There are three major credit bureaus and soon there may be a fourth bureau that you will have to consider.

Equifax P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374 800-685-1111

TransUnion Consumer Disclosure Center P.O. Box 390 Springfield, PA 19064-0390 1-800-888-4213

Experian P.O. Box 2104 Allen, TX 75013-2104 1-800-682-7654

Be sure to send your disputes CMRR- certified mail return receipt so that you will have a paper trail of your communications with the credit bureaus. By law the bureaus have 30 days to investigate the items and send you a new updated version of what they decided. If any portion of the item they investigated was obsolete or unverifiable, it will be removed. Even accurate but negative credit can be removed because the credit bureaus must be able to verify everything as 100% accurate. If they cannot, the item must be removed. This is how many charge offs, judgments, liens and even bankruptcies are removed. The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs these actions.

How long can bad credit remain legally?

That depends. It is 7 years for debts and 10 years for bankruptcy although some credit bureaus only report a bankruptcy chapter 13 for 7 years because at least the debtor is attempting to repay his debts. Judgments can remain until the statute of limitations expires to collect it.

Following up

Just as disputing is the only way to get results so is follow up. Without a solid plan of attack you will accomplish very little. Be sure you are diligent about following up on the bureaus investigation and if need be turn your efforts to the original creditor or the source reporting the item. If you are a patient person you can use credit repair aids and do the work yourself. If you are looking for convenience then you can hire a credit repair attorney to do the work for you. Either way the same methods are used which are disputing to the credit bureaus using the FCRA- Fair Credit Reporting Act, validating debts, checking SOL's (statute of limitations for the collectibility of the debt) and and being persistent.

Kristi Feathers is an author and speaker on credit issues. To reach Kristi you can visit her site at http://www.KristiFeathers.com or http://www.carreonandassociates.com to purchase her credit management guide for consumers

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