If I have a fraud alert on my credit file, how long does it last? How would I get rid of it before time?
154770
Combine what Beefsteak and MarketingGrad said and you have your full answer.
1033816
these so called fraud protectors are a waste of time and money!  these credit card companies are supposed to do this service for you for free.  You will know if your card was not used by you or with your consent because it will show up on your report.  the companies should repay you for this also!  They may close the account and reopen a new one in your name with a different number but that is better than paying those rediculous prices for this protection.
1048340
While most negative credit information remains on your credit report for a maximum of 7 years, some information remains longer.  According to the three credit reporting agencies and the Credit Reporting Law of 1996, different types of credit information generally remain on your credit file as follows:\n\n(1)Credit Accounts - Negative information remains for 7 years from the initial missed payment that led to the delinquency. Keep in mind that active positive information can remain indefinitely.\n\n(2) Collection Accounts - A collection account remains for 7 years from the initial missed payment that led to the collection.\n\n(3) Public Records - Chapter 7, 11 and 12 bankruptcies remain for 10 years from the date filed. Completed Chapter 13 bankruptcies remain for 7 years from the date filed, and 10 years if not completed. Tax liens remain for 7 years from the date filed if paid and remain for 15 years if not paid. All judgments remain for 7 years from the date filed.\n\n(4) Inquiries (these are creditor not consumer inquiries) - \nInquiries remain for 2 years.\n\n(5) Special Cases - \nNew York State Residents Only: Satisfied judgments remain 5 years from the date filed, while paid collections remain 5 years from the date of last activity.\n\nCalifornia State Residents Only: All tax liens remain 7 years from the date filed.\n\nSo keep in mind that the type of debt that you have on your credit file, will determine the length of stay on your credit file. Also there were some special provisions of the Credit Reporting Law regarding amounts, ex. negative information can be reported longer than 7 years for credit transactions over $150,000. So I hope this helps but you can always find more information on the FICO website below. \n\nPS. Please be careful of the individual below who states that with a dispute, negative information can be removed. It is correct that negative information has to be verified by the credit bureau within 30 days, and believe me they will verify. The only thing you will get is a response from the bureau saying that "the information has been verified as accurate, and WILL remain on your credit file". Creditors keep information on file regarding bankruptcy for the period of the bankruptcy especially if you file a Chapter 13 (restructered payment plan). Don't be fooled to think that it's that easy to have accurate negative information removed, in fact this could be considered fraud if you knowingly dispute information that IS accurate.
696019
Try calling all three credit bureaus to find out what is going on, maybe they can help. They may have you write a letter disputing these items anyway.\nEquifax: 1-866-798-6598\nExperian: 1-800-734-4617\nTransUnion: 1-800-888-4213\nGood luck to you!
514657
Please check if:\n\n1/ you accessed the Internet from different locations -- a friend's house to check email, an Internet café to check a stock quote, or the library to research a term paper.ou must take extra precautions to safeguard your personal information in these situation?\n\n2/ Someone could approach your computer and easily access your account information?\n\n3/ you always sign out completely by clicking the "Sign Out" link when you finish using Yahoo!?\n\n4/ Your browser's cache contains copies of the web pages you have recently visited and stores these files on your hard drive?\n\n5/ Some shared computers allow you to install software on them, making them vulnerable to virus attacks or malicious programs such as keystroke logging programs. If you have any concerns about the security of a shared computer, don't hesitate to ask the administrator about the steps they've take to protect their computers....?\n\nIf you think your identity has been stolen, here's what to do:\n\nA. Contact the fraud departments in your area\n\nB. Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Use the ID Theft Affidavit (PDF, 56 KB) when disputing new unauthorized accounts. \n\nC. File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the report or at the very least, the number of the report, to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime. \n\nD. File your complaint with the FTC. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations. Filing a complaint also helps us learn more about identity theft and the problems victims are having so that we can better assist you. \n\nView or print an easy-to-follow brochure on how to Deter, Detect, and Defend against identity theft.  For more in-depth information on recovering from identity theft and help with specific problems, read Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft.\n\nGood Luck
66625
Call the credit companies - sush as Equifax and put a freeze on your credit in addition to calling the credit card company. Depending on your credit card most of the time they do not hold you liable for fraudulent charges.
744556
It means that someone gave her a bad credit report and said she never paid or disputed it.\n It can stay on forever as long as they keep it active. otherwise it should only stay for 7 years from the last update.\nso if they update at 6yrs then it stayes for another 7years plus the 1 left. I've had one keep refiling on me for almost 18 years now, and I keep disputing it .
1016146
They should be removed from your credit report after 7 years.  sometimes you have to write each credit company (experian, trans union, equifax) and tell them so they remove it.
377620
If the negative items are an error dispute them with each credit bureau (and send a seperate dispute letter to the creditor direct).  If it's not an error it will not be removed until 7 years from the last activity date assuming the account is closed or was charged off.  Time will be your friend.  As negative items age they become less important to what makes up your credit score.
110760
Why don't you contact the c/c customer service via their website? With a computer, you can get answers as fast as 48 hours. I have NEVER had any problems(knock on wood!) doing business with my bank or c/c company using their "help" or "ask us" section using my computer. All my payments have debited from my checking account on time and I haven't been late for a long time. The sites are secure and so far, I have not had my identity stolen or any other problems.\nThey aso have 800 numbers and you can talk "live" with a rep. \nIt is April and your problem occured almost 6 months ago. You better hurry or your credit will be shambles!
236851
Studly is correct, you will actually be wasting your time.\n\nWhen you dispute any account on your report that you believe to be inaccurate or unverifiable then the CRA will investigate that item and reply to you with a copy of your credit file and a cover letter showing the results of the investigation. This will take approx. 30 days.\n\nYou will have 3 possible outcomes:\n\n1)They will delete the item because the CRA was unable to verify it.\n\n2) They will say "After investigating this item CRA has verified that it is reporting correctly.\n\n3) They will say "This account has been updated to show(negative or positive outcome)\n\nIf they verify it may say in the remarks of the account that "this item was verified in February 2006"\n\nIf an item is verified you can still dispute it but you will have to provide some type of additional documentation(depending on what you are disputing) to get the CRA to re-investigate.\n\nAlso putting a statement on your credit record explaining any item(s), your situation, whatever, is completey worthless. It may make you feel better that you can explain something to a potential lender but they will ignore it.\n\nWhen you apply you will most likely receive an almost instant decision because of FICO credit scoring. If you are at or above their minimum score you will be approved. If you are below you will not.\n\nGood Luck
678711
Lets clear up these bad answers.\n\nJeff L is almost correct, but he is wrong about the fact that paying a debt restarts the "clock".  There are actually two "clocks", one is the Statute of limitations, the other is the Credit Reporting Clock.  According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, they can only report a debt for 7 days, beginning on the day of the delinquincy.  PERIOD!  Payments, closed accounts, charge-offs, none of these can reset the clock.  Agents will attempt to do it, but it's called "re-aging the debt" and it's illegal!  If you can catch them doing it you can sue them and easily get $1000 for your troubles.  \n\nThe answers are also wrong that negative information can not be removed from your report.  It is a fact that credit reporting agencies can not remove any listing.  Only a creditor can do it.  Nothing in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or the Fair and Accurate Credit Reporting Acts prevents a creditor from removing anything that they have posted to your record.\n\nThe problem is convincing them to do it!  And once you have paid them off, you have lost all leverage with them.  You are going to find they are very uncooperative now.  The best you can hope for is they will post "paid in full" on the account, but it will still contain negative information such as collections and late payments.  \n\nThis nonsense that a paid debt looks better then an unpaid one is silly!  IT'S STILL A BAD MARK!!!  IT KILLS YOUR SCORE!\n\nSo what do you do now?  \n\nSend a letter to the credit reporting agencies and dispute the listing.  If the creditor fails to respond to the verification request, they will remove the listing completely.  If they respond, it will be with a notice that the debt is now paid.  \n\nYou can also call the creditor and politely ask if they would remove the listing, or take away the negative information.  It's a long shot but give it a try.
1157723
If the thieves intend to use the data for fraud, they will most likely not start doing so until the fraud alerts that most of us have filed expire, three months from now.\n\nSince the credit-reporting companies are required to provide you with one free credit report a year, if you request it, and there are three companies like this, you could stagger your requests to them so that you get a report from a different company once every four months.\n\nI think that's a pretty big hassle, though. If organizations can't be more reasonable about how they collect and store information about us, they could at least send us copies of the information they're collecting automatically.
1101317
contact the postal inspector as they handle fraud and other things. the u.s. attorney could get involved on the case. there are statute of limitations on fraud but its based on knowledge of and starts from the time you know about the crime. as you state family stole it and and you had knowledge of it thirty years ago and are just now for some reson wanting to turn them in makes you a accessory for knowing everything and not reporting it right away. it could be you had a falling out and want to spill the beans now. first thing is contact a criminal defense attorney as the consult is free. then from that point they can defend you if they think you will get in trouble for knowing, but never saying, especially if you saw this happen. its a federal offense which is bigger trouble.
214814
No, no most of the answers are wrong, your negative credit reports will never clear themselves, check with your state, usually the statute of limitations on debt is seven years, seven years from the date of the negative report, you can pettition the bureaus to remove any that are over the statute of limitations. No one will remove them for you, you have to do the foot work.
1028175
It only protects you by leaving it on.  Credit reporting agencies are making it harder for you to even put it on now, as they require police reports and affidavids before putting a 1 year alert on your records.  \n\nLeave it in place.
41342
Maybe, it depends on what kind of debt it is.  There are a number of different time frames for items to be removed from your credit report.  Inquiries remain on your credit report for 2 years. Delinquencies, collection accounts, charge-off accounts, chapter seven bankruptcy, and paid tax liens remain on your credit report for 7 years. Chapter thirteen bankruptcy remains on your credit report for 10 years. Unpaid tax liens remain on your credit report for 15 years. This information came directly from the credit bureau.  If you feel the information on your credit report is too old to still be reported, you should file a dispute with the credit bureau directly.