As a credit repair specialist, I frequently get asked these questions about cleaning up your credit report. It's important to know the answers to these questions before you start repairing your credit.

Even if I get a negative item removed from my credit report, it will come back – won’t it?

It’s actually quite uncommon to get an item removed from your credit report only to have it come back. The credit bureaus will sometimes temporarily delete a negative listing if they haven't heard from the credit grantor after the 30 day time frame. If the creditor reports it later, the credit bureau will sometimes reinsert the negative listing back on the credit report. This is called a "soft delete."

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the credit bureaus must follow strict guidelines to notify you if they decide to re-report an entry on your credit report, which they hardly ever do. The new FCRA guidelines have reduced the frequency of the negative items being re-reported on your credit report. The guidelines have also increased the risk of lawsuit for the credit bureaus when they violate them.

Bankruptcies and foreclosures are impossible to remove from my credit report, right?

Wrong. Any type of listing on your credit report can be removed, even public records such as bankruptcies and foreclosures. Nothing is set in stone. Tax liens, judgments and repossessions also get removed from consumers credit reports on a daily basis! All negative information that is incorrect, erroneous or even questionable should be disputed.

Public records and unpaid debts can be more difficult to work with; that much is true, but they can be removed if you know what you’re doing. Having this kind of negative information is crucial to your credit scores and your ability to obtain loans at low interest rates.

Having your credit repaired correctly is imperative and that’s why I highly suggest spending a good deal of time learning about credit repair so that you don’t mess it up. I don’t say this to scare you into signing up with a credit repair service or buying a credit repair e-book…I say this because your financial future depends on it.

I’ve seen too many people try to fix their credit on their own first. After they’ve had little to no success, THEN they contact a credit repair service. But, at that time it’s usually too late – the damage has been done. You basically have one shot to get this right. It’s not something that you should try go skim on.

Hire a good credit repair service or put in your time learning about credit repair. Remember, your financial future depends on it.