Court Decisions

• Court decisions on a credit report usually refer to financial activity that involves a court order. Bankruptcy, for instance, will show up as an important item on a credit report. Liens that creditors file against the borrower through a court will also show up, such as foreclosures. These items must be shown for the credit report to be accurate, and a credit report agency will not simply remove these items because a borrower requests it.
  
  

Credit Report Time Lines

• Credit reports do have time lines for credit activity that allow the agency to remove credit actions, including court decisions, after a certain amount of time has passed. For most activity, this time frame is seven years. For some things, like a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the activity will stay on the report for up to 10 years. If an item is present past this time frame, the borrower can demand that an agency remove it from the credit report.
  
  

Disputes

• The other primary exception to court decisions appearing on credit reports is a dispute. This occurs if the financial action was not completed, was not legal, or was later repealed by the court due to conflicting information. In other words, the credit report agency made a mistake in listing an item, a common occurrence. Borrowers can dispute an item on the report and file documentation that shows that a mistake really occurred. The agency must then notify the other bureaus and provide a free report showing the change was made.
  
  

Statement of Dispute

• In some cases, a formal investigation will not solve a dispute, and the questionable item will remain on the credit report. In this case, borrowers can ask the agency to include a statement of dispute on every credit report. This will at least show lenders that the borrower did have a dispute regarding one item, even if it was not resolved satisfactorily.