Applicable Law

• The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a federal law that grants credit report rights to consumers and provides credit bureaus with specific guidelines to follow when it comes to the data they collect and include on credit reports. Under the FCRA, negative account items, such as paid tax liens, can remain on a credit report for up to seven years; however, unpaid tax liens can remain for up to 10 years in California and indefinitely in all other states.
  
  

Disputes

• If you have a paid tax lien on your credit report that is older than seven years, the FCRA gives you the right to dispute it with the credit bureau. You can file your dispute online using the dispute form located on the bureau's website. Alternatively, you can file your dispute by mail or phone using the bureau's contact information located on your credit report. The bureaus then have up to 30 days from the date you file the dispute to delete the tax lien.
  
  

Considerations

• If you had unpaid tax debt, certain states, such as Georgia, and other municipalities may hire a collection agency to collect that debt. The agency will place a collection account on your credit report. That collection account can also remain on your report for up to seven years. If you have a collection account related to your taxes that is older than seven years, whether paid or unpaid, you can file a dispute with the bureau to have it removed.
  
  

Warning

• Watch out for companies that promise to remove items from your credit report in exchange for payment. This could be a scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission. These companies may charge expensive fees and lack the ability to back up their claims. Although the FCRA requires credit bureaus to remove errors from a report, the bureaus are not required to remove accurate information from a report, even if that information is derogatory, such as a tax lien.