How to get a collection off your credit report

Updated October 13, 2026 · Checked against official sources

First, check if it is really yours

• Do you know the original company, like the phone company, the hospital or the landlord?
• Is the amount right?
• Is the same debt listed twice with a balance owed on both, once by the lender and once by the collector?
• Is the date of the first missed payment right? A newer date can keep it on your report longer than allowed.
• Did someone else open it? Then follow the steps for accounts that are not yours.

Make the collector prove it

When a debt collector first contacts you, it has to send you a notice about the debt. You have 30 days after you get that notice to dispute it in writing. If you do, the collector has to stop collecting until it sends you proof of the debt or the name and address of the original company.

Send your letter by certified mail and keep a copy. A collector that cannot prove the debt should not be reporting it.

Dispute it with the credit bureaus

Send a dispute to each bureau that shows the collection. Say what is wrong and add your proof. Our sample dispute letter shows you how. If the collector cannot show the item is right, the bureau has to fix it or delete it.

If a deleted collection comes back, the collector has to certify it is accurate first, and the bureau has to tell you in writing within five business days.

Medical collections

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion no longer show paid medical collections, medical collections under $500, or unpaid medical collections until they are a year old. A federal rule that would have taken all medical debt off credit reports was struck down by a court in 2025, so larger unpaid medical collections can still show.

If a medical collection on your report is paid, under $500 or less than a year old, dispute it.

If it is yours and it is right

• Ask for a pay for delete. Offer to pay in exchange for removing it from your report. The collector does not have to agree. Get the deal in writing before you pay.
• Pay it. It will show as paid. Some newer credit scores ignore paid collections, but many lenders still use older scores that do not.
• Ask for a goodwill removal. See our goodwill letter.
• Wait it out. It comes off on its own when the time is up.

Very old debts

A collection can be reported for seven years, counted from 180 days after you first fell behind. Paying it does not restart that clock.

The time a collector has to sue you is a different clock set by each state. In some states, paying or promising to pay an old debt can restart it. If a debt is very old, read your state's rules before you pay or promise anything.

Common questions

Does paying a collection take it off my report?

Not by itself. Paying changes it to paid, and it can stay until its time is up, unless it was a mistake, it is a medical collection, or the collector agrees to remove it.

Can a deleted collection come back?

Only if the company certifies that it is accurate, and the credit bureau has to tell you in writing within five business days.

Should I talk to the collector on the phone?

Writing is safer. A letter gives you a record of what you said and when, and some rights only apply to disputes made in writing.

Sources

1. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692g: proof of the debt
2. Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681i: disputes
3. Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681c: how long items can be reported
4. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion: changes to medical collection debt reporting (Business Wire)
5. CBS News: Federal judge reverses medical debt rule
6. Federal Trade Commission: Disputing errors on your credit reports

General information, not legal advice.