Collection accounts can drop your credit score by 50–150 points, but many South Carolina residents don’t know they can remove inaccurate, outdated, or unverified collection accounts.
Here’s how the removal process works:
1. Get All Three Credit Reports You need Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion to see every collection.
2. Identify Collection Errors Common mistakes include:
Wrong balance
Wrong dates
Duplicate accounts
Paid collections showing unpaid
Accounts that don’t belong to you
3. Dispute the Collection Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can dispute errors online, by mail, or through a credit repair service.
4. The Credit Bureau Has 30 Days They must verify the debt, fix the error, or delete the account.
5. If They Can’t Verify It → It Must Be Removed Unverified collections must be deleted.