A collection account can stay on your credit report for up to 7 years. The seven year period usually starts from the initiation date which is usually the date of first missed payment sometimes considered the delinquency date.

The single best way how to remove a collection is to negotiate with the original creditor or the collection company. You can usually manage to negotiate a payoff of delete which means you pay the account off and they delete it from your credit reports. If you do get the collection company or original creditor to agree to delete the account, make sure you get it in writing before making your payment as things tend to be forgotten once money changes hands.

If your collection is not paid, you can still try to remove the collection by disputing it with the credit bureaus, but there is a good chance that it will either be verified and continue to report or if you do manage to remove it, it can be re-inserted later or even sold to another collection company and re-reported!

If your collection is already paid, but still remains on your credit report then there is a great chance that you can have it removed simply by disputing the account with the credit bureaus that are reporting it. If it comes back verified, simply dispute something else about the account such as the date or the amount of the collection until it is gone. Eventually through perseverance you will get what you want.

Removing collections can make a significant impact on your credit scores and also your life in general as it can open you up to obtaining credit much cheaper. The savings on rate alone for a car loan for example more than pays for the time you spend working on removing collections.