The maximum amount of time a foreclosure can be on your credit report is seven years. There are false reports that say a minimum of seven years.

This information is wrong; the truth is credit reporting is entirely voluntary on behalf of the lenders. A lender can remove a negative mark from your credit at any point in time and do not have to report the negative mark in the first place.

I would first recommend that you dispute the listing directly with the credit bureaus. This is done by mailing a dispute letter to each credit bureau.

In this letter you are challenging the accuracy or validity of the foreclosure. You must include the reason the mark is wrong for example; item is out of date, amount is wrong, not my account and etc.

Credit bureaus will often deem your first dispute letter invalid. They will respond by requesting more information about the dispute. This is a stall tactic; it costs the bureaus potential profits to hold an investigation.

Therefore you will have to send your dispute letter again, with some persistence you can get a dispute submitted that is valid. Then the bureaus will hold an investigation into the listing.

Since many lending institutions have gone under because of the housing crisis and the ones that did not are financially strapped there is a good chance your foreclosure will be unverifiable. If this is the case the mark must be removed from your credit report.

If it is verified or you are having trouble getting a dispute letter deemed valid by the bureaus I suggest you hire a credit repair service. They will often have credit attorneys on their payroll with an expert understanding of the credit laws and they can use advanced dispute tactics.

We fully prepare to see some new credit laws or case precedents come out of this housing crisis. I would recommend a credit repair service to individuals trying to remove a foreclosure. In addition a service will be able to remove any other negative marks on your credit report.

You do however have one more option. You can negotiate a settlement agreement with the lender. In exchange for your payment get the lender to agree to remove the foreclosure from your credit report.

In sum, negative items do not have to stay on your credit. You can have them removed and can have a clean credit report.