How You Can Remove a Tax Lien

If you have a tax lien on your credit report, you should take immediate action to remove it. This is a very bad mark and will lower your score considerably.

The first step is to have the bureaus validate the lien. You need to send each bureau a dispute letter.

It is not uncommon for wrong information to be reported on your report. This is because mistakes do happen and it is as easy as dialing a wrong phone number.

When your letter is received then the bureau will contact the state or federal government and ask them to verify the debt. If it is verified then you will have to negotiate payment to remove it.

Depending on the amount you owe it may be in your interest to contact a tax negotiator. This is because they can often negotiate a reduced payment for you. However you can also negotiate directly with the government.

These debts are collectible for 10 years. The negative mark will stay on your credit for 7 years once it is paid. If it goes unpaid you could have a lien on your report for a long time.

Once you pay your lien in full, we suggest you wait 3 months and then dispute the mark with the bureaus again. It has been learned that once payment is made the tax departments will frequently ignore validation requests from the bureaus.

This means your tax lien will not be verified and the bureau will erase it from your report. However if this mark is incorrect to start with you can demand proof that the account is yours, and send any documentation you have to prove your side.

Repayment

The state and federal government are willing to negotiate and settle on a reduced payment. It is called an OIC (offer in compromise), this just means that the government is accepting partial payment.

The government will decide to accept based on; your income, assets, ability to repay, expected amount they will recover. It can help if you send in a letter explaining your financial hardship that led up to this.

It may be in your interest to hire a tax negotiator to help with this. However you do not have to just live with this mark on your report.

In sum, you can remove a tax lien and should. You don't just have to wait seven years for this mark to fall off naturally.