Deleting old addresses?

[Yogurt]

I keep seeing in these threads to delete old addresses because it might make it harder for disputes to be verified. I understand that concept but...

Do CRAs have to remove old addresses? Is there something that requires them to remove previous addresses? Do they only need to keep the current one? It seems that they like to keep track of the old addresses and in my case, they are valid addresses. I would really like to not have a record that I lived in some of those places though.

Does anybody have an example of the letter to write asking deletion of the old addresses?

[chane]

The CRAs have to remove any information on your credit report that they can't verify, so if they can't verify the addresses, they must remove them.

Equifax and TransUnion usually will delete any address that you ask them to. Experian will say it's tied to a tradeline. Experian is by far the worst CRA to deal with. They seem to play by their own rules and interpretations of the law.

You don't really need a sample letter, just simply and cordially ask them to please verify or remove the addresses on your credit report. If you feel like you must give a reason you can say they are inaccurate, but I don't advocate being dishonest, it's unnecessary. The burden of proof is on them, you don't have to say anything.

However, you are dealing with a private corporation who sells your information to others for profit, so if you don't feel you owe them the truth, it's your call.

Personally, I don't feel like I own them anything. I never gave them permission to collect information on me and sell it to others. They are not my friends and they are not on my side so I say, "eff them"...but, like I said, it would be irresponsible and maybe even unprofessional for me to tell anyone on this forum to lie to anyone so, I'm not gonna do it.

[Lian]

Just as important is to ensure that all your creditors have updated your address to reflect the same address that you finally get the CRA to record.

The significance of correctness of your current address in your CR is that your address is one of the matching factors used by the CRA to determine that information reported to them is matched with the correct consumer credit file. While more unique personal identifiers, such as SSN, are the primary matching tool, lack of correspondence between your address of record with the CRA and the address included by a furnisher when reporting information could lead to matching of the reporting with the incorrect credit file. This could happen, for instance, if a party reports information to a CRA but fails to include your SSN. Then correct name and address increase in significance.

So be sure to get all parties on the same street.