Is it legal to remove items from your credit report?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1971 and 1997 gives consumers the right to dispute their credit reports and to have any item deleted that is inaccurate, obsolete or unverifiable. The key issue on most credit reports is the verifiability of the disputed credit. Can the creditor verify the reported listing? Is the creditor willing to go into their microfiche archives in order to back up credit bureau information? Is the credit bureau even willing to commission the investigation? The truth is, consumers delete thousands of negative credit listings every month through legal dispute letters.

Note that while this is true, it is not legal to lie on a credit application. If you have ever declared bankruptcy, for example, you must always reveal that fact on any credit application that asks.