If you are looking to remove negative information on a trade line you have already paid off, then you need to do a Goodwill letter. Goodwill letters do work as long as you are persistent because 95% of the time the reject your first request.
When you get rejected the first time DO NOT GIVE UP! Google and find contact info for the CEO and the President or other higher ups. Write to two of them. Look at the company website, BBB, your credit reports, or google search for alternate addresses. Keep sending a letter, one every other week.
Your letter should be honest and heartfelt. Explain what cause you to fall behind. Praise the company and ask them for their compassion. Make your letter sound human and not like a cut and paste letter.
If it’s an older account with lates on it you do not want them to delete the entire trade line. You want older accounts to stay on your credit report to improve your overall age of your accounts (the older the better). Be sure to state in the letter you are not requesting them to delete the entry but just delete the lates.
Start with accounts with the most recent lates. The older the lates are, the less effect it has on your score.
I generally work on one trade line at a time, with the more recent ones first. The reason I work on one at a time is because when they actually do change the info on your tradeline, you never know what effect it will have on your score. In the event your score decrease, you may want to change your strategy, or hold off on touching your credit report for a month or so to give it some ‘resting time to recover”. Time is the best medicine for your credit reports!!!! And if your score increases to a number you are satisfied, you may again want to enter into a “rest and recovery” period and let certain things age off.
Members of another popular forum I am on are very big for sending out Goodwill letters and I have seen many, many people have great successes!