So, I just got an email from Experian indicating that the dispute of my State tax lien was deleted. Just had to see what my score was - it jumped 60pts!
Now, I was already expecting a 35pt increase for reducing my UTIL down to 0%, which means the net increase from the State tax lien alone was 25pts. Now, to get TU and EQ to do the same. I should mentiion, that the TU and EQ disputes were done online. I disputed with Experian over the phone, so I will see if disputing over the phone or by snail mail with the others will yield the same results.
For those of you fighting the State tax lien removal battle...don't give up! 
So happy! Doing the happy dance all over my place right about now. One down. TWO to go! 
PS. I debated if I should post this under the Rebuilding forum or the Fico Scoring forum. Since deleting the tax lien is part of my rebuilding process, I decided this was the best place.. A moderator will move I guess if it belongs elsewhere. 
@CrankyDave wrote:How did you go about it? Disputing it, or asking a human being nicely?
I also have a paid state lien, but it never reported on EX to begin with. They apparently stay away from public records now. I've tried simple disputes on both TU and EQ, but they both came back as verified. Which is entirely correct from their end, in the sense that it existed.
With EX I disputed over the phone. The tax lien was from the state of GA. The GA website indicate that after the tax lien is paid, they would CANCEL the tax lien. I did receive a document from them originally which showed the tax lien cancelled after I PIF. I emphasized that they are showing the lien as paid and released, not cancelled which is incorrect. I may be wrong, but I don't think they have the option to show the lien with the correct status of CANCELLED and as such they had to remove it. Just my guess. This seemed to do the trick. They asked me if I had documentation showing the lien was cancelled, to which I answered yes. They did ask me to send in the documentation. I did not for no reason other than laziness. I don't think it will reappear now that it is deleted, but if it does, I will send the documentation.
I disputed online with all three CBs in the past and all three basically said it was reporting correctly. When I disputed it again, EX would not let me dispute online for some reason, but EQ and TU did. I've disputed three times online and got the EXACT same response all three times. I am now of the opinion that disputing liens online is a waste of time and you will have better luck getting it removed if you actually call in or dispute it in writing. I will try the call-in approach with EQ and TU soon and update this post with the results.
It seems tax liens are darn near impossible to get removed, but I don't believe they are impossible to get removed. If my approach fails after several attempts of trying the call-in method, I will switch to the snail-mail method. If all else fails, I will file a complaint - but I am really trying NOT to go that route.
@CrankyDave wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:From my understanding EX is, at the moment, delete happy for any dispute related to a judgement or lien.
I wish the other two would follow suit... My scores would be 100 points happier. I'll see a big jump next October as that lien hits an age milestone, but I really don't want to wait another dang year to see 800s across the board.
Try disputing over the phone. If one person says that it is correct. Just say thank you, hang up and try later (call a different time). Also, it may be something or it may not be something, but I've also had better luck getting them to delete items when I call shortly before the call center's work day end (say 30 mins or so before the call centers close). Maybe their defenses are down more towards the end of the day? IDK, but I called in for some items I wanted to dispute during the earlier part of the day, and was pretty much turned down quickly. I called that same day, about 20 mins before the call center was to close, and pretty much got it deleted without too much fuss. Ofcourse I was asked the basic questions - is the information correct? if I had documentation supporting what I was telling them? I told them why I thought it was incorrect, but I DID NOT have documentation supporting it (at the time), though I found some later on. But by the time I found the documentation, the info had been deleted.
Call it manipulative, but I do try to sound a bit desperate and clueless as to what to do ( how I'm trying to improve my scores. How I can't get anyone to help me resolve this, but I'm hoping they would be able to help me out...blah blah blah). I don't get demanding, or angry, blame them or anything like that. I stress how I know they are limited to what they can do, but if there is ANYTHING they CAN do to help me resolve this, I would appreciate it...blah, blah, blah. Some don't give a crap, others become sympathetic and go out of their way - which is what I'm after - a sympathetic ear.
I"ve found there is ample judgement room for the customer service rep to remove items, you've just got to get to the right one who is willing give a judgement in your favor. Some have gone as far as to ask me if there was anything else I felt was wrong and needed to be removed. I have chosen not to take advantage and get greedy, so I just say no, I think that's all for now - walking that tight rope so to speak.
Another thing I actually did with EX with the tax lien was that I first disputed some personal information that was on my CR that was incorrect. Manipulative (maybe again), but I felt that if I am disputing something as insignifcant as correcting an address, the customer rep MAY feel that I am really trying to correct the report to be accurate. THEN, I figured, since they correcting/deleting that item, they are in a DELETE state of mind at that point and MAY be more open to deleting my next request, which is the item I really want them delete and not give me much push back.
Please note, I'm not getting them to delete anything that should be there (for example, lates that I know I was late on), but I want to make them more favorable to items I believe shouldn't be there.