Released means the lien has been paid. It does not mean that the lien has been withdrawn from the public record.
The exclusion period for tax liens is no later than 7 years from the date paid (released). The released date is shown in the public record which is reviewed by the CRA. Regardless of whether it is shown in your commercial credit report, if the public record itself shows a release (paid) date of less than 7 years ago, it is still legitimately included in your credit report. Thus, a dispute would result in removal, as there is no error in its continued inclusion.
There are two separate reasons for removal of a tax lien other than credit report exclusion at 7 years from date paid.
First, the lien is a federal lien and has been withdrawn rather than simply paid (relased). The IRS and CRAs have a process that removes paid federal tax liens if paid in full and the consumer has obtained a form 109169(c) from the IRS, formally withdrawing the paid lien.
However, that process does not apply to state tax liens. You must get the lien deleted from the public record to then get it removed by the CRA prior to 7 years from date paid.
Second, if the posted lien does not contain at least the consumer's name, address, and DOB or SSN, the CRA will remove under its new National Consumer Assistance Plan. Have you reviewed the actual public record posting to see if it has that information?
