A method for taking appropriate action on a credit report for an individual based on analysis of properties of at least some of the trade lines of the credit report. Upon accessing the credit report, each of at least some of the trade lines in the credit report are processed by 1) identifying one or more properties of the subject trade line, 2) performing one or more removal success rate estimations for similar trade lines having at least one like property compared to the subject trade line, and 3) calculating at least one removability index (e.g., an item removal difficulty index or an item removal speed index) for the subject trade line based on the removal success estimation(s). The calculated removability indices are then aggregated for multiple trade lines, and the course of action for the credit report as a whole is determined based on the removability indices.