How to Remove Charge Offs

You can remove a charge off by disputing it. This has to be done directly with the credit bureaus.

A dispute is the consumers' method to challenge the accuracy or validity of a negative mark. There are two methods to dispute a charge off.

1. Create a dispute letter

You can write a dispute letter yourself. In the letter you must include the reason why the negative mark is incorrect for example; never paid late, not my account, item is out of date.

Upon receipt of your valid dispute letter the bureaus will hold and investigation into the listing. They will contact the lender and verify that the account did exist and the amount's and dates are correct.

2. Hire a professional credit repair company

With this method you tell the firm what marks you want to dispute and they do all the rest. I suggest this method if you have multiple negative listings on your credit report.

Many of these companies have credit lawyers on their payroll. This can be very beneficial to have on your side.

These experts know all the ins and out of credit laws. Frequently they use case precedents or loop holes in the laws to have a negative mark removed.

In addition attorneys can use advanced dispute tactics. These include; escalated dispute information requests, creditor direct intervention and debt validation. Also should your case require it they can represent you in a court of law.

Charge offs will remain on your credit report for 7 years unless you take action to remove it. Typically they will occur with an unsecured credit card that becomes delinquent for 6 months.

The creditor will charge off your account at the end of 6 months. This enables them to write off your debt for tax purposes. They will sell your account to another collection agency. This agency will be able to create a negative mark on your report if they are unable to recover payment.

If this agency can not collect payment they will create a negative mark on your credit file and then sell your account to another debt collector. This process will continue to repeat itself until there is no money for the debt collectors to make off your account. The number of times it is sold directly depends upon the size of the debt.

In sum you should take immediate action when you get a charge off. Otherwise one account can become multiple negative marks on your credit report. You can remove this item from your credit report, without waiting seven years.