How Do I Get Charge Offs Removed From My Credit Report?

By: Joseph Crutchfield Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Wondering how to remove charge offs from your credit report? If this sounds like you, then you have probably had trouble with your finances not too long ago. You have probably had difficulty making your payments for several months. And currently, collection agencies are persistantly calling or mailing you. Does this sound about right?

Well, you're in luck. Even though you might have been a bit undisciplined with your finances in the past, you can improve your credit, remove charge offs from your records, and yes ... get a second chance you want at a good credit score. In this article, we'll take a good, hard look at what a charge off is and show you two specific ways you can have them removed from your credit report for good...

What Is A Charge Off And Why Is It In My Credit Report?

A charge off is one of the more detrimental negative credit entries you can have on your credit report. Simply stated, a charge off is a loss written off by your original creditor after a certain period of time (usually 180 days) from your last full payment. After 180 days in deliquency, your creditor will submit your account to the bureaus as a "charge off", write it off as a loss, and normally turn the matter over to a collection agency.

Removing these charge offs should be a priority to you, as potential lenders have a tendency to look for these negative indicators on your report specifically.

What Steps Can I Take To Get These Charge Offs Removed?

The first step is to take a good look at your credit report and make note of the date of your last activity. Find out precisely when the charge off was placed in your record. There's a good chance that the statute of limitations on your creditor collecting that debt may have expired if the record is older than 7-10 years. You will want to refer to the Fair Credit Reporting Act to figure out the exact time limit for your specific charge off. For example, a credit card charge off may stay on your record for 7 years, while a bankruptcy can remain for 10 years. What that means is, writing a simple letter to the credit bureaus and notifying them of the expiration date may be sufficient enough to get the charge off erased from your records.

Unfortunately, if your charge off is more current, you'll have to do a little additional work to remove it from your credit report. You'll need to negotiate a bit with your original creditor. This is commonly known as a "pay for delete", where you offer to pay off the account at a reduced rate. In return, they agree to remove the charge off from your credit report.

But there's no sugar coating this, it will not be easy. You see, some lenders (like credit card companies) must notify the credit bureaus of any derogatory or negative information they have on you. So, it's more likely that they will want to simply change your account status to "closed" or "charge off paid" and leave the record in place, instead of removing it. So, the choice soon becomes to either reject their counter-offer or to make the compromise. The decision is yours.

You should take into consideration the importance your credit rating is going to have on qualifying for a better job or a good loan in the near future before you decide though. Whatever choice you ultimately make, you need to be sure to get the pay/delete agreement in writing first before making any payment and check your credit report again afterwards to make sure they removed the harmful entry.

So, Where Do I Start?

You should really start by reading and learning the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act before attempting to remove negative credit from your file. Get a good understanding of your rights as a U.S. citizen and how you can use them to your benefit. Next, you should realize that every state has it's own laws concerning debt. You need to find your state's precise statute of limitations on debt collection.

Make sure you keep yourself educated in credit repair in general, as federal laws change quite frequently. And finally, realize that removing a charge off is only one small step in the entire process of repairing and maintaining your credit. You also need good repayment strategies, a disciplined monthly credit limit usage, and an aggressive credit building goal to really improve your scores.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: If you want to learn more about removing charge offs, late pays, judgements or more from your credit report, go to www.creditbully.com for the latest strategies