Remove Charge off from Credit report
- Offer To Pay The Creditor To Delete The Charge-Off
One of the most effective ways to get negative items removed from your credit report is to pay the debt, in exchange for the creditor removing the charge-off from your credit report. With this method, you’d use your payment as leverage to convince the debt collector to help restore your credit. But this only works on an unpaid charge-off. If you’ve already paid the charge-off but it’s still on your credit report, you really don’t have any leverage to negotiate its removal.
Before You Pay the Charge-Off
Before you decide to try this “pay for deletion” route, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
If it’s an old charge-off, don’t offer to pay the full amount due. Rather, you should try to negotiate for less than what they are asking. Start with 50 percent and go from there.
Some creditors will claim they can’t legally remove the charge-off. This isn’t true. Continue to negotiate until a deal can be made.
You can negotiate over the phone, but always get the payment arrangement in writing before sending them a check or making an online payment.
Never give a debt collector access to your bank account.
- Use The Advanced Method to Dispute the Charge-Off
If you don’t have the money to pay the balance in full, or if you can’t get the original creditor to remove the charge-off from your credit report, it’s time to dispute the negative entry using a more advanced method. To dispute the entry you’ll first need a copy of your current credit report. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, you can get a free copy of your credit report each week instead of just once a year. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get a free credit report from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
When you have your credit reports in hand, find the charge-off entry and look at every detail to ensure everything is completely accurate. The key here is to be very specific. If anything is inaccurate you have the right to dispute the entire entry.
Here are a few details that you should be verifying are accurate:
Account Number
Creditor Name
Open Date
Charge-off Date
Payment History
Borrower Names
Balance
If you find any information that isn’t correct, write a letter to each of the three credit bureaus listing the inaccurate information and stating you’ve found incorrect information that needs to be corrected or removed. If the credit reporting agencies can’t verify the entry, they’ll have to correct or remove the charge-off in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Sometimes the information simply can’t be verified and the entry will be removed. Do note, however, that if the charge-off is reported accurately, disputing it will not help.