Ben Evert.com

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. Compose a dispute letter

You can do this yourself. In the letter you must give a reason as to why the charge off is inaccurate such as; not my account, item is out of date, account is closed.

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

This method you simply identify what marks you want to dispute and then the company will do the rest. I suggest this method if you have multiple negative marks 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 attorneys have an expert understanding of the ever evolving credit laws. They will often be able to use case precedents to help remove a negative listing.

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.

A charge off that is not disputed will remain on your credit report for 7 years. It is often a result of an unsecured credit card that goes unpaid 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 the agency is unable to collect they will make a negative mark on your credit report and then sell your debt to another collection agency. The process will then repeat, as you can see one delinquent account can become multiple negative marks on your credit. The number of times your debt is sold depends upon the size of the debt.

In sum, a charge off requires immediate attention so it does not become many negative marks on your credit report and ruin your score. This mark can be removed and before seven years expires.

For a free credit repair letter to dispute a charge off or other bad credit items with the credit bureaus visit us, or check out this squidoo page about how to remove charge offs.