What Will Happen If I Have a Charge-Off On My Credit Report?
December 31, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Debt
It is often difficult to remove a charge-off from a credit report. However, it can be done. If you want to learn more about charge-offs and the repercussions of these credit reporting entries, read on.
Let’s talk a bit about what a charge-off is and what happens if you let it go with attempting to correct it. When a creditor feels it will not be able to collect a debt from a borrower, it will very often write the debt off of its books. This normally takes place after many months of late or missed payments. The creditor will likely attempt to communicate with you through letters or phone calls during this time.
It would be wise to contact the creditor at this point and try to work out a solution so the account will not be sent to collections. You should never ignore when the creditor is attempting to contact you because this will look as though you are trying to avoid the debt entirely. If you work with the creditor, you may be able to reach a compromise or arrange for a payment plan to get yourself back on track.
It is important to understand that once your debt is written-off, your creditor may decide to pass or sell the debt to a collection agency. The collection agency will then attempt to collect the debt using any method of harassment and threat available to it, including the filing of a law suit to collect the debt.
Once reported to the credit reporting agencies, your charge-off can remain on your credit report for up to seven years. As you can imagine, your credit score will decrease substantially with a charge-off entry and your ability to obtain credit from any lender will be difficult to say the least. For this reason, you should try to remove charge-offs from your credit report.
A copy of your credit report will be needed to begin the process of removing a charge-off. When you have a copy of your credit report in hand, review it for any false or inaccurate information. If you discover any false or inaccurate information, you can write the credit reporting agency and request that it remove or revise the information. You will need to include copies of any documentation you have which corroborates your claim. If the credit reporting agency cannot verify the informaiton within 30 days, it must remove the entry from your credit report in its entirety.
Additionally, another option you have is to contact the collection agency and explain that you would like to arrange payment. Debt is normally purchased by collection agencies for cents on the dollar. Because of this, you might want to try to arrange a lump sum payment if you can come up with the money. By doing this, you may be able to negotiate a lower total amount owed. Alternately, you can attempt to arrange a payment plan. Whichever path you decide to take to pay back the debt, be sure to obtain an agreement in writing which states that the charge-off credit entry will be removed in its entirety from your credit report or that the offending entry will be revised to “paid” status.
In conclusion, if you are falling behind on your monthly payments, try to work out a payment plan with your creditor in order to avoid a charge-off. If a collection agency does end up with the debt, try to negotiate removal of the charge-off once the account is paid in full.
How I Stopped Midland Credit , Fixed my Bad Credit, and Raised my Credit Score 163 Points in Less than 14 Days. www.MidlandCreditDebt.com
