A charge off on your credit report can lower your credit score and affect your ability to obtain a loan from a bank or other lending institutions. Thus, cleaning off a charge off is an important step in repairing your credit score. It is possible to get this damaging entry erased from your credit report by taking the following steps.
- You have the right to dispute an erroneous charge off on your report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and get it removed.
- In case the above-mentioned tip does not work, you can contact the original creditor or the collection agency and request the to remove the charge off from your report by replacing it with “paid” or “settled” after you make the entire or a large percentage of the payment that was due.
- In the latter case, make sure that you have ready cash to make the payment and talk nicely to the person.
You may visit annualcreditreport.com or call the toll free 1-877-322-8228 to get hold of your free credit score. Conversely you may complete the annual credit report request form and mail it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form can be printed from ftc.gov/credit.