A single charge off on your credit reports can keep
you from being approved for credit.
A creditor will typically charge off a debt if there has been no payment on the account for 180 days. For the consumer, however, this does not mean you are no longer responsible for the debt. The creditor can continue their collections efforts either in house or through a third-party collections company.
A charge off can find its way on to the credit reports of even the most credit worthy individuals.
Whether you owe $100 or many thousands of dollars on a credit account, after the 180 day period has passed, your creditor can charge off the debt and report it to the credit bureaus.
A Charge Off signals to current and potential creditors that they are unlikely to get the money back that they loaned to you. Current creditors can respond by significantly raising your interest rate on your existing balances costing your much more money over the life of your loans. Potential creditors are much more likely to decline a loan application with a Charge Off on your credit report. This means much higher cost to you, if you qualify at all.
Just because you have a Charge Off on your credit reports does not mean you have to live with it for 7 years. Through creditor negotiations and credit bureau disputes, you may be able to improve the status of a questionable Charge Off or completely remove it from your credit reports.
It also may be the case that your Charge Off is inaccurate or misleading. For example, even the most responsible consumer can forget to tell a creditor their new address when they move. You may not even realize that you have a charged-off delinquent bill until your loan application is denied or your credit card interest rate increases.
Just because you have a Charge Off on your credit reports does not mean you have to live with it for 7 years. Through creditor negotiations and credit bureau disputes, you may be able to improve the status of a questionable Charge Off or completely remove it from your credit reports.
“I am more than happy with what you have been able to accomplish. When I started this, my credit score was 480 and I had several inaccurate items on my report including two charge offs... My score is now 684 and I just bought a truck at a favorable interest rate.”
- S., Lexington client*
(Your results will vary)
(Your results will vary)
Don't let a single questionable charge off on your credit report keep you from starting the life you deserve.
It is possible to work directly with your creditors to negotiate the removal or revision of a Charge Off. In exchange for resolving the debt, your creditor may be willing to stop reporting the account or report as “paid in full”. In the event where a Charge Off is being erroneously reported on your credit reports, you can dispute it directly with the credit bureaus.It also may be the case that your Charge Off is inaccurate or misleading. For example, even the most responsible consumer can forget to tell a creditor their new address when they move. You may not even realize that you have a charged-off delinquent bill until your loan application is denied or your credit card interest rate increases.
Charge Offs and delinquent payments can drastically reduce your credit score. Let Lexington Law help.
Lexington Law has helped thousands of clients remove inaccurate, untimely, misleading or unverifiable (questionable) Charge Offs from their credit reports. Through effective credit bureaus and creditor disputation, Lexington Law helped our clients remove 285,172 such Charge Offs in 2012 Some of these clients were able to remove Charge Offs with our lower priced Lexington product and others needed a plan that provided intervention with the creditor. Lexington Law has helped remove numerous other inaccurate items related to Charge Offs such as late payments and collection accounts.
HOME