Charge Offs

How long can a charged off credit card show on my report?

A charge off can report for seven years plus 180 days. You may have to wait for the expiration of the reporting period for the original account to vanish, but there are still big potential benefits from credit report repair. Read More »

Can credit repair remove a charge off from my credit report?

If the charged off account is past the reporting period limit credit repair should be used to remove the expired account. Read More »

How much will a charged off account hurt my credit score?

A charge off is like any other derogatory account. The impact that it has on your credit scores depends on the age of the item and the overall content of your credit report. Read More »

I had a credit card charged off a couple of years ago and it is now on my credit report in three places, once with the original creditor and twice with different collectors. Can credit repair help?

Charged off accounts can generate more credit reporting errors requiring credit repair than any other type of negative event. And the combination of these errors can do more to depress your credit score than the original charge off itself. Read More »

Credit Repair and Charged Off Accounts

The term “charge off” is used by creditors when they determine that a debt is uncollectable. At the time of charge off the creditor will account for that debt as loss on their books. The fact that it has been written off for accounting purposes does not eliminate the obligation of the debtor. The debt is still owed, and it usually turned over to a collector for further action. Accounts are typically charged off by credit card issuers after the obligation has become 180 days past due.

Charged off accounts play a significant role in the world of credit repair, not for their own sake, but because they tend to give rise to a series of credit reporting errors. These credit reporting errors can live on for years unless they are actively addressed with credit repair.

When an account is charged off and passed on to a collector, the original creditor is supposed to update the balance to zero. This often does not happen without some credit repair attention. But by far the worst offence is caused by the chain of collectors that buy and sell the debt in turn over the months and years that follow the original charge off.

Any collector that sells a debt to another collector is supposed to withdraw their reporting altogether once the transaction is completed. This is intended to keep debtors credit reports from being hit multiple times for the same debt. Only one collector is allowed to report the collection of a debt at a time. In practice this rarely happens and collectors tend to continue reporting for years after they have sold the debt. If you have had a charged off account which has been passed on to one of more collectors it is important that your credit report be examined carefully at the outset of your credit repair.