How to Repair a Credit Report With Write-Offs

Some people are able to repair their credit reports by disputing information on the report, including charge-offs. Charge-offs occur when a creditor gives up on collecting a debt from you and closes the account. The remaining balance is charged off, or considered as a bad debt by the creditor. The charge-off is then reported to the credit reporting bureaus and can cause your credit score to drop. On the other hand, removing the charge-offs can cause your credit scores to rise. You can dispute charge-offs by following a few steps.

Instructions

1

Obtain your credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies--TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Order your credit report directly from the companies or get free copies at AnnualCreditReport.com. With each of the sites, you will have to go through a brief registration process that requires you to enter personal identifying information such as your address, Social Security number and related data. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months, from each of the credit reporting agencies.

2

Identify the charge-offs you believe should be removed from your credit reports. The credit bureaus will not remove accurate information that is verified by your creditor. Information that is not verified, however, will be removed, along with any inaccurate information.

3

Begin the dispute process. Navigate to the websites for Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Enter "dispute" in the search box on the home page. Find the option for entering disputes online, and follow the prompts to continue. You'll use coding from the credit reports you pulled and your Social Security number to begin the process. That coding will be clear to you as you follow the prompts. Once you log into the database for making online disputes, you'll see your credit report, including the charge-offs.

4

Dispute the accuracy of the charge-offs. You will be given options such as "this account never belonged to me," or "I never paid this account late." You will also be able to enter comments supporting your dispute. Finish your disputes and exit the system. The credit bureaus will check with your creditors. The information will remain on your credit report if your creditors confirm it is accurate. If the creditors do not respond within 30 days, however, the credit bureaus will consider the information unverifiable and will remove it. Some so-called "credit-repair agencies" routinely dispute all negative information on reports in hopes that the creditors will not respond and the information will be deleted.

5

Wait for emails from the credit bureaus offering what action was taken--if any--regarding your disputes.