Debt Chicken
“Dear Steve,
Okay, so I did the ignoring thing with two credit cards and the banks charged them off. However, when I was finally able to pay them, I paid them off one through an attorney and the other a collection agency. My current credit reports shows the original creditor as charging them off and the collection agencies it reads Charge off or collections. I don’t want this coming back again after I already paid it.
What do you suggest? Writing the credit bureaus with copies of the proof that I paid? I am not so much concerned with what this has done to my credit as I am with the report showing accurate information.
Debt Chicken”
Dear Debt Chicken,
A charge off on a collection report just shows that the debt was once written off by the creditor. This does not mean that you still don’t owe the debt. You do. A charge off is a reporting and accounting requirement and does not invalidate the debt.
I’m not worried that the debt is shown as charged off. If it was charged off then your credit report should reflect that factual statement. However, what we need to look carefully at is the charged off debt is now showing a $0 balance due since you paid them back. If it is showing a zero balance then the credit report should be just fine as it is.
If it is not showing a zero dollar balance then provide proof to the credit bureaus that it was paid and ask them to update that. The charge off comment will remain.
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I disputed legitmate charge offs/collections on all three bureaus. Sure, it took a couple hours to dispute all the negative items on all three bureaus, but after the 30 days, the results were in and 90% of them were taken off. These were accounts that I owed money on. So, you never know what will fall off until you try. If you go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com you can start this process. You will receive e-mail updates as to the progress of the disputes and will be notified via e-mail when the results are in. I was able to remove 5,000 worth of money that I OWED just by disputing it. It’s a roll of the dice, but it sure was worth the time!!
Just keep in mind that legitimate debt that gets removed by missing a dispute deadline can be easily reported again when the creditor dumps their data files to the credit bureaus.
If you want a erroneous debt to vanish for good it’s best to dispute it with the creditor and the credit bureau.
So are you saying that those accounts were never delinquent or in collections? Why are they not valid?
You can follow this guide to rebuild your credit.
Steve
Hello! I’m an unemployed mom going to school. My credit report shows alot of charge offs and collections and I want them off. I’ve disputed alot of them a long time ago; however, the collectors are still saying they are valid and they are not. My credit score is low. What can I do to raise it again? Thanks
Hello! I’m an unemployed mom going to school. My credit report shows alot of charge offs and collections and I want them off. I’ve disputed alot of them a long time ago; however, the collectors are still saying they are valid and they are not. My credit score is low. What can I do to raise it again? Thanks
So are you saying that those accounts were never delinquent or in collections? Why are they not valid?
You can follow this guide to rebuild your credit.
Steve