Information on charge off account - The Bills.com Blog

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Information on charge off account

Question: How long can an old charge off account (that has been paid since then) stay on your credit report?

Answer: Generally speaking, unpaid credit accounts remain on your credit report for seven years from the date of charge-off. Since the negative impact of delinquent accounts decreases with time, an account that is nearing the seven year mark should only have slight impact on your credit history. However, ifyou do not have other positive items on your report to balance out the impact of the negative item, this old account could significantly lower your credit score. Therefore, when it falls off your report, your score could increase significantly. On the other hand, if you have many positive items, this old account is probably not lowering your credit score much, so when it falls off your report, your score may only improve by a few points.

If you find charged-off accounts appearing on your

credit report after seven years, you may want to dispute the incorrect listings with the credit bureaus. The Federal Trade Commission offers a free online guide to disputing incorrect credit listings, available at www.ftc.gov

Once they receive your dispute letter, the bureaus will forward the documents to the creditors in question so the creditors can either challenge the dispute or correct the inaccurate listing.

If the creditors do not respond, as often happens with old accounts, the listings should be removed from your credit reports.

To read more about credit, credit reporting, and credit scoring, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com Credit Solutions and Resources page at http://www.bills.com/credit/ I hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Best,
Bill
www.bills.com

Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

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Bill has answered all sorts of questions and has been able to provide those in need of financial guidance with helpful and valuable advice and information on their specific financial area of interest. If you need specific guidance on any of the above mentioned financial areas, feel free to Ask Bill your financial questions and get better informed. Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

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