How to Dispute a Charge Off
A charge-off on your credit report means that your creditor has written off your unpaid debt to get a tax deduction. If you've received an erroneous charge-off on your credit report, it's important that you dispute it, since this can affect your credit for up to 7 years. Call the creditor and explain that you've already paid off the debt or that you've made the minimum payments. If they admit there was a mistake, ask them to contact the reporting agencies to correct it. Alternatively, if you know which agency made the mistake, submit a dispute through their online form. If you have a legitimate charge-off on your credit report, call your creditor to try to negotiate a deal. You might be able to get it removed by making extra payments. If you come to an agreement, ask them to send a copy of your agreement so you have proof in writing.
Get a copy of your credit report. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 5% of consumers have errors in their credit profiles. Order a copy of your credit report to see if a charge-off appears that does not belong there. The three nationwide credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) created a central site for the purpose of providing free annual credit reports to comply with the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Visit http://annualcreditreport.com to order your credit report online. Call the creditor. If a charge-off appears on your credit report and you do not think it should be there, either because you paid off the debt or made at least the minimum payment within the last six months, call the creditor. Explain that the debt should not have been charged off due to the payment(s) you made. If the creditor admits to its error, request that it contact the credit reporting agencies to have the charge-off removed. Ask the creditor to send you a written confirmation when the charge-off has been removed from your profile. Always deal with the original creditor, even if the creditor sold the debt to a collection agency. A collector has no control over what the original creditor reports to the credit reporting agencies. Dispute the charge-off with a reporting agency. When you submit a dispute to a credit reporting agency, the agency will contact the creditor to request proof of the accuracy of the debt the creditor reported. The agency has 30 days to investigate the dispute by contacting the creditor and requesting proof of the validity of the charge-off. If the creditor does not respond or cannot prove the validity of the debt, the agency will remove the charge-off from your report. You can submit a dispute online with any of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies by visiting: Equifax: https://www.ai.equifax.com/CreditInvestigation/home.action Experian: http://www.experian.com/disputes/main.html TransUnion: http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/creditDisputes.page Wait for a response. After the agency completes the investigation, if the agency took any action to change your credit profile, then agency will send you written confirmation of the results, as well as a free copy of your credit report. Call the creditor to negotiate. Sometimes, debtors can persuade a creditor to agree to remove a charge-off in exchange for payment on the debt. Tell the creditor that you will pay the entire debt (or commit to a payment plan) if the creditor will promise to remove the charge-off. You may even be able to persuade the creditor to settle the debt for less than the amount you owe, perhaps as low as 50% of the total. Before you call, examine your finances. Can you afford to pay off the entire debt? If not, how much can you afford to set aside every month to pay off the debt? You should have two numbers in mind when you call: your starting offer, and the maximum amount you can afford to pay to settle the debt. If the first person you speak with will not negotiate, ask to speak to someone with more authority. Insist that the creditor have the charge-off removed from your profile. Let the creditor know that you are only willing to pay if the creditor will remove the negative report from your credit profile. You want your credit report to indicate that the debt has been "paid in full." Otherwise, the creditor will report that you settled the debt, and your credit report will read "settled." A settled charge-off is better than an unpaid charge-off, but will still negatively affect your credit score. If the creditor will not agree to report that the debt has been "paid in full," ask the creditor to list the account as "paid as agreed" or "account closed" instead. Get the agreement in writing. Ask the creditor to send you a copy of your new agreement. The agreement should be on company letterhead and signed by the creditor. Do not send a payment until you have received the signed agreement and have had a chance to review it for accuracy. When you review the agreement, make sure that all of the terms are accurate. The agreement should specify how many payments you will make, how much each payment will be, when each payment is due, and that the creditor will update your account and remove the charge-off from your credit profile. Make payments on time. Once you have a signed copy of the agreement, you can begin making payments according to the agreement's terms. Pay by check or money order and use certified mail with a return receipt so that you have a paper record your timely payments. Enforce the agreement. Once you have made all of your payments according to the agreement, contact the creditor to verify that they will remove the charge-off from your credit profile. If the creditor refuses or neglects to remove the charge-off after you fulfilled the terms of your agreement, submit a dispute with the credit reporting agencies. 
Get a copy of your credit report. Call the creditor. Dispute the charge-off with a reporting agency. Wait for a response. Call the creditor to negotiate. Insist that the creditor have the charge-off removed from your profile. Get the agreement in writing. Make payments on time. Enforce the agreement. 