How Long Is a Charged Off Credit Card Bill on a Credit Report?

Credit card companies charge off the bills that consumers do not pay. A charge-off allows the company to write off the defaulted account balance as a business loss and sell the debt to a third-party collector. Credit card companies also report charged off debts to the three major reporting agencies---Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. If your creditor charges off your account, your credit score will drop as a result.

Time Frame

After the credit card company reports the charge-off to the credit reporting agencies, the agencies keep a record of the incident for 7.5 years. Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal reporting period for delinquent debts is only seven years, but the reporting period does not begin until 180 days after the last payment you made to the credit card company. This is also the date that most credit card companies charge off unpaid accounts---180 days after the last payment.

Credit Impact

A charge-off indicates to anyone reviewing your credit history that you neglected past financial obligations and thus may do the same with future accounts---making new lenders and creditors more hesitant to work with you. Many lenders maintain specific credit criteria that a borrower must meet before the company approves his application. Thus, even if a lender is willing to work with you, credit damage from the charge-off could prevent you from qualifying for loans and credit cards in the future.

Early Removal

Exceptions to the FCRA's standard credit reporting period do exist. If the charged-off credit card bill on your credit report does not belong to you or is otherwise inaccurate, the FCRA notes that you can contact each reporting agency by mail, by phone or online and dispute the charge-off. Within 30 days, each reporting agency will contact the credit card company that reported the charge-off and conduct an investigation. If the credit card company cannot or does not verify that the disputed information is correct, the reporting agencies will remove the charge-off from your credit reports---regardless of whether the reporting period has expired or not.

Additional Considerations

After a charge-off, the credit card company can still collect the debt and will often hire a collection agency to help it meet this goal. Like credit card companies, collection agencies also report derogatory information to the credit reporting agencies. The collection agency's report lowers your credit score even further.

The FCRA places the same reporting restrictions on collection accounts as it does on charge-offs---the account can only remain a part of your credit history for seven years beyond the date your credit card company first classified the debt as 180 days' delinquent.