How to Dispute Rights for Charged-Off Credit Cards

The Fair Trade Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute anything on your credit report. That includes credit card accounts that are listed on your report as charged off. Writing a letter to dispute the charge-offs is easy. Getting the reports removed from your credit report is much more difficult. The Federal Trade Commission reports that negative information can be removed from your credit report only if it is outdated or inaccurate.

Instructions

1

Navigate to the Annual Credit Report website to view and print a copy of your credit report. The site was established by the nationwide credit bureaus to offer free credit reports as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

2

Review the report to find the charged-off accounts. The accounts will be listed in a section of the report along with all your other credit accounts, and will be marked as charged-off. Note the date of last activity on the account -- such as the last payment that you made. By law, the charge-off can be reported for seven years after the last date of activity.

3

Write a letter to the credit bureau disputing the charge-off. In your letter, describe why you are disputing the charge-off. Tell the credit bureau that the account information is outdated and should be removed for that reason -- if that is the case. Or if the information is inaccurate state that as a reason for your dispute and describe the inaccuracy.

4

Mail your dispute to the credit bureau at its address listed on the credit report. Allow about 30 days for a response, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The information will be removed from your account if the credit bureau agrees that it is outdated. Any inaccurate information will also be removed following the credit bureau's investigation. The information will remain on your report in its present form if the credit bureau denies your dispute.