If you have recently pulled your Credit Report and noticed a charge-off there, you might be wondering how to remove it from your report. First, know that a charge-off in your credit history is a major deal. It will most likely cause a large decrease in your credit score. So if you don’t take any steps to dispute it, the charge-off will stay on your credit report for up to seven years.

Here are 3 proven methods to remove a charge-off from your credit report:

1. Offer To Pay The Creditor To Delete The Charge-Off

One of the most effective ways to get negative items removed from your credit report is to pay the debt, in exchange for the creditor removing the charge-off from your credit report. With this method, you’d use your payment as leverage to convince the debt collector to help restore your credit. But this only works on an unpaid charge-off. If you’ve already paid the charge-off but it’s still on your credit report, you really don’t have any leverage to negotiate its removal.

Before You Pay the Charge-Off

Before you decide to try this “pay for deletion” route, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

• If it’s an old charge-off, don’t offer to pay the full amount due. Rather, you should try to negotiate for less than what they are asking. Start with 50 percent and go from there.
• Some creditors will claim they can’t legally remove the charge-off. This isn’t true. Continue to negotiate until a deal can be made.
• You can negotiate over the phone, but always get the payment arrangement in writing before sending them a check or making an online payment.
• Never give a debt collector access to your bank account.