How To Fight Credit Card Charge Offs

Americans have billions of dollars in credit card debt. it is no secret our country is in a massive recession and that means millions are falling behind in their credit card bills. You can fight credit card charge offs and work directly with your credit card company to manage and pay off your credit card debt.

Use this simple, non-professional information and advice to stay out of third party collection companies and learn to manage your credit card debt.

A charge off is when a the holder of a debt has exhausted all efforts to collect from the borrower and sends the debt balance to a third party for collection. In most cases, the original account is closed and the borrower has to deal directly with the third party collection agency and no longer has access to the original lender.

Most credit card companies will charge off the remaining balance on a credit card if the borrower has not made payments in six or more months. The charge off date can also be executed if the borrower has not made the equivalent of a payment in six or more months.

For example, let' say the borrower made payments on their credit card in January, February and May. They then did not make another payment until December. The credit card companies will take all those payments and structure them according to the last month owed. So the payments would apply to January, February, March and April. Come December, the credit card company might declare that a payment had not been received in over six months and may charge off the account.

Charge offs adversely affect one's credit score. Credit scores determine if one can borrow money for a car, house or new credit of any kind, what amount can be safely lent, and what the interest rate will be on the principal.

Credit card companies and other lenders typically send charge offs to third party collection agencies. These companies will hound borrowers night and day to pay or settle their debt. Further, some credit card companies may send charge offs to an outside litigation company for court action. A lender can sue a borrower for failing to pay their past due balances.

It is wise to avoid charge offs of credit card balances if at all possible.

Borrowers must actively manage their credit card debts to avoid charge off of accounts. Here are some steps you can take with credit cards.

1. Pay off balances in full if possible. If not, pay the minimum monthly payment.

2. Pay on time. A percentage of bad credit scores are related to late payments.

3. Pay something every month. Even if you do not have the total payment due, make as much of a payment as possible.

4. Contact the credit card company the instant financial problems begin. Let them know your situation and what your plans are to get back on your feet and to stay current on your obligations. Don't wait. Credit card companies take into account contact FROM the customer.

5. If you cannot pay on the due date, making a payment during the same calendar month counts. While a late payment will result in a finance charge, making a payment in the same month stops charge off actions. For instance, if a credit card is in its sixth month of delinquency, and the payment is due on the 18th, contacting the credit card company and making the payment by the 25th may stop charge off even though the payment is late. The secret is to contact the credit company before they write off the debt and make a payment.

6. Take advantage of credit card company payment plans. If your financial situation is precipitous, take advantage of a payment plan even if it requires you to close the account. Many credit card companies have very generous payment plans with low interest rates to clear past due balances. While a closed account on a credit report is not great, a charge off is far worse to a credit score.

7. Offer to make automatic withdrawals with credit card companies. Often, the credit card company will take a lower payment if the borrower agrees to automatic monthly payments and agrees to a payment plan of at least one year.

The secret to fighting charge offs with credit card companies is to communicate regularly with the company before things get out of hand.

If a borrower has kept up with their credit card account, but it has gone to charge off, generally they will be contacted by the third party collection agency first.

When contacted, tell the collection agency that all future correspondence will only be in writing and for the collection agency to send a written statement about the debt by mail.

Next, the borrower should contact the credit card company and begin a dispute process to bring the debt back to the credit card company and away from the collection agency. If the borrower can show that they corresponded regularly with the credit card agency and attempted to make payments over the preceding six months, there is a good chance the account will be brought back in house.

The dispute process may take 30 to 90 days with the credit card company, but generally will only take a few days. If the borrower is turned down for their request, they should request another immediately.

Further, borrowers should insist with their credit card company that they will not make any payments to the third party collection agency, but will only make certified payments to the credit card company. Many credit card companies will consider this and be willing to work with the borrower.

Be warned that during the dispute process, the borrower must correspond in writing with the third party collection agency to keep them from escalating the collection process.

If the credit card company does agree to the dispute and sides with the borrower, the borrower can expect to only have one chance remaining with the lender. It is best to get immediately on a payment plan and stick to it, or find the funds and pay off the debt immediately.

Credit card debt, no matter how daunting, can be managed and paid off with discipline and work. At the end of the day, all credit card companies simply want their money and would rather have it from the principal borrower than paying a third party agency to collect it. Working directly with the credit card companies and communicating regularly is the key to avoiding charge offs of credit card accounts.

Debt is bad and a borrower cannot run away from their debt. While a bad credit mark may be on your credit report for up to seven years, creditors and collection agencies will often sell old debts and keep them "fresh" on a borrowers credit history. That is why it is crucial to deal with credit card debt now with the original lender before it gets out of hand.

Settling a debt, the process of paying less than one owes to a credit card company, or worse a collection agency, may actually do more harm to a credit score than paying off a debt the old fashioned way: one month at a time. In addition, settling a debt may incur income tax obligations.

The secret is to work directly with credit card companies and keep the debt from going to charge off status.

There are companies which can help get bad items, like charge offs, removed from your credit report. Check out these companies...

That's a tough decision. First, what is debt settlement? That means negotiating with the credit card companies a lower balance and paying it off immediately. There are pros and cons to debt settlement for credit cards.

Pro

- The credit card account debt is cleared

- Monthly payments stop

- Collection calls and letters stop.

Cons

- The unpaid balance is a taxable event with the IRS. If a credit card balance is $10,000.00 and the holder settles for a one time payment of $6000.00, then the unpaid 4000.00 is considered taxable income.

- The credit card account is listed on the holder's credit report as "settled". Many creditors consider this a black mark and will not lend as the holder has a history of not paying the full amount owed.

- Creditors will generally not accept a settlement unless the holder has failed to make payments for a significant amount of time.

- The creditor may not accept the terms of settlement and if the holder has not been making regular payments, they may find themselves deeper in debt.

Deciding to use debt settlement should be carefully considered. Read more about What is Debt Settlement here.

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