Charge Off and Closed?

Your friend needs to fill out a “dispute” form on the Credit Report company’s website. That will trigger an investigation.

Your friend will have a better case if he/she has some paperwork (from the original store) that says it was charged off and closed in the past.

Otherwise, without proof, it will be a fight.

Interestingly, if he had money that was charged off, that can be considered income for your friend. The if he doesn’t claim it and the IRS figures it out or if the credit companies file it with the IRS, he could be held accountable for the taxes on that money.

To help prove that they did indeed have a charge off, your friend should have received a tax form (1099 I think) that year because that money is considered income with taxes due. As @seawulf575 pointed out, IF they didn’t pay additional taxes on that money, they could be in trouble with the IRS.

There are 3 reporting bureaus…Equifax, Experian, & TransUnion. They can go to the website of the one showing the duplicated info where they give instructions on the best way to remove inaccurate info. I think they can send a letter stating WHY the info is incorrect & the bureau will takeit from there.

I had a friend that found the trick to gaming the credit score folks. On any negative report on your credit report, just contest it. Even if you know it is fair, contest it. That starts a timer. The credit score agency sends a notice to the filing company that the report is being contested. The filing company has 30 days to respond with why they think it is a fair claim. But that is the loophole. For many of these companies, that notice from the credit score agency sits on someone’s desk along with hundreds of other similar notices until someone does something with it. Most times, the person responsible for doing something with it is overworked and underpaid and is unlikely to get to it within the 30 day period. If they don’t the claim has to come off your score. If they DO get to it, just contest it again and the cycle starts again.