A dispute can be filed with Equifax by creating a dispute letter and mailing it to them. In your letter you will need to include a reason as to why the listing is inaccurate.
There are two options to do this; you can do it yourself or hire a credit repair service to do it on your behalf. However be aware if you do it yourself that you must send a letter to each credit bureau.
This means if you have a charge off on your Equifax credit report then you will have to send a dispute letter to Equifax. In addition if that charge off is on your Experian and Transunion credit report you will have to send a dispute letter to them also.
Reasons for a dispute include; information is wrong, item out of date, account paid in full, not my account and others. The Fair Credit Reporting Act that was passed by congress gives you the right to dispute any listing on your credit that you feel is inaccurate.
In addition the act says the bureaus must remove an item if it is not verified by the creator. This act is what the dispute process is based upon.
When your dispute is filled the bureau will conduct an investigation. They will contact the creator of the negative mark and ask them to verify the debt, the amounts and the dates.
If this item is not verified by the creator then the bureaus must remove it from your credit report. Often investigations will result in the removal of an item from your report. This is because many businesses are not willing to spend the resources to verify disputed debts.
However before the credit bureau will conduct an investigation your dispute must be a valid dispute. There is no way to tell if the bureaus will deem your letter valid or invalid.
It is common for bureaus to respond to a dispute letter with another letter that requests more information about the dispute. This is said to be a stall tactic the bureaus use to avoid conducing and investigation.
This is because there is no money to be earned from the dispute process. It however will cost the bureaus time and money to investigate.
I suggest a credit repair service if you have multiple listings you wish to dispute. However you can repair your credit yourself if you have minor damage, be patient and persistent.
In sum you can remove bad credit items without waiting 7 years. To do this you must dispute the credit bureaus.
