How to Remove 11 Charter Communications From Your Credit Report

Missing a bill payment can hurt your credit score and lead to frustrating phone calls. If 11 Charter Communications contacts you or you notice the name on your credit report, a missed payment on a Charter (aka Spectrum) account is the likely culprit.

While an unexpected debt collection can cause stress, dealing with the problem can actually be simpler than you might expect. Read on to learn more about Charter and how to remove a collections account from your credit history.

Table of Contents

• What is 11 Charter Communications?
• 4 ways to remove Charter from your credit report
• Dealing with 11 Charter Communications
• Will Charter sue me?
• 11 Charter Communications FAQs

What is 11 Charter Communications?

If you notice a drop in your credit score relating to a collections account from Charter, you might be confused about what the entry is for. While the 11 might throw you off, 11 Charter Communications is actually Charter Communications, Inc., a popular telecom and broadband services provider that goes by the name Spectrum. While the company does most of its consumer-facing business under its brand name Spectrum, you’ll often see the name 11 Charter Communications for its debt collection efforts.

Charter has its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and is one of the largest providers of phone, cable and internet services in the U.S.

Sometimes subscribers forget to pay their bills or leave a past due balance when they disconnect their services. During the hassle of a move or a change in service providers, it’s easy for final payments to slip through the cracks. When that happens, Charter can report your past due balance to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

A Charter collections account entry can stay on your credit report for up to seven years, which can do substantial damage to your credit score. When a collections account appears on your credit report, the lender or collections agency can repeatedly call you and send letters regarding your unpaid debts.

11 Charter Communications contact information

The phone number for Charter Communications' customer service department is 314-965-0555. Call this number to discuss your collections account. You can also contact the company's customer service department by calling 888-438-2427 or 888-GET-CHARTER toll-free.

The address to Charter Communications’ corporate headquarters is:

ATTN: 11 Charter Communications
400 Washington Blvd.
Stamford, CT 06902

4 ways to remove Charter from your credit report

A Charter account that went into collections can severely hurt your credit report as long as it stays there. Fortunately, removing a collection agency from your credit report may be easier than you might think if you follow these four tips:

• Send Charter a debt validation letter
• Negotiate a pay-for-delete agreement
• Ask for a goodwill adjustment
• Hire a credit repair company

1. Send Charter a debt validation letter

If you think there’s an error and you don’t owe Charter the money, you should certainly dispute the debt. One way to do so is through a debt validation letter, which is a request that the company verify your debt is legitimate. Debt collection companies can't always fully document a customer's debt, and if they can’t verify the debt is yours, you may be off the hook.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) requires debt collectors to provide valid proof of your debt. However, you must submit a validation letter within 30 days of a company contacting you. The company should provide you with the last day to respond. Once you request debt validation, the company has to stop collection efforts until it provides you with the information.

If Charter can’t provide the validation you’re requesting, it must remove the collection from your credit report.

2. Negotiate a pay-for-delete agreement

If Charter can document your debt, you should try to negotiate a pay-for-delete agreement. With this deal, you'll pay the balance — or a part of it — in exchange for the removal of the negative item from your credit report.

Without this agreement, simply paying the balance won't result in the deletion of Charter's negative credit information. Paying might stop the phone calls and letters, but the collections account could remain on your credit report for several years.

In a pay-for-delete agreement, you leverage your payment of the debt as a tool to fix your credit. For it to work, you must get the deal in writing before you pay. You can discuss this over the phone if you prefer, but always be sure you get a written record of the pay-for-delete agreement before you pay.

A pay-for-delete agreement can ensure the removal of the account from your report and save you money. You can negotiate to pay a much lower amount than you owe to settle your debts. Once you reach an agreement and make a payment to Charter, you should see the negative entry disappear from your credit report within the next 30 days. If the entry is still there after that time, write to Charter again and make sure they keep their promise. If this happens, having the agreement in writing is essential.

3. Send a goodwill letter

If you pay off the past-due balance, you no longer have your payment to use as leverage when you ask Charter for a deletion. But that's OK. You can still ask them to delete the negative item as a gesture of goodwill by sending a letter asking for a “goodwill deletion.”

Goodwill letters are known to work, especially if you’re a Spectrum customer with an account in good standing. They’re also effective if your late payment, missed payment or forgotten balance is an anomaly and not a habit. In your letter, explain how the company's derogatory credit marks are hurting your personal finances.

4. Hire a credit repair company

While negotiating the removal of Charter from your credit report yourself is doable, it’s often a stressful task. If you hate the thought of answering phone calls from Charter or drafting debt validation letters, you have other options. There are dozens of credit repair companies with years of experience in disputing debts, negotiating settlements and boosting credit scores. They’ll also ensure that debt collectors don’t harass you or otherwise violate your debtor or consumer rights under the FDCPA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

If a lingering phone bill is hurting your credit score or you’re dealing with more serious credit issues such as foreclosure or bankruptcy, a credit repair company may be well worth the cost.

Dealing with 11 Charter Communications

Customers of phone or cable providers often experience frustration when it comes to customer support. Charter isn’t a stranger to criticism from customers, particularly when it comes to collecting on late payments.

Many complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) concern the same issues, including:

• Faulty reporting: Sometimes inaccurate reporting is to blame for collections accounts on credit reports. Many customers report being contacted by Charter regarding debts that don’t exist.

• Debt validation: These are complaints from customers that claim Charter fails to present proof of the debt they’re claiming.

• Harassment: Other customer complaints relate to Charter’s communication tactics, claiming harassment over the phone to collect debts.

In light of these, it’s important to learn the basics of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act . This act protects you by limiting how and when debt collectors can contact you. For instance, this law restricts debt collectors from calling at unreasonable hours and communicating with your employers or relatives. It also allows you to stop a debt collector’s calls altogether and choose to communicate only by mail. In fact, you should insist on written communication to document your case, including the specifics of any negotiations you make with the company.

Will Charter sue me?

Many account holders ask the same questions when they first hear from a debt collection company:

• Can they sue me to force repayment?
• Can the company garnish my wages?

The law allows debt collectors to sue you in civil court. The company would have to win the lawsuit and then petition a judge to garnish your wages as repayment for a debt. Charter could file a lawsuit against you, but in most cases of consumer debt, a huge company like Charter won’t sue for a small amount.

It's helpful to know what Charter can't do. It can't:

• Prosecute you in the criminal justice system
• Have you arrested
• Visit you in person about the bill
• Call phone numbers after you ask reps to stop calling
• Call you after you request written communication only
• Talk to your employer about your debt

If Charter or any other debt collection agency violates your rights, notify the CFPB or your state's attorney general's office.

Disclaimer: This story was originally published on August 12, 2020, on BetterCreditBlog.org. It has been updated with more current information on Charter Communications. To find the most relevant information concerning collections or credit inquiries, read: How to Remove Collections from Your Credit Report or How to Remove Negative Items from Your Credit Report.

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