How to wipe charge-off from credit quickly?

[Tangent]

Backstory: Several years ago I cancelled a car insurance policy that was up-to-date in payments. A couple of months later they send me a notice saying if I didn’t pay my premiums they would cancel my policy. Phone calls to tell them I had cancelled it myself and was told I owed nothing further always turned into “yes I did” “no you didn’t” exchanges. Unfortunately my record-keeping and general care regarding my credit wasn’t exactly stellar at the time so all the info I have about it is what I got from the insurance agency itself today: The policy was cancelled 10/13/2001 but they don’t know why it was cancelled since their records only go back 5 years.

Fast forward to now and I’m trying to buy a house. I’ve gotten much better with my credit so my scores from the 3 big agencies range from 720 to 790, but my loan agent says they won’t fund any loan if there are any charge-offs on my credit report. I’m a little uneasy about calling the collection agency they use since from what I understand, making a deal with them could restart the 7 year + 180 day clock on this mark staying on my credit...

What’s my best bet for making this charge-off go away quickly?

[jlynn]

What is the DOFD reporting? Looks like this is due to fall off shortly - I would dispute the thing as obsolete.

Paying it does not LEGALLY restart the 7 year clock.

[Tangent]

Unfortunately I don't have all the info on this with me so I don't have the DOFD. Should I dispute this with the credit agencies or with the collection agency? Since I do have a bit of time pressure on this - loan funding for a house we're hoping to move into in a month hinges on this - maybe just paying it and getting a "paid off" letter from the collection agency would be the best route? As galling as this would be on principle, I don't want to blow a huge deal like buying a house over a relatively tiny BS debt...

<---- Newbie to all this mess...

[Hedwig]

Dispute it with the credit reporting agencies as "obsolete."

As jlynn said, it will probably drop off.

Don't contact the CA. If they find out you're trying to get a mortgage they'll be circling like sharks.

[jlynn]

You need all the info - especially who the CA is. If you must pay it, see if the mortgage company will let you pay it at closing so they don't muck up your reports and make your scores fall.