So trying to clean up my credit a bit going through all my bills and some companies are offering to settle my account in full by knocking off some money off the full balance. Well if reflect my credit score positively or negatively if I were to pay the settlement amount?
2007-07-17 12:52:34 · 5 answers · asked by nyyankeefan243 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
If they're offering to knock off interest/fees, etc, that's fine.
You want to pay the entire "principle" amount, because you want them to report it "paid in full" to credit bureaus.
If they report it to the bureaus as "settled," that WILL reflect negatively on your credit.
2007-07-17 13:00:08 · answer #1 · answered by mvm 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is better to make the entire payment.
If you pay off a settlement to a credit card company then they will make a note of that on your credit rating, but a note that you paid a settlement is better than a note that you didn't pay anything at all.
If you are deeply in debt the best thing to do is pay the settlement as soon as possible. Your credit rating only goes back 7-11 years so the sooner you pay off the debt, the sooner you can live it down and as time passes and you don't make any more credit mistakes then your credit rating will increase.
I had to go bankrupt over seven years ago. The bankruptcy is supposed to go away after 7 years, but it hasn't yet. In fact I found out it can hang around for 11 years, but I have a credit card and my credit rating is fair, and improving every 6 months.
2007-07-17 12:59:49 · answer #2 · answered by Dan S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nope. If the creditor offers you a payoff amount, and you pay it, it will be removed from your credit report all together in about 30-40 days. All it will say is PAID IN FULL. Once you pay off the pay off amount, you should get something in the mail from that company that reflects a "0" balance. Save this. If it is not taken off the credit report within two months, call the company or the credit report companies. Hope this was helpful!! Good luck!!
2007-07-17 13:21:17 · answer #3 · answered by mark s. 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you pay in full, your report will say something like "paid in full" or "paid as agreed".
If you accept a settlement, your report will say something like "settled in full" or "settled".
These make a big difference on your report and score.
2007-07-17 12:57:36 · answer #4 · answered by mister_galager 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
pay it off in full
2007-07-18 05:04:11 · answer #5 · answered by shorty21 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋