Does paying off old past due credit on your report increase your score?

Question

I made mistakes like most people do. I have some old bills on my credit report that are way past due. I unfortunately got buried and had to only pay my day to day living expenses instead of old bills. I fi was to pay these off 1 by 1 will that increase my credit score or would filing bankruptcy be a better bet?

Answer 1

Bankruptcy should not be an option for you. Even if you do nothing these old debts will eventually fall off your reports.

If you have the money to pay them in full, I would suggest contacting them in writing and asking them to do a pay for deletion agreement. That way they get paid and you get to have the accounts removed from your reports.  

You might even want to offer a pay for deletion agreement for less than the full amount owed...see if they bite on that.

I run a site that can show you how to do that for free if you need help. Check my profile for the link.

Good luck!

on edit:

Paying them off will probably not affect your score very much. That is why DAS and I recommended doing a PFD agreement.

Answer 2

Hi,

I used "Credit Solution" to settle my debt and recover from  bankruptcy.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58%.It's legitimate.I came across this company on NBC News Special Edition.Check it out here:

http://is.gd/7il

Answer 3

it will help! you have to pay bills in full then send letters etc to make sure that they update your actual report

Answer 4

The only way it will help your credit score is if you negotiate IN ADVANCE that the old bills be removed from your credit report if you pay them off.  If yo do not do this, they will stay on your report for 7 years as bad credit, even though you paid them off.  You could also negotiate the amount they would be willing to settle for.  They will do this for old debts that they never expected to be paid.

If the debts are 7 years or older they will automatically fall off your credit report and it will not help you to pay them off now.

Answer 5

Unless you get a pay to delete letter it will not help it will only show up as paid and still remain on your report for 7 years. Bankruptcy will not help either as that stays on your report for 10 years. If the debts are old (5+ years) would just wait until they fall off, collections agencies can come after you but they cannot re-age the debt and most likely are beyond the statute of limitations which means they can threaten, but cannot collect. If you admit and make payment arrangements, then the account is renewed as a new late account.

Answer 6

Pay off your bills one by one.  Try to find a Dave Ramsey book on resolving debt, or some other factual stuff.  If you owe enough and go about it the right way, you can sometimes negotiate your balance down.  Go for the smallest debts and/or the highest interest debts.  If you do a bankruptcy, your credit will be horrible for ten years.  Don't do that if you can avoid it in any way at all.  You can get through this!  It is hard, but it's do-able!

Answer 7

Okay, it really depends how old they are. B/c if they're I belive 10 years old, they go off your credit report, period.  So, paying these debts off would help.  But, if you go to a private agency, and you give them "X" amount of money per month, and they pay it off, thay would be great.  Also, you can go the Bankruptcy way, if you file Ch. 7, you DO NOT have to pay off any previous debts.  Though, you can file Ch. 13 and that chapter is like a payment plan as well, where the creditors stop calling, but you sill have to pay off that debt, little by little.  Good luck!

Answer 8

Pay them off!  Without a doubt.  

Get a budget.

Cancel Cable and get rabbit ears

Eat at home

Limit entertainment expenses

Best of luck!  You will get there.

Answer 9

It depends on how old they are. Check to see how long they can stay on your credit report. If their time is nearly up just relax and let it go.

Answer 10

I saw a financial expert on one of the morning shows.  He said that most bills stay on your credit report for 7 years.  (double check this fact for your circumstances to see if that is true for your bills.)  If it has been almost that long, then you shouldn't do anything.  Because if you do anything with that bill now, even if you pay it off,  the "late payment" will stay on your credit report for 7 more years after the last activity date on that bill.  If you leave it alone, the bill will just drop off your credit report after the 7 year mark.

Answer 11

As  you pay them off your credit score will increase. You might also call some of the debt collecters and see if you can work out some sort of payment plan.

Answer 12

Only if in the process of paying them off, you have an agreement with the creditor/collector for a "  Pay to Delete " letter, this will delete the negative entry off of you credit report, thereby boosting your score.  If you pay these items off, without such agreement, then you score will not change for the positive, it will stay the same.

Answer 13

i have contacted a financial advisor about this same issue.  what he said is in agreement with a couple of your answers.  he said to talk to the companies, work out a payment arrangement and when the arrangement is completed, they delete the info from your credit record all together.  if you happen to do this, be sure to keep the names of everyone you talk to and get as much of it in writing as possible.

he also told me i could try to contest the debts on my credit report.  the debtors only have so many days to respond.  i was able to get 4 negative  accounts taken off my credit record doing this.

i have some things on my credit record almost 15 yrs old.  i was under the assumption, as are a lot of other people, bad things fall off at 7 yrs. wrong, wrong, wrong.  if you pull up a credit report from experian, it will show you how old the debt is and when it's due to fall off.

Answer 14

all depends on how much you owe.

if you owe like 2,000 total, then i would pay it off.

if it';s like 9,000, then declare bancruptcy, cause either way your credit score will be screwed for a while.

Answer 15

I agree with robbinsj. Firstly you should find out how old are your debts and check the SOL for your state. And if they are shown on your credit report its advisable to payoff the debts as it will increase your credit score.

If you are not able to manage your debts you can go for a debt consolidation program but bankruptcy would not be a good option. It may be the immediate  solution for your debts but it will remain on your credit report for more than 10 years and if the individual is listed as having filed for bankruptcy, it results in a 160-220 point deduction on their credit score and if a delinquent account is added to the individuals credit file, 70-120 points are subtracted.

During the period of bankruptcy and after bankruptcy you would face difficulty in getting loan, purchasing and leasing and building your credit.

Here is the source of a debt consolidation company named http://ezconsolidation.com for your reference.

Answer 16

Once a debt has been reported late to the bureaus, paying it off does not increase your score, PER SE.  HOWEVER, it will help your debt to income ratio.  Filing bankruptcy should ONLY be used if you are SIGNIFICANTLY indebted (like over $10k), because it will report on your credit for 10+ years.  So really it depends on how much is owed, and how late the bills are.  Paying the OLDEST bills/ HIGHEST balances first will help the most credit-wise.