Paid off a delinquent credit card that had gone to collections...?

Question

They said it would be marked as "paid" but once I agreed to their payment plan, they said it would be marked as "settled."

I did settle for half of what they claim I owed.

Will it look worse on my credit report that it says "settled" or is it just gonna look bad regardless cause it got so delinquent?

Did paying it off help my credit? If not, when will it?

Answer 1

keep calling them and ask them to put paid.  it makes a difference.  they can easily change it for you.  keep trying you will eventually get a person that will change it.  it helps your credit in the long run,  your still considered a risk.  but honestly credit companies like people who are late rather than a person who pays on time.  they can collect more money on delinquent payments.

Answer 2

To what did you agree to in writing?

(You did get this is writing, right?)

Answer 3

You should call the credit people and make sure the credit card company reported your payment or settlement.  Sometimes they don't report that you've paid it and it stays on your credit report.  

You will also be able to see if anything else is affecting your credit.

Answer 4

with credit cards, its gonna look bad regardless because you let it get to the point where it went to collections. So even tho its paid off, or "settled", its still a negative on your report

Answer 5

They snagged you with their terminology...the letter does say "settled in full"...so that's what they wrote "settled". They're evil but not stupid. The letter should have said "paid in full". They are 2 different things. Paid in full is better than settled but there's nothing you can do about it now. Keep your accounts paid and up to date from now on and don't max out your credit cards...keep usuage below 25%. If you don't already have one get a secured credit card for like $500-1000 and keep a perfect repayment history...this will help your score in 6-12 months

Answer 6

I did the same thing and it goes off your credit report 7 years from the date you opened the account so don't even worry about it. Just make sure you pay your bills on time now and if you can pay more than the minimum amount because your credit score will go up which is really all lenders look at to determine how much you can borrow and determine interest rates on loans.

Answer 7

Paying off or settling any debt that's on your credit report will boost your credit score sometimes you won't see the change right away it can take a few months.

Answer 8

No matter what, you are going to have to wait 7 years until it gets off of your credit.  You have more leverage with the company who put it on your credit in the first place to take it off sooner if you pay the whole thing (it really depends on how good of a talker you are) but once you settle, you "SETTLE."  It's going to be there for 7 years.

Be more careful next time...and always, always, always pay the minimum if nothing else.  It's a hard lesson to learn, and it's a long time to be "grounded" for.

Peace.

Answer 9

It's always better to pay off an account - having unpaid, past due balances is horrible for your credit.

Paid is better than settled, because they know you paid less than you owed.  Did you have them send you some type of letter that stated they would make the debt 'paid'?

Answer 10

It's going to look worse for being settled but better than if you didn't pay it at all. You can't do anything about the past so from this point on just pay your bills on time. Credit reports show the last 7 years so that's how long it should still show.