Make a long story short. I have not paid anyone for 8-9 months. I have settled all my accounts with only 1 being charged off and then settled AMEX. I have my last card. CapitalOne. Balance is now 2400 and with 2 days till charge off 180days - at least that is what they say? They will not offer any settlement other than the original principal 1900. My question with 150 days late on my credit report should I let it charge off and settle for 30-50% or do I just suck it up and get on a hardship plan for 90 dollars a month at 13% till it is done with them reporting current after 3 payments? My credit has allready gone from 670's to 544. What will another settled charge off do opposed to a plan? Thanks for all of your advice through the last 9 months.

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Let it charge off and get a lower settlement. One more charge-off won't affect your score significantly. Once my score dropped it continued to travel between 490 & 520 even with additional settlements hitting.

What % did you settle Amex for and after how long?

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Went to NCO. I settled for 800 on 2200. I just wanted to be done with it. Now I just need to make sure they report 0 balance. I have a letter from NCO stating they will report it to AMEX as settled? Has your score rebounded?

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I think you would get a better deal after charge off as well. A hardship plan at 13% interest is a joke. I have a couple cards that are current in the 11-12% range that I use from time to time and I would consider that a normal rate for a credit card. If they want to put you on a hardship that benefits you at all then they should give you a 0% rate for at least 6 months and knock off all the bogus fees otherwise they are not doing you any favors. Personally I would try to get 0% for a year with all fees removed or let it charge off if they don’t accept.

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