charge off accounts

Technically, a charged off account would be a closed account - a company typically is not going to leave an account open that is not active or receiving payments on a balance. Whether the credit report shows the account as Open or Closed is not really going to have an effect on your score, the Charge Off notation is what hurts. If the account is within SOL, it can help to work out payment arrangements and possibly negotiate the account into a current status.

The furnisher is reporting wrong.A charged off account is not a open account. File a dispute with the credit bureaus stating that the account status is incorrect and needs to be investigated.

I have never heard of a charged off account.

A charged-off account is one where a company has ceased collection activity for whatever reason they have and "charges it off", meaning they are writing it off, essentially. This does obviously go on your credit report and is not a good thing to have on it. After the SOL expires, the company has no legal recourse, however, if you do make a payment, the SOL starts over again and the clock ticks again.

Everyone please read this info.Paying on an account does not reset the reporting sol unless the account was brought current and defaulted again. Payments can reset civil action sols.You would need to check your individual state code for that info.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/infopro.htm

Thanks Cajun for that info!! We all learned something from you again!!