Paid Charge off vs Collection

A chargeoff means that at some point in time, before you paid it back, the creditor considered your account to be "bad debt." The term 'chargeoff' is just an accounting measure used to offset a creditors' total assets by its bad debt.

A collection item means that the account could not be resolved internally and the original creditor used an outside collection company to collect the debt.

Both are bad for your FICO score; albeit a paid chargeoff or collection looks and calculates better than an unpaid one (it at least shows you eventually made good on your obligation).

I really don't know which one is worse for your FICO. I would tend to think collections are worse for your FICO because your credit report has a whole category devoted to collections; while chargeoffs are still lumped in with all the rest of your accounts.

Yup a paid charge off is certainly better than a charge off. Charge offs and collection listings are considered as negative items and both of them hurt your score.

There are ways to get that off your bureau. You can do it yourself if you have time or get a professional to help you and see results in a short time. It worth the effort either way.

I am sure this has been asked before but if you wanted to do this yourself where would you start.

I think negative items that are accurate can only be removed with the passage of time.

i dont think so that you are correct when you are saying that negative information can be removed with time only. I had 4 charge offs in my report and that were all correct.Then my sister advised me to get in touch with a credit repair service and to my surprise they promised that they can remove my charge offs. So Iam very hopeful to get my report cleaned very soon.

Oh my gosh!!!! You have enrolled yourself in a credit repair clinic that is claiming to erase NEGATIVE info that is CORRECT. Is it what you are saying? As far as my knowledge goes no one can legally remove negative information like liens, charge offs, foreclosures and bankruptcy from your report. In my opinion you should better check the reliability of the company, and have you paid them anything? If yes, then try to get the money back from them.

Best of luck
Take Care
Nelly

how can I remove "charge off" myself from my credit report? I have settled with the CA and I am getting ready to send the payment. Is it too late to negotiate removing the charge off? Can the CA do this?

You will be unable to remove the "charge off" from your credit report because it was reported from the original creditor. The OC charged the account off and sold it to the CA. Therefore the derrogatory information from the OC will remain on your report for up to 7 yrs from the first unpaid deliquency date. Example you paid 30 days late and never brought the accout current.

If you have paid the CA in full on behalf of the OC. Then it may be possible to get the account status on your credit report changed to "paid in full". I am not too sure but you can try. I know your credit report serves as a historical document as well so it may not change, but it is worth a shot!!

what you guys mean by CA?????

CA= Collection Agency

Unifund has a charge off on report for Experian and Equifax. Now I see Unifund has a new entry under Transunion.. How can they charge it off then keep adding entries to my credit reports?

They have the right to report it all 3 major credit bureaus.

Thanks Soaplady..


I find it strange Unifund has it marked as a ???charge off??? for two of the major credit card companies???. Then almost a year later they add it to TransUnion and have it marked as ??? Placed for collections?????? Can they do both? I guess its time for them to validate this???

My credit card company is willing to settle my debt, but I have not been able to get them to agree to report "paid in full" or anything other than "paid - settled". Is it realistic to get them to agree to this?

paid untitled might be better

If you don't want it reported as paid/settled, the best you can probably hope for is to get them to agree to delete it in the entirety.

Realistically, they're not going to agree to report it as "Paid as Agreed." There are legal ramifications for that (FCRA) - which states they have to report accurate information. Theoretically, they could get sued for reporting Paid as Agreed when, in fact, it was not.

When I call to inquire about a debt on my report. I ask them first off "I am not claiming to be responsible for this debt. But what would it take to have this debt removed from all credit bureaus your company reports to". Usually they say they will remove the debt for a certain amount of money. Often times, it is half the debt listed. I have had to deal with more collection agencies than the original creditor. Take Afni for example: they had an old (from 2004) verizon debt of mine (internet). I called and stated "I am not claiming to be responsible for this debt. But what would it take to have this debt removed from all credit bureaus your company reports to". They told me they would accept half of the total debt and would remove it once payment was received. I sent them a money order of the exact amount of the "agreement" within 30 days the debt was removed from all 3 credit bureaus. Now they have another old verizon debt of mine (phone), they are willing to do the same as before, I pay the agreement amount and they remove it from my credit reports. However, the messed up thing about both verizon accounts is that I had both services in my name, and always stayed current on my payments. When I moved out in 2004. My grandfather (who I lived with) wanted to keep the phone number and the plan that I had the same, so I transferred everything into his name. I asked Verizon if I was completely removed from the accounts. They said yes and that I was no longer responsible for any of the bills/debts. However, my grandfather went into the hospital for 3 months and fell behind on his bills. Instead of going after him for the Verizon bills they are coming after me. Which is fine with me, as he is in no financial position to pay the debt. Not to mention they showed up on my reports not his. But like I said, the one I paid off has been removed from all credit bureaus.