[quote=“dreid,post:17,topic:26976"”]
how bad is taking settlement offers for credit card debt??? is it worst than over a longer period of time paying off the full amount??? I know they report back to CRA’s that the debt is paid off less than full or something.
[/quote]
you are talking about charge offs. the only thing worse are judgments. the worst things on your credit report, in order of least worst to most is:
- 30 day late -> 150 day late
- OC ( original creditor ) collections
- CA - collection agency ( secondary collection agency, like when best buy sells your unpaid account to an agency )
- charge-offs ( when you settle on a lesser amount )
- judgments ( when it goes to attorney general )
things are less damaging the longer it’s been since the problem occurred… BUT all these agencies will ‘refresh’ the situation with the credit reporting agencies, especially anytime you ‘dispute.’ that’s why you have to go into these situations with a lot of knowledge and preparation. with that said though, everything but judgments are easy to remove with time and commitment. if you care enough to fix it, follow the steps i listed in the first post.
good luck
~adam