But...
Determine your credit goals and decide if the settlement being construed as a negative even matters. I've heard the "manual underwriting" case made for not doing settlements, but I've yet to see it have any negative impact on my own acquisition of credit. I've settled a few big accounts for under 50%, saving me as much as $3500 on one account. While it is true I'd rather have the account notated as "paid in full" rather than "settled for less than full balance", I have to question whether it has really affected me enough to justify spending thousands of dollars more. I just bought a house at prime and have obtained several prime credit cards all within the last 6 months, with a few settlements on record that are less than 2 years old. So, there you go. Certainly not a recommendation, just sharing my experience.
Message Edited by devhip on
06-21-2007 07:36 AM