Advice on SOL and payments

[Anonymous]

I have an old CO (6 years). It reports as past due every single month and it states the balance. It makes my revolving credit look as if its at 35%. I have some other credit cards at less than 5%.

I think that this account is exactly what keeps my score from going up, it looks as if I have too much debt.

If I pay it it looks as if it is a recent baddie due to date of last activity, which is not good.  Yet if I pay it or settle it then it will lower the 35% to less than 5% which is a good thing.

My questions are:

1. will my score go up because of my usage being a lot lower or ill it go down because of date of last activity?

2. If I contact the creditor about a possible settlement does that restart the SOL? Or is it restarted only after I make a payment?

[RobertEG]

Hard to say how the net effect of the offsets of the two will  play out, as it will vary based on your scoring bucket, which is not a detail of the scorng algorithm that is disclosed by Fair Isaac. 

Negotiations on any settlement will not affect the SOL if you do not admit to the debt or make any firm payment agreement.

If earlier credit report deletion is more important than saving a few $$, then you might wish to begin with a PFD offer.......

[grillandwinemaster]

Find out what the sol is in your state. For me, in California, its 4 years past the date of first default. That date does not change because you make payments on an old charged off debt. It also sounds like your REALLY close for it to age off your reports. If it's been six years, your probably looking at 6-9 months before it automatically ages off. 

However, you must find out what the sol is in your state. Some states go as far back as ten years, in which case, they can still bring legal action against you.  

[RonM21]

After reading this, I can see why you asked the question to begin with. Seems like a confusing decision to make. As the others suggested, see what the SOL is in your state, then go from there. What is the amount owed?

[Anonymous]

My state is IA. I think it is five years. The creditor is Cap 1 and I contacted them stating that I honestly did not think the debt as mine. I was going through a divorce back then and my ex had opened another account in my name. with that said I also stated that if it were mine I could settle. They refused PFD but would settle. The orignal amount was $300 but with fees and such it is 659.

[Anonymous]

If it's not yours you can assert ID theft and file the paperwork for that.

[Anonymous]

Guess what they said to that? If it was someone in my household that opened the account it is called "friendly fraud" or some other similar stupid term. And Im still responsible!

Does the fact that I contacted them restart the SOL? Or does it restart with a payment? payment plan?