Charge off status

[TwoBeFree]

Can someone explain to me how the two affect my credit report?  I have several paid accounts that went to charge off  they are listed status on Equifax as Status: charge off with other status under additional information : paid charge-off. The accounts are old accounts from 2008.   

What is the difference in how the information affect my credit scores?

Can the companies change my Status to just paid instead of charge-off?

[guiness56]

There is no difference in your score.  Paid or not FICO scores them the same, as a CO.

Once it is charged off it will always be charged off.  Paying it doesn't change that. 

[RobertEG]

+1

As an aside, the impact of a CO extends to more than just scoring.

A CO is, in essence, the posting to a consumer's credit file that, at a given point in time, the creditor reached the determination that the consumer was unlikely to pay the debt.

In finance terms, it was considered by them to have become an uncollecible asset, which by making that determination, permits them to shift the bad debt to an unreceivalbe asset in their accounting ledger, and thus reduce their tax liability.  That determination at that point in time remains a fact, regardless of the future payment or non=payment of the debt.

In any future manual review of the consumer's credit report, that statement will be of record for up to 7 yrs plus 180 days from the DOFD on the OC account.  It is always a negative determination of the consumer's liklihood of paying their future debts.

The positive side is that, if the cosumer does actually pay the debt, it offsets that prior view of the consumer by showing that the consumer did not really intend not to pay, but rather was facing hard times, and eventually made good.