OC was The Gap/GECC for $1099. This was charged off in 2008. CA offered me a settlement for $550, which I paid over six installments. Final payment was in July 2011. Last week I saw that the CA was still reporting a $706 balance at 120 days late on my credit report. I contacted the CA and within hours she closed the account and said she'd report it to the credit bureaus on Friday (the 2nd) as paid collection/settlement.
Well, I got a score alert yesterday that my score actually went DOWN a few points and this was the only new activity on my report. I looked and the "current status" was still listed as 120 days late even though there was now a $0 balance. I don't understand why the score would go down, but it seemed that this derogatory current status was the culprit. I contacted the CA again today and asked if they could reflect the on-time payments I made in the current status field. She responded and said that was just how things get reported to the bureaus but that she could remove the credit line if I wanted her to. She made sure that I understood the credit line with the OC would still remain on the report, but she'd be happy to remove theirs. I told her to please do that. She said the change would go out this Friday.
Will removing this collection account help my score? I've paid off all but two credit cards over the past year. I'm SO close to being free of this CC debt. I had several charge offs back in 2008 (divorce and unemployment), and I've worked very hard this past year to pay it all off.
LOVE these boards, btw. You all give great advice!
