Settled Account and now is a charge off?

[ccastle]

Hello!

I settled my walmart CC/Ge Capital for 50% of what is owed.  I paid my dues and now they have added interests and reported account as follows,

Settlement accepted on this account
Closed or Paid Account/Zero Balance
Charge off account
Amount in high credit is original charge-off amount

Account was NOT charged off when I settled, but I did settled with a collection agency.

Isn't a charged off account worst than a settled account? My credit score has not changed as of yet, but how will this look to lenders when I try to apply for a new credit card loan?

[rex_03]

It's a crap shoot. I had one acct. like this years ago. Lenders see it as you settled/ payed for less than the full balance owed. This made some lenders weary when it came time to look at other cards.

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

If the Wal-Mart CC was already with a CA, then it was already charged-off. Usually they'll charge it off after 3-4 lates. In other words, if it got sent to a CA then it wasn't an open and positive account. Now very likely the CA only collected for the debt and the OC owned it. When you pay less than 100% as a settlement they'll insert the settlement comment in there. Per FICO scoring a settled comment is scored on par as a charge-off. Likely there wouldn't be any FICO improvement on the status alone, but paying down and/or improving your util helped your score.

Check to make sure it reports $0. If so, send GECRB (they underwrite for Wal-MArt) a GW letter. There have been some GW success stories with them so it's possible to get them to remove it for you.

[ccastle]

Thanks! I will give GW Letter a try, thanks again.

[ccastle]

Thanks Rex!