Understanding FICO® Scoring

[dsuber]

In anticipation of getting myself in a position to be mortgage ready at the end of the year, understanding credit and credit scores has become somewhat of a hobby for me.  OK more of an obsession   At any rate I have a question/concern as far as my credit score goes and getting it to where it needs to be.  

1. I have 2 charge-offs on my report and in some conversations people say paying them can do more harm than good with regard to credit scores.

2. In investigating what is damaging my credit score and reading my credit reports, I have found that these charge-offs are reporting a balance and those balances are driving up the "utilization" part of my credit score.

3. In using some of the calculators and resources available, it looks as if my credit score could rise significantly if I paid these. 

So I am at a crossroads.  What is your suggestion as to how to handle this?  I do not want to do damage to my score.

[angelnyc]

You should pay it off, it is debt owed by you to the creditor and they will continually want that paid off.  If you pay it off it will reflect on your credit report as in good standing as charge-off paid and boost your credit score naturally.