topic Should I Pay Old CC's? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Should I Pay Old CC's?

bluestocking9 — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 19:01:10 GMT

Hello,

I am just at the start of the rebuilding process and I am unsure if I should pay off two older closed CC accounts.

One is with First Progress and was closed on 8/27/2018 the other is with Merrick and closed on 11/23/2018. They are both reporting every month. How do I tell when they should age off? Is it better to leave them alone or pay them off?

Thank you for any help.

Re: Should I Pay Old CC's?

Horseshoez — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 19:08:59 GMT

@bluestocking9 wrote:
Hello,
I am just at the start of the rebuilding process and I am unsure if I should pay off two older closed CC accounts.
One is with First Progress and was closed on 8/27/2018 the other is with Merrick and closed on 11/23/2018. They are both reporting every month. How do I tell when they should age off? Is it better to leave them alone or pay them off?

Thank you for any help.

Every month they report dings your credit scores; even if you pay them this will continue to happen, however, if you pay them in full or settle for a lesser amount, they will report a $0 balance, and this in turn will help your scores. As for when they drop off, it is "Date of First Default", basically the month of your first missed payment. If you fetch your credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com you should be able to see how much longer until they drop off your reports, but based upon the dates you posted above, it sounds like you're less than a year from having them drop off.

Re: Should I Pay Old CC's?

GreatLife — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 20:42:41 GMT

I say only pay if you won't like being passed around in future zombie debt. Every few years I get settlement offers from different companies for an unpaid loan from almost 30 years ago, don't think the original creditor even still exists.. I just ignore/delete/shred everything, and make sure to never apply for anything at a company that might be associated with a company within the trail.

Re: Should I Pay Old CC's?

jmb9 — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:43:04 GMT

@GreatLife wrote:
I say only pay if you won't like being passed around in future zombie debt. Every few years I get settlement offers from different companies for an unpaid loan from almost 30 years ago, don't think the original creditor even still exists.. I just ignore/delete/shred everything, and make sure to never apply for anything at a company that might be associated with a company within the trail.

Do you send them DVs? There's no way they have the original documentation for a debt 30 years old. I got one deleted one time just off of a DV letter.

Re: Should I Pay Old CC's?

bluestocking9 — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 18:16:21 GMT

Thank you for the information. I think for now I will focus on paying down my current CC debit. It seems like a better use of my available financial resources. I'm guessing I would see a larger credit score jump by lower my utilization rate on current CC's then removing the old, closed CC's?

Re: Should I Pay Old CC's?

naomislivko — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 18:44:36 GMT

Well, both would probably have a positive effect (you can try to get it removed via DV, as others have stated). Though - given that this is that old - the window for them to go after you have passed (unless you start paying on it - at which point, the clock resets and they can go after you again).

I wouldn't put any money against it - but, sending a DV letter might not hurt.