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Settlement = Closed account on credit report?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Settlement = Closed account on credit report?

So I finally got a settlement from USAA for my credit card i can afford. However Im worried about the status of the account when its settled. If its not marked as Closed on my credit report then I can't get my revolving utilization percentage down. Does anyone know if by law when its settled are they required to mark it as closed? The debt collector said it was already closed which I know is wrong, every report I have says Open or not closed. Anyone have any idea? 

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3 REPLIES 3
thornback
Senior Contributor

Re: Settlement = Closed account on credit report?

If the account was charged-off -- which I assume it must have been since a collection agency is involved - then the account is already closed.   Your credit reports may not explicitly state the word "closed" but it should show as "charged-off".   

 

Once USAA updates the account to reflect payment per your settlement agreement, your reports should reflect  'Settled for less/ Was a Charge-off/ Closed / $0 Balance'. The reflection of a $0 balance is necessary to help your utilization.

 

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Message 2 of 4
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: Settlement = Closed account on credit report?


@Anonymous wrote:

So I finally got a settlement from USAA for my credit card i can afford. However Im worried about the status of the account when its settled. If its not marked as Closed on my credit report then I can't get my revolving utilization percentage down. Does anyone know if by law when its settled are they required to mark it as closed? The debt collector said it was already closed which I know is wrong, every report I have says Open or not closed. Anyone have any idea? 


There are a number of ways it could appear in a credit report, but I have a hunch none of them are good. As far as I know they're all long term negatives. I'm not sure of all the terms they use to describe accounts which are settled for less than the amount owed, but "chargeoff" and "settlement" are 2 of them.

 

As far as your specific questions, if it's closed it will be marked as closed, your limit will not be counted as credit available, and your balance will count against  you in computing  utilization.


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 3 of 4
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Settlement = Closed account on credit report?


@SouthJamaica wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

So I finally got a settlement from USAA for my credit card i can afford. However Im worried about the status of the account when its settled. If its not marked as Closed on my credit report then I can't get my revolving utilization percentage down. Does anyone know if by law when its settled are they required to mark it as closed? The debt collector said it was already closed which I know is wrong, every report I have says Open or not closed. Anyone have any idea? 


There are a number of ways it could appear in a credit report, but I have a hunch none of them are good. As far as I know they're all long term negatives. I'm not sure of all the terms they use to describe accounts which are settled for less than the amount owed, but "chargeoff" and "settlement" are 2 of them.

 

As far as your specific questions, if it's closed it will be marked as closed, your limit will not be counted as credit available, and your balance will count against  you in computing  utilization.


Yep. I just had an account move from CO to PIF. Even though the account has been closed for a number of years, the balance on it was impacting my score by about 50 points, because the balance was well over my total CL, and I only had like 17% usage on my CL, not counting the closed account.

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