Is this Chase card worth paying off?

Anonymous · ‎02-26-2017

I've been rebuilding my credit for the last few years, and over the last 6 or so months, really buckling down on utilization and CLI's. I've gone from 68% utilization to ~10% but there is still one looming error that haunts me; a Chase Freedom closed, but not in collections accoring to my report.

My current accounts are as follows (from oldest to newest):

** Chase Freedom - 1600/1200

Last Reported - Jan 16, 2017

Opened Date - Jul 29, 2010

Closed Date - Mar 19, 2013

Date of Last Payment - Mar 04, 2014

Payment Status - Collection/Charge-Off

Amount Past Due - $1,623

Charged off as bad debt - Canceled by credit grantor

My other cards are all in good standing, and as follows:

RC Willey - 0/1200

Syncrony - 0/700

Quicksilver - 0/5800 (just upgraded from QS-ONE this week)

Syncrony - 1100/3500 (0%)

Visa w/CU - 500/5000 (will be paid off on Tuesday)

Discover - 900/2300 (will be paid off on Tuesday)

Amex BCE - 0/1000

Amex BCE - 0/8500 (auth user)

**As I understand it, if this Chase is not paid by the time the Statute of Limitations kick in and it becomes uncollectable, my relatinship with Chase will have been ruined (if it's not already) and I will be denied an account with them in the future. Now, part of me is fine with that, because I've never had a worse banking experience, but it seems they hold a lot in the credit world. So my question is at this point, would you ride it out, or accept and pay the debt - by putting the charge on another card (both AMEX and DISC are 0% for 7 more months) - and paying it off? It's due to fall of March 2019 according to a TransUnion rep.

My biggest goals are buying a house and new car in the next 2 years. My current FICO score for this month is TU is 681 and EXP 661 (according to Discover and Amex respectively). 750 is the goal.

What say ye?

Thanks for any advice!

Anonymous · ‎02-26-2017

It's been only just shy of 3 years and the amount you owe is fairly small. You could knock that out and then try to get some good will to get the late remarks removed and turn it into a more positive historical item, despite the closure.

Anonymous · ‎02-26-2017

Well shy of 4 years, right? Unless I had reset it since the last payment...

So best option would be to

1. Call chase, admit to debt and get account information, request good will if I pay off/transfer debt.

2. Transfer amount to Discover for a 3% fee and 0% interest and pay it off over the next year.

3. Profit???

As oppose to:

1. Avoid Chase (though they haven't attempted to contact me in a long time)

2. Hope they don't formally send to collections

3. Party in 2019?

Anonymous · ‎02-26-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Well shy of 4 years, right? Unless I had reset it since the last payment...

So best option would be to
1. Call chase, admit to debt and get account information, request good will if I pay off/transfer debt.
2. Transfer amount to Discover for a 3% fee and 0% interest and pay it off over the next year.
3. Profit???

As oppose to:
1. Avoid Chase (though they haven't attempted to contact me in a long time)
2. Hope they don't formally send to collections
3. Party in 2019?

I guess I assumed you were giving us that date to inform us you had brought the account current. If so, then it reset, if not, then, yes, 4 years. Regardless, a lot less than 7 years.

I'm really more for paying valid debts that you owe than avoiding them. Others may have different opinions.

Anonymous · ‎02-26-2017

Gotcha. If I accept the debt and transfer to Discover, will the account report again? I know Vantage scores cost for naught, but it was nice to see it finally hit over 700's today. In the past, when I had spoken to Chase, they reported the account again to the bereaus for the first time in years, dropping my score almost 60 points. So I guess if I do this strategically and obtain the account number from Chase, plug it into the balance transfer app on Discover online, it shouldn't negatively affect my credit going forward for anything except a utilization standpoint?

Anonymous · ‎02-26-2017

More then likely it will go to collections at some point, and you will have a collection account on your reports to deal with. That will really hurt your score. In my opinion it is worth paying it or settling for maybe 50%.

stargazer25 · ‎02-26-2017

The other thing to consider is that you have a card showing over a 100% utilization rate which will screw your overall utilization rate. You may want to settle it for that reason and so they don't update again. Also, keep in mind that SOL won't change the possibility of having it report with a CA or report for 7 years.

Starting Scores: September 2015 minus 500 across the board
Current Scores: October 2017 EQ: 715 TU: 710 EX: 716
In My Wallet:
Cap1 QS: $4.8K - AMEX BCP: $4.2K - Old Navy Visa: $7K - Nordstrom $3.8K - VS $500 (FTW!)
BofA AU: $12K AMEX AU: $25K
Business: AMEX BCP $15K

RobertEG · ‎02-27-2017

Expiration of SOL means that they can no longer obtain a judgment ordering payment of the debt.

It does not mean that the debt has become "uncollectible" in the sense that it is no longer owed.

The taking of the charge-off is the act that considered, from an accounting viewpoint, that the debt was considered to have become "uncollectible."

That also does not mean the debt is no longer collectible. It means, in accounting language, that they consumer is not expected to pay the debt.

Any unpaid debt, regardless of its SOL or charge-off status, represents a potential loss to the creditor if not paid.

Paying the debt negates a loss to them, and discharges the debt.

The extent to which a prior CO will affect future application for credit from that lendor varies widely. I would certainly expect that payment would be a positive factor.

Anonymous · ‎02-27-2017

Okay thanks for the tips everyone. I've contacted Chase and my options for a balance transfer, as I don't have the funds to pay in full. They wouldn't provide the account number over the phone, and I don't want to give them my banking information so they're mailing me a letter with the account number.

I can either go with my local credit union who will basically do a cash advance for the amount @ 13% and no fee, or Discover will charge a 3% fee (~$40) and 0% for 12 months. I think I'm going to go the Discover route.

I also paid off an $1,100 school bill today and after this my credit should be clean. Hope and pray for 750 this year.

Anonymous · ‎02-27-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Okay thanks for the tips everyone. I've contacted Chase and my options for a balance transfer, as I don't have the funds to pay in full. They wouldn't provide the account number over the phone, and I don't want to give them my banking information so they're mailing me a letter with the account number.

@I can either go with my local credit union who will basically do a cash advance for the amount @ 13% and no fee, or Discover will charge a 3% fee (~$40) and 0% for 12 months. I think I'm going to go the Discover route.

I also paid off an $1,100 school bill today and after this my credit should be clean. Hope and pray for 750 this year.

It's going to be tough reaching a FICO score of 750 with a CO on your credit reports.