US Bank CO - should I settle?

[IcyCool7227]

Looking for some advice here. The other day I received a letter from Radius Global Solutions asking if I wished to settle my old US Bank CO in 2017 for $445.50 by Jan 15th. The balance left they referenced last Dec. 25th is $1,781.96 but is now $1,772.85 (out of $2,512.44). I'm surprised the letter was dated on Christmas. But while that offer is tempting and I could easily pay that, if I settled wouldn't that invalidate ever getting back in with US Bank again (rather than paying in full)? I started the first few months on a plan of $139.58 but that was draining my money so now I have been paying little amounts under $10, some as low as over $1 here and there every several days or so with the Primis dc getting 50 cents back rewards and little amounts with OnPath dc to qualify for the 5% High Yield cashback. My goal is to pay this off completely by the end of this year (it's challenging to pay it off quickly because of all the other expenses I have). But from February last year (when I started making payments) to the end of December (which was the last payment), I had paid $739.59. There is no formal payment plan set up, it's just little amounts here and there and it's been off my CRs for a few years now so none of these payments helps improve any credit score or history (other than getting back into US Bank's good graces again).

Letter states:

Dear (my name), Thank you for your recent payment. In view of your payment history we would like to provide an additional option to resolve your account for $445.50. If you would like to take advantage of the offer, please contact us. If the offer date has expired, please contact us to deterine if this offer is still available. We are not obligated to renew this offer. This offer does not cancel your current payment plan.

Once your payment in response to this offer is received and the funds have cleared your bank, we will send you a letter confirming the above referenced account has been resolved.

If you are not able to take advantage of this cost savings, please continue with your current payment plan. All payments will be applied towards the full balance. If you are able to offer a lump sum to resolve your account, please comntact us.

Then it goes on to say that if I have any questions to call them and that they look forward to hearing from me.

[FireMedic1]

If you pay it off with their offer. It will reflect a $0 balance and no longer count against your aggregate util %'s. The monthly CO rating will cease. Then time will have it fall off after 7 yrs from the DoFD.

[IcyCool7227]

You are mistaken. It has already fallen off my reports a few years ago. I'm asking if paying it in full vs. settlement will affect eligibility with applying for US Bank in the future.

[vntrsc]

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@IcyCool7227 wrote:

You are mistaken. It has already fallen off my reports a few years ago. I'm asking if paying it in full vs. settlement will affect eligibility with applying for US Bank in the future.

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It could depend upon whether or not US Bank still owns the account.

If US Bank sold the account, it no longer has anything to do with the account.   Any money collected is going to the debt buyer who purchased it.

I don't know whether Radius purchases defaulted accounts or strictly collects on behalf of other creditors, but it's important to know who owns the account.   Do you have any past credit reports on which US Bank is reporting?  If so, check to see if the bank is reporting a balance still owed.  When an original creditor retains ownership of an unpaid account after charge off, it will show a balance still owed.  However, when the original creditor sells an account, it must report a $0 balance owed.  That is because the balance is no longer owed to that creditor but is owed to the new owner.

[Lurker22]

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@IcyCool7227 wrote:

You are mistaken. It has already fallen off my reports a few years ago. I'm asking if paying it in full vs. settlement will affect eligibility with applying for US Bank in the future.

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USB is a strange beast....

I burned USB quite badly in a 13 back in 2017, I was able to open 2 secured cards during my 13 that never graduated on their own but did graduate once I pressed, my 13 is no longer showing on my CR but USB will not increase the limits on these accounts with the reason "existing account(s) hashave unsatisfactory performance"

Now what's interesting is their Elon division gave me a Fidelity Visa with a $17K CL about 10 months ago, when I asked for a CLI on this account recently I receive the same denial reasoning

To be clear my Credit Score is hovering around 803-807 and there's nothing negative showing so the only thing they can be refering to is the account I burned them on in a 13 back in 2017, so do I think paying them back will help you get a new card......I'm leaning towards saying no but clearly they remember things longer than 7 years too