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Need some advice; I have 2 accounts with AMEX that were charged off back in 2017. One of them was at $4,500 which I settled for less, $3,200 and paid it off. The other one is at $7,200 and I'm still paying it off. Is it worth paying it off? I just paid off one of the charged off accounts and it still stays "charge off," so it's still a negative on my credit report. I did get a letter stating it was paid off from AMEX, saying if I wanted to reapply for a card I'd have to wait 30 days I believe.
What's the benefit in paying off these accounts? That I can maybe reapply for AMEX in the future?
Unless I need to wait 7 years, for the negative to be removed completely.
Yes, yes paying off Amex can make the wait shorter and possible to get back in with Amex in the future...
@Anonymous wrote:
The negative entry on your reports isn’t going anywhere until it’s run its course. By paying Amex what you owe them though, you can open the door to getting back in with them. The greater amount you pay out of the total owed can shorten the time it takes to get back in.
Thanks for the reply. I do want an AMEX in the future so I'll pay it off. Btw, what do you mean with "run its course." You mean I cannot remove the charge off from my report until 7 years? Even if it's been paid off in full? One of the reasons I also wanted to pay them off was that negative entry on my report.
If you want back in with AMEX, PIF. I did this with a CO from 2016 and it was PIF in May. Got approved the the Gold same month.
@RotaryP7 wrote:Need some advice; I have 2 accounts with AMEX that were charged off back in 2017. One of them was at $4,500 which I settled for less, $3,200 and paid it off. The other one is at $7,200 and I'm still paying it off. Is it worth paying it off? I just paid off one of the charged off accounts and it still stays "charge off," so it's still a negative on my credit report. I did get a letter stating it was paid off from AMEX, saying if I wanted to reapply for a card I'd have to wait 30 days I believe.
What's the benefit in paying off these accounts? That I can maybe reapply for AMEX in the future?
Unless I need to wait 7 years, for the negative to be removed completely.
The other benefit of paying off this charged off account is that it is currently counting against your total utilization further impacting your score. PIF is of course best but even if you settle for less both actions bring the balance to zero and no longer impact your overall CL utilization.
I saw 40+ point (or more) boost across each CRA score when these were paid and my remaining CL balance utilization was < 8.9 percent (currently 1 percent).
@satio wrote:
@RotaryP7 wrote:Need some advice; I have 2 accounts with AMEX that were charged off back in 2017. One of them was at $4,500 which I settled for less, $3,200 and paid it off. The other one is at $7,200 and I'm still paying it off. Is it worth paying it off? I just paid off one of the charged off accounts and it still stays "charge off," so it's still a negative on my credit report. I did get a letter stating it was paid off from AMEX, saying if I wanted to reapply for a card I'd have to wait 30 days I believe.
What's the benefit in paying off these accounts? That I can maybe reapply for AMEX in the future?
Unless I need to wait 7 years, for the negative to be removed completely.
The other benefit of paying off this charged off account is that it is currently counting against your total utilization further impacting your score. PIF is of course best but even if you settle for less both actions bring the balance to zero and no longer impact your overall CL utilization.
I saw 40+ point (or more) boost across each CRA score when these were paid and my remaining CL balance utilization was < 8.9 percent (currently 1 percent).
Really? Even if it's charged off it affects utilization? I settled with one and I'm going to PIF the other, the greater amount. I already have a set payment arrangement with their lawyers. They actually wanted to sue me for the account at $7,200. It was higher than that but I've been paying it off.