Hello everyone, just like some of you I'm in the process of paying of those who I owe and reestablishing my credit with the hopes of purchasing a home one day. My question is: 90% of my bad credit is due to small amount ($1000 and below) being charged off, the other 10% is a defaulted student loan. I am in the process of contacting my past creditors for either a payoff agreement or settlement. I have also made arrangements with my student loan to pay a down payment and make 3 consecutive payments and then they will issue a new loan and it will come out of a default status. My question is how bad does a paid charge off look on a credit report, will it take 7 years from the time it’s paid to come off, is there another way to do this, and should I go ahead and try to get a secured card now or wait until I pay this stuff off? Thanks in advance for you guys input and in return I promise to help out the next generation of “newbies” like myself that visit this board. Ro

The seven year clock will not start over once you pay a collection off. But, a paid collection is no better than a non paid collection. Part of your agreement needs to be that the creditor deletes all information pertaining to the debt.