What is a charge off? If I cannot pay the settlement fee, within the 30 day deadline , what does that mean? Is a charge off worse than bankcruptsy? HOw long will it be on my credit report? and can I have the charge off taken off my credit report once it is paid off? I was offered some kind of charge off paymetn plan, but they said the bank said the charge off will still be in my credit report, but it will be noted that I am currently paying it, how is this different or any better than a regular charge off?
"they said the bank said" I'll assume from that that it is not an original creditor, but a Collection Agency (CA), and that they talked to you on the telephone. 1. A charge-off is when a creditor officially declares a debt to be a "bad debt." This is supposed to happen 180 days from your last payment. It does not mean that they will stop trying to collect it from you, and they may also refer or sell your debt to a third party Collection Agency, which would continue to try to collect the money from you. 2. It means that the person that called you up doesn't get a big fat commission for scaring you into paying them money as soon as possible. 3. A charge-off is not worse than bankruptcy, but it's a very nasty sting on your credit record. 4. It can be on your credit report for 7.5 years from the last time you paid or agreed to pay. The official way to get it removed is by the party that placed the listing, but usually they won't. If the CA or the CRA make a mistake, you can get them to delete it - this is a big pain in the butt. 5. It's not really better than a "regular charge off" (See? You're not as confused as you think.) If these people try to talk to you again, get their mailing address and then tell them to communicate with you only in writing (and hang up) Do not admit that you owe them or anyone else any money, and do not make any agreement to pay them whatsoever. After that, you can decide exactly what to do after you do more research on this board. -ingenue
