Credit Card Settlements....what now?

[rocdaruler]

Got a question I hope someone can help me with. I recently paid off most of my credit card bills through settlements with the Collection agencies ( racked up alot of bad credit in school). Now I'm discovering that settling your accounts still reflects badly on your credit report. Is there anything I can do to remove the negative reflection of the settlements or at least make them look more positive on my report?

Also is it even worth paying off a collection agency. The credit card will still be on your report as written off? Any advice?

 

[Word]

paying it off is better than having it still charged off but most creditors will submit your account as closed if you ask them might be too late for you but worth a shot. But what i have done is ask them to change the account back to revolving so i can pay the balance and then let close it after. ive paid it off. I've done it over 2 months so it looks ok afterward.

 

[kjxxxx]

If you have paid it off you may challenge it saying you have never had an account with these folks and they need to prove it. A lot of collection agencies will not respond since the debt is already payed and they have no other financial interest in investing their time responding to the challenge. If they don't respond to the challenge the credit bureau will/should drop it.

 

[cooliojones]

From what I've read so far, the BEST thing you could have done is to contact the company and offer to settle the amount for pennies on the dollar, AND get them to remove any and all negative information from the 3 CRA's. Knowledge is power!