Questions about cash Settlement with Chase and others....

[Udevil]

I am not behind on any of my accounts which may seem weird on this forum?? Anyway, I have just refinanced my home and got some cash out to pay off some debt and thought what the hell, let me offer a cash settlement rather than paying the total due. What are the pro's and con's of this and what kind of affect will it have on my over-all credit score? Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Mark

[wert]

If you aren't late and not written off yet, you can't settle for less than full amount. They will laugh at you.

Pay off a few in full. It helps your credit.

[Udevil]

Talked to Chase today and they knocked off a $1,000 for fear I would file BK? But this doesn't answer my questions as to the my credit score going forward. Can anyone answer me that? How does it get reported on my bureau after settlement? Is it a negative or a positive?

Thanks,

Mark

[md]

If you are current on your accounts a settlement will hurt you greatly. If you have the money and things aren't too tight then pay most of them off. Only settle as a second to last resort, not simply to get out of paying something that you have money to pay in full.

It also depends on how much you owe on these cards and what percentage of available credit is being used. If your credit is pretty good, settling will hurt it quite a bit. If you just bought a house and won't need credit for a while I guess it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

Provide us with a little more info and we can take it from there. Good luck!

[wert]

If it's reported as paid less than full amount, of course it's going to hurt your credit.

If you settle, you want them to put it on file that the account was paid in full. Some will, some won't.

You never want to settle by phone.Always, always get it in writing.

It's going to be pretty hard in your case as you are current on everything. You may have talked them down a grand, but I doubt they will put paid in full if you settle.

[Udevil]

First off, thank you all for your input into my dilema. If the rest of my accounts are current and paid in full with the exception of this Chase account, what kind of damaging effect will it have on me? Is there a numerical number that get's applied to my crdit report or something? I'm just trying to guage this thing as ina total impact on my credit.

Thanks,

Mark

[md]

<blockquote>Originally posted by Udevil

First off, thank you all for your input into my dilema. If the rest of my accounts are current and paid in full with the exception of this Chase account, what kind of damaging effect will it have on me? Is there a numerical number that get's applied to my crdit report or something? I'm just trying to guage this thing as ina total impact on my credit.

Thanks,

Mark

</blockquote>

It depends on so many factors that it is hard to even entertain such a question unless we were Fair Isaac. It may hurt you 50 points, someone else 100, somebody else 10. It depends on how long your credit history is, payment history, number of recent inquiries, etc., etc., ...it is hard to put a number on it.

[bingo]

Paid/settled is awful and the hit on your credit score is only one worry. All of your creditors conduct A/R's and when they see this pop up look for your interest rates to be jacked to the moon and your credit limits cut on your other cards. Also, more insurance carriers are checking credit reports. You may well find your auto and p&c rates either climbing or, the company declining to unerwrite your coverage. A lot of collateral damage issues.