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Hello, I just checked my report. I'm at 575 right now. I have about 5 collections totaling $4500 or so. Which I can pay in full, these are 4 years old or so. I've been offered a settlement of half the amount but I've countered with paying the full amount to get it off my report. They will not go for this. My question is, what will happen to my score if I pay the collections whether it's a reduced settlement amount of if I pay them in full?
I had 3 credit cards, I paid them down to zero as well.
My goal is to go up in score. I don't want to go with the dispute route since they are all legitimate debts.
fico score
Hi Guest,
My question is, what will happen to my score if I pay the collections whether it's a reduced settlement amount of if I pay them in full?
Paying off in full or settled amount does not help you much in improving your score. However, once you pay off the debts in full these accounts are supposed to be reported as "Paid in full". As this will show up on your credit report, new creditors will get to see this and will know that you took the initiative to pay these off. That matters.
However, to improve your score you can get hold of a secured credit card. Use it to make small purchases and then make on-time payments on the card.
Thanks,
Aaron