Charged off account still showing a balance

[LetsFixTheProblems]

I have a credit card that went past due and was charge off back in 2016.  Long story short it went to the collection agencies and I was able to negotiate a settlement.  I made the payments on the settlement agreement to the collection agency, and have a letter saying they received my final payment.  I received a 1099-C from the original creditor for this.

 

On all three credit reports there are no collections, the original creditor is reporting that the account is charged off and that the balance is still there.  The credit report says it has not been updated since 2016, last payment in 2016, and that it is scheduled to appear on my credit report until 2023.

 

Primary objective would be to just have this entire trade line removed, correct?

Secondarily, since the balance and limit are equal it shows 100% utilization, which I think is bringing down my credit score, correct?

 

What would be the best way to handle this old account that is charged off, paid in a settlement, but still has a balance reporting on my credit report?

 

Thanks in advance, and please let me know if there is anything else you need from me to help with selecting the most approrpaite strategy.

[gerray]

3 hours ago, LetsFixTheProblems said:

I have a credit card that went past due and was charge off back in 2016.  Long story short it went to the collection agencies and I was able to negotiate a settlement.  I made the payments on the settlement agreement to the collection agency, and have a letter saying they received my final payment.  I received a 1099-C from the original creditor for this.

 

On all three credit reports there are no collections, the original creditor is reporting that the account is charged off and that the balance is still there.  The credit report says it has not been updated since 2016, last payment in 2016, and that it is scheduled to appear on my credit report until 2023.

 

Primary objective would be to just have this entire trade line removed, correct?

Secondarily, since the balance and limit are equal it shows 100% utilization, which I think is bringing down my credit score, correct?

 

What would be the best way to handle this old account that is charged off, paid in a settlement, but still has a balance reporting on my credit report?

 

Thanks in advance, and please let me know if there is anything else you need from me to help with selecting the most approrpaite strategy.

Do you have a letter from the CA showing that you paid the account that was assigned to them in full?  If so, you could certainly dispute it but be careful in your approach as a paid charge off is nearly as bad as an unpaid from a credit score and report cleanliness standpoint.  Your primary objective should be to get the trade line removed, not merely updated to show a zero balance.

 

Also, for utilization purposes charged off/inactive accounts are omitted from utilization calculations in the FICO scoring model - not sure about the fako/vantage models. 

 

Lastly, a 1099C doesn’t absolve you from the debt, nor does it mean you no longer have a balance or owe it.  It’s just the creditors way of saying “I won’t continue to collect this debt and we are writing it off as a loss for tax purposes, thus you should show it as income.”