My 1st question is: What do you think of this new Discover Card commerical (UNAIRED) about the Cowboys? Thanks in advance for any answer. Second question.. Hello. I recently discovered that an old medical account I co-signed for was not paid in full by the original debtor (my ex), but I was never contacted when the loan originally defaulted. The only reason I found out was because I did my customary 2-3 times a year credit pull, and suddenly my Experian credit score had dropped out of the blue to under 600 and I had a random charge off shown..

Anyway, I FINALLY got in touch with the original lender and tried to explain that I had no notice of the loan payments ever being late. I also informed them that the loanwhen it was being paid on timewas not on my credit report, but now suddenly a charge off related to it was. They were not sympathetic and said I had to pay it in full and they would mark it as a charge-off paid..

However, I did not...and do not...want anything even slightly resembling a CHARGE OFF on my credit, especially since this came on so suddenly from a small, $3000 loan I co-signed for 5 years ago which is only holding a balance of $500. I offered to pay in full, plus fees, in negotiation for them to remove the charge off status. I prepared a nice, detailed "letter of removal" where I said I'd pay in full immediately, including fees and fines, if they would remove the charge off status and list it as an account in good standing or remove it altogether..

Today the collection agent I'd been working with said he'd spoken to the manager, and the only deal they're willing to make is this:.

In exchange for me paying (with Discover card) in full, they will give it paid in full, zero balance, R1 status, but cannot remove the charge off..

In my research, I found R1 to be a great, positive status, but yet in this case it will be an R1 status attached to a charge-off, so I don't know how good that is at all. The creditor said that R1 is a good thing that they don't normally do for people, and that normally charge-offs are unrated, and that the R1 status is a good deal..

I need someone to help explain if this is a deal I should take, or if I should continue pushing for the full removal (which seems unlikely), or if I should just ignore it (i.e., is the R1 status any better than the current charge off?)..

What exactly is an R1 status attached to a charge off? How bad does it look compared to if I had just paid off or negotiated the charge off and gotten some other unrated status? Will it raise my credit score more than simply an unrated charge off paid in full? How does this relate to a "settlement" status that shows I didn't pay the full balance?.

Will this status still hurt me when trying to get loans, mortgages, etc.? My credit is actually really good (680-708) on the other two reports, but the Experian score is only like 630 because of the current unpaid charge off. I am wondering just how beneficial this R1 charge off status will be and if it will raise the score at all?.

Also, if the manager says no, they will not remove the charge off status in exchange for a full payment, in your experience, can I still haggle or are they firm? For example, would they really prefer to not get paid at all, just to keep the charge off status on my credit report, or is there a way I can convince them that if I pay everything in full immediately, they should remove the charge off status?.

Thanks so much!!!..