Do you have also a charge-off account?
Or a collection account? Is this account new? How about late payments?
The reason I’m asking is because maybe you can still do something…
Usually, 6 months or so after you stop making payments the lender considers the balance as uncollectible, closes the account, writes off the balance (an accounting term) and sell the debt for pennies to collection companies.
At this stage, the damage is done, and even if you pay off the collection company, the charge-off account will remain on your credit report for 7 years and will adversely affect your credit score. There is no way you can remove a charge-off account from your credit report.
On the other hand, if the closed account just popped up, you may still be able to pay off the original lender. In that case, the account will show $0 balance, which FICO considers as an “account in good standing”.
If this is the situation, you need to act fast. Call the lender TODAY and try to see if he is willing/able to accept a payment.